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Haiti Noir 2: The Classics

The best anthology of classic Haitian fiction ever assembled, unparalleled in scope.

Available as an e-book for:

What people are saying…

Edwidge Danticat’s story, “The Port-au-Prince Marriage Special,” was included in the Fall 2013 issue of Ms. Magazine.

“A worthy sequel that skillfully uses a popular genre to help us better understand an often frustratingly complex and indecipherable society.”
—Miami Herald

“There is danger and regret and fear in these stories, as characters try to negotiate a complex and often confounding land.”
—Miami Herald, Feature on Haiti Noir 2 Miami launch, including interviews with Edwidge Danticat and Johnny Temple

“Presents an excellent array of writers, primarily Haitian, whose graphic descriptions portray a country ravaged by corruption, crime, and mystery. . . . This selection of Haitian classics is a must read for everyone.”
—The Caribbean Writer

“Just when you thought you have read it all and have experienced the best of literary brilliance, there comes along an unrivaled work of narrative intensity, penned with a spellbinding authenticity. Haiti Noir 2 is just that work of art. . . . A rare gem.”
—Kaieteur News Online

“Quite a collection . . . a multi-generational tour of Haiti’s literature . . . It makes you feel as if some things out to have Part twos.”
—Kreyolicious

“This is a great collection of stories set in Haiti.”
—Book Nerd

Praise for the original Haiti Noir:

“Danticat has succeeded in assembling a group portrait of Haitian culture and resilience that is cause for celebration.”
—Publishers Weekly

“This anthology will give American readers a complex and nuanced portrait of the real Haiti not seen on the evening news and introduce them to some original and wonderful writers.”
—Library Journal

“While the publisher defines the term ‘noir’ broadly—requiring sinister tales or crime stories that evoke a strong sense of place and do not have happy endings—the Haiti book offers its own spin with plenty of grisly crime, dire poverty, and references to magic and religion. There is also some tenderness.”
—The New York Times

Description

*Please note: All copies of Haiti Noir 2: The Classics ordered through our website are SIGNED by editor Edwidge Danticat, while supplies last!*

Edwidge Danticat answered 15 questions for Akashic’s Literary Lions feature. Read her answers here.

Read Edwidge Danticat’s contribution to “My Caribbean – 5 Vignettes,” which appeared in the November 10, 2013 issue of the New York Times.

“Things I Know About Fairy Tales” by Roxane Gay was Storyville’s story of the week beginning February 18, 2014.

A portion of the profits from Haiti Noir 2: The Classics will be donated to FotoKonbit, a nonprofit organization created to empower Haitians to tell their own stories through photography.

Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each story is set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.

Featuring stories by: Danielle Legros Georges, Jacques Roumain, Ida Faubert, Jacques-Stephen Alexis, Jan J. Dominique, Paulette Poujol Oriol, Lyonel Trouillot, Emmelie Prophète, Ben Fountain, Dany Laferrière, Georges Anglade, Edwidge Danticat, Michèle Voltaire Marcelin, Èzili Dantò, Marie-Hélène Laforest, Nick Stone, Marilène Phipps-Kettlewell, Myriam J.A. Chancy, and Roxane Gay.

From the introduction by Edwidge Danticat:

“How often are you asked to put together an amazing literary party? In my case, a mind-blowing two times. The lit party of my dreams has been Haiti Noir, and lo and behold, I get asked to do it again . . . After the first Haiti Noir was published, people kept asking if I wasn’t contributing to a negative image of the country by editing a book filled with so many “dark” stories about Haiti. My answer was, and remains, that showing the brilliance of our writers and their ability to address Haiti’s difficulties through their art can only contribute to a more nuanced and complex presentation of Haitian lives. After all, the writers here are not Haiti virgins, to paraphrase from “Heading South,” Dany Laferrière’s story, included here, of sex tourism gone wrong. They are all old hats, either by blood or their deep love for Haiti . . . This is not just a party, folks, but also a costume party, a noir party. The author of each story, poem, or novel excerpt has shed his or her skin and has sunk into the deepest and most revealing places of the human heart.”

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I: Hunted/Haunted
“Praisesong for Port-au-Prince” by Danielle Legros Georges (Port-au-Prince, 1999)
“Preface to the Life of a Bureaucrat” by Jacques Roumain (Bolosse, 1930)
“A Strange Story” by Ida Faubert (Turgeau, 1959)
“The Enchanted Second Lieutenant” by Jacques-Stephen Alexis (Bassins-Coquilleaux, 1960)
“A White House with Pink Curtains in the Downstairs Windows” by Jan J. Dominique (Kenscoff, 1996)
“Oresca” by Paulette Poujol Oriol (Source Diquini, 2001)
“Children of Heroes” (excerpt) by Lyonel Trouillot (Place des Héros, 2002)

Part II: Seduced
“Remember One Day” by Emmelie Prophète (Boulevard Jean-Jacques Dessalines, 1999)
“Rêve Haitien” by Ben Fountain (Pacot, 2000)
“Heading South” by Dany Laferrière (Kaliko Beach, 2006)
“Three Letters You Will Never Read” by Georges Anglade (Quina, 2006)
“The Port-au-Prince Marriage Special” by Edwidge Danticat (Delmas, 2008)
“True Life” by Michèle Voltaire Marcelin (Rue des Miracles, 2008)

Part III: Losing My Way
“I Just Lost My Way” by Èzili Dantò (Anba Dlo, Lan Ginen, 1997)
“The Mission” by Marie-Hélène Laforest (Bonair, 2002)
“Barbancourt Blues” (excerpt) by Nick Stone (Pétionville Square, 2007)
“Dame Marie” by Marilène Phipps-Kettlewell (Dame Marie, 2007)
“Surrender” (excerpt) by Myriam J.A. Chancy (Port-au-Prince Central Prison, 2010)
“Things I Know About Fairy Tales” by Roxane Gay (Cité Soleil, 2011)

Book Details

Paperback: 320 pages
Published: 1/7/14
IBSN: 9781617751936
e-IBSN: 9781617752049

Genre: Fiction

Author

EDWIDGE DANTICAT was born in Haiti and moved to the United States when she was twelve. She is the editor of Haiti Noir and Haiti Noir 2: The Classics and author of Breath, Eyes, Memory (an Oprah’s Book Club selection), Krik? Krak!, and The Dew Breaker, among other books for adults. Her books for children include Eight Days: A Story of Haiti, Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation, The Last Mapou, and My Mommy Medicine. Her young adult novels Untwine, Anacaona: Golden Flower, and Behind the Mountains offer profound insights into the immigrant experience and the beauty and complexity of Haitian culture. A MacArthur Fellow, Danticat currently teaches at Columbia University.

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