Lagos Noir

Chris Abani, a Nigerian-born, award-winning poet and novelist, currently teaches at Northwestern University in Chicago. He is the recipient of a PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, a Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond Margins Award, a PEN/Hemingway Award, and a Guggenheim Award. He is the coeditor of New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Tano) and editor of Lagos Noir.

• IntroductionPARTI: COPS & ROBBERSWhat They Did ThatNightHeaven’s GateShowlogoJust Ignore andTry to EndurePARTII: IN A FAMILY WAYThe Swimming PoolWhat Are You GoingTo Do?For Baby, ForThree EdenJoyPARTIII: ARRIVALS & DEPARTURESChoir BoyThe Walking StickUncle Sam InternationalAirportKiller ApeAbout theContributors

The African megalopolis of Lagos,Nigeria, makes a perfect setting for mystery stories with a noir bent. Urbananonymity and alienation are key to noir, as are femmes fatales, con men, heistcrews, crooked cops, and naïve newcomers from the sticks. The sights,sounds, and equatorial heat of the big city heighten the tensions inherent intales of robbery, murder, and other desperate acts. Crime is no respecter ofclass either, with stories set in the wealthiest, gated enclaves and thepoorest of the poor shantytowns. The smell of local street food cooking overfires on every street corner is omnipresent… With its breadth ofcontributors, this latest volume in the publisher’s city noir series will satisfyboth the fan of contemporary African fiction and the newcomer interested indiscovering some new voices. — Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs.,Bowling Green