fbpx
Reverse-Gentrification of the Literary World

Akashic Books

||| |||

Catalog » Browse by Title: I » Indian Country Noir

Indian Country Noir

Edited by: and

The sharpest, most stylized, and ambitious anthology of Native American literature ever published. Readers enter into a welter of troubled history throughout the Americans where the heritage of violence meets the ferocity of intent.

$15.95 $11.96

Available as an e-book for:

Description

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.

Brand-new stories by: Mistina Bates, Jean Rae Baxter, Lawrence Block, Joseph Bruchac, David Cole, Reed Farrel Coleman, O’Neil De Noux, A.A. HedgeCoke, Gerard Houarner, Liz Martínez, R. Narvaez, Kimberly Roppolo, Leonard Schonberg, and Melissa Yi.

From the introduction by Sarah Cortez:

“Many who inhabit Indian Country love it, and they often stay after their time on Earth is done. Others have died trying to claim it. They continue to wander there in the endless circle of time. This book has stories by both Native and non-Native authors reflecting them all . . .

As you step back into the troubled history of Joseph Bruchac’s “Helper” and Liz Martínez’s “Prowling Wolves,” you will find yourself swept up by a fresh and powerful look into personal revisionist histories. It is, perhaps, not unpredictable that some of these tales show the narrator partaking in what appears to be an eminently satisfying dose of revenge . . . Two of the stories are breathtakingly lyrical in their approach and articulation of the hard price paid by some Indians for spiritual homelessness and transgression: Kimberly Roppolo’s “Quilt like a Night Sky” and A.A. HedgeCoke’s “On Drowning Pond” . . .

Before you journey with these talented authors through the north, south, east, and west of Indian Country, you might wish to reflect upon the words of the famous Oglala Lakota teacher Black Elk: “Birds make their nests in circles; we dance in circles; the circle stands for the Sun and Moon and all round things in the natural world. The circle is an endless creation, with endless connections to the present, all that went before and all that will come in the future.“

Table of Contents

Foreword by Richard B. Williams, president & CEO of the American Indian College Fund.

Introduction

Part I: East
“Helper” by Joseph Bruchac (Adirondacks, New York)
“Osprey Lake” by Jean Rae Baxter (Eastern Woodlands, Canada)
“Dead Medicine Snake Woman” by Gerard Houarner (New York, New York)
“Indian Time” by Melissa Yi (Ontario, Canada)

Part II: South
“On Drowning Pond” by A.A. HedgeCoke (Charlotte, North Carolina)
“Daddy’s Girl” by Mistina Bates (Memphis, Tennessee)
“The Raven and the Wolf” by O’Neil De Noux (New Orleans, Louisiana)
“Juracán” by R. Narvaez (San Juan, Puerto Rico)

Part III: West
“JaneJohnDoe.com” by David Cole (Tuscon, Arizona)
“Lame Elk” by Leonard Schonberg (Ashland, Montana)
“Another Role” by Reed, Farrel Coleman (Los Angeles, California)

Part IV: North
“Getting Lucky” by Lawrence Block (Upper Peninsula, Michigan)
“Prowling Wolves” by Liz Martínez (Chicago, Illinois)
“Quilt like a Night Sky” by Kimberly Roppolo (Alberta, Canada)

Book Details

  • Paperback: 300 pages
  • Published: 6/1/10
  • IBSN: 9781936070053
  • e-IBSN: 9781936070824

Authors

Sarah Cortez

SARAH CORTEZ, a law-enforcement officer, is the award-winning author of the poetry collection How To Undress a Cop. Cortez coedited with Liz Martínez Indian Country Noir and the fiction anthology Hit list: The Best of Latino Mystery. She brings her heritage and blood as a Tejana with Mexican, French, Comanche, and Spanish to the written page.

More info »

LIZ MARTÍNEZ’s stories have appeared in Manhattan Noir, Queens Noir, and Cop Tales 2000. She is the coeditor of Indian Country Noir, the author of the nonfiction book The Retail Manager’s Guide to Crime and Loss Prevention, and her articles about security and law enforcement have appeared in publications around the world. She is a member of Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers and she lives in New York.

More info »