Noir on the River

Posted on November 3, 2008
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The editors of Detroit Noir will take part in the upcoming 10th annual Writers on the River Book Fair, sponsored by the Monroe County Library System.

The event will take place this coming Sunday, November 9th, from Noon to 3 p.m. at the Ellis Reference & Information Center, 3700 South Custer Road, Monroe, MI 48161-9716. For more information, please call 734-241-5277.

Please stop by and say hello.

EJO & JCH

Detroit Noir in Bedford Township

Posted on October 10, 2008
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Detroit Noir editors John C. Hocking and E.J. Olsen, along with contributor Joe Boland, will be speaking at the Bedford Branch of the Monroe County Library.

The event takes place on Wednesday, October 22nd, and starts at 7 p.m.
We’ll talk about the book, Joe will read from his work, and we’ll take questions afterward.

We’ll also have books for sale, so please join us!

The Bedford Branch is located at 8575 Jackman Rd. in Temperance, MI.
Call the branch for more details at (734) 847-6747.

EJO & JCH

Kerrytown BookFest

Posted on August 22, 2008
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The Kerrytown BookFest is coming up on September 7 in Ann Arbor, we heartily recommend attending.

E.J. Olsen will be leading a panel discussion called “The Art of the Short Story,” that will feature authors Peter Ho Davies, Joe Borri, Dorene O’Brien and Lolita Hernandez. Dorene and Lolita are both Detroit Noir contributors.

Please stop by to hear what these very talented folks have to say on the subject of the short story.

EJO & JCH

Two new Detroit Noir events

Posted on March 12, 2008
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Now that spring is finally in sight, we are beginning another series of Detroit Noir readings in the Metro area.

Here are the first two:

Friday, April 4, at Borders Books & Music in Grosse Pointe.
The event starts at 7 p.m., and will feature editors E.J. Olsen and John C. Hocking, contributors Lolita Hernandez and Joe Boland, and other contributors TBD.
The store is located at 17141 Kercheval, just three blocks east of Cadieux, in Grosse Pointe. Call the store for more details at 313.885.1188.

Saturday, April 5, at Borders Books & Music in Taylor.
The event starts at 1 p.m., and will feature editors E.J. Olsen and John C. Hocking, contributors Peter Markus and Joe Boland, and other contributors TBD.
The store is located at the Southland Mall at 23000 Eureka Rd., just east of Telegraph, in Taylor. Call the store for more details at 734.374.5345.

Watch this space as we’ll be adding more events soon.

EJO & JCH

Q&A with Detroit Noir contributor Peter Markus

Posted on December 28, 2007
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Peter Markus is orginally from the southwest side of Detroit. He now works with the InsideOut Literary Arts Project, which sends writers into Detroit public schools. He is the author of three books of short fiction, Good Brother, The Moon Is a Lighthouse, and The Singing Fish. His novel, Bob, or Man on Boat, is forthcoming in 2008.

We were on our way upriver, up to where the dirty river that runs through our dirty river town begins, it runs all the way up through the city, us brothers heading up there to see if we might catch us some of the big city’s big city dirty river fish, when out of nowhere in the night and in the river’s muddy dark we heard, then saw, a boat, much bigger than ours, it was cutting across and down the river, it was heading right for us brothers. There’s a boat coming right for us, Brother turned his head and said, as he held up the lantern light with that fire glowing inside it so that his face flushed full like the moon. I looked up at Brother then. There was a look that us brothers sometimes liked to look at each other with. It was the kind of a look that actually hurt the eyes of the brother who was doing the looking. Imagine that look. Do I look like a brother born blind? was what I said to Brother then, and I cut the tiller hard and to the right. But that boat, that other boat much bigger than ours, that boat with us brothers not sitting down inside it, it kept on coming toward us brothers, as if it didn’t see us brothers, as if us brothers weren’t even there.

–From “The Dead Man’s Boat” by Peter Markus

What are the challenges (if any) in writing about Detroit?
It’s always difficult to try to render any actual place authentically, which is why I prefer to make up my own fictional, mythical world whenever I possibly can.

Have you written other fiction set in Detroit ?
Yes, I’m most drawn to the city’s southwest side which for me is storied landscape. What attracts you to the (broadly-defined) Noir style? I honestly had little to no idea what “noir” meant prior to producing the story for the Detroit Noir anthology. I suppose the notion that noir could mean anything nightish, or dark, or violent, would naturally draw me into its net.

Is your story based on, or overtly influenced by, actual events?
No, the brothers exist nowhere but in my own head. The “dead man’s boat” refers, in fact, to a scene in my novel, Bob, or Man on Boat, that I’ve got coming out this summer from Dzanc Books. If you could write anything and see it published, what would it be? I’ve got a new sequence of brother stories, We Make Mud, that I’d like to see spined into a book.

Is there any particular effect you want your writing to have on the reader?
I want my fiction to swallow the reader entirely into its mouth. I want the world of my invention to displace the world that exists routinely out through the window.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
Cormac McCarthy makes the pen seize up in my hand. When I read McCarthy, especially his early-ish work, I find myself throwing up my hands and asking myself, Why even bother! I also admire the fictions of Yannick Murphy, Noy Holland, Gary Lutz, Ben Marcus, Beckett, Stein, Hemingway, Faulkner, Barry Hannah, Gordon Lish.

Detroit speed round: Eminem or the White Stripes?
The bands out of Detroit that I love are the ones that I grew up on in the early 80s art-punk scene: L-7, Private Angst, Sleep, Negative Approach, Chris Moore. I’ve seen the White Stripes a number of times, mostly before they broke it wide open, and liked them best when they acted and played like brother and sister who’d been forbidden to kiss. Also, Ken Waagner and the Linkletters.

Palmer Woods Holiday Salon

Posted on December 13, 2007
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Dear Palmer Woods Neighbors and Friends:

Take a break from the malls and celebrate the season at an interlude with the arts!
Barbara and Spencer Barefield invite you to their Holiday Salon,
A winter wonderland of jazz, literature, designer pottery, wine & refreshments.

Sunday, December 16, 2 - 4 p.m.
 19550 Argyle Crescent in Palmer Woods, Detroit
Admission is free - just bring your support for the arts!

Music & Art:
Exhibit and sale of designer pottery by artist, Spencer Barefield IV
Performances by jazz-notable A. Spencer Barefield and sale of CDs

Readings & Book Signings:
Desiree Cooper, co-author of Detroit Noir, and Other People’s Skin.
Elizabeth Atkins, co-author of Other People’s Skin.
E.J. Olsen, editor and co-author of Detroit Noir.
(Note: Other People’s Skin is a recommended book in the Dec. 2007 issue of Ebony)

RSVP to Barbara, 313-891-2514 or barbarabarefield@aol.com

Desiree Cooper is the co-host for public radio’s Weekend America, a frequent commentator for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, and a columnist for the Detroit Free Press. A University of Virginia law school graduate, she has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize twice and has won prizes for poetry and fiction.

Elizabeth Atkins is the bestselling author of five novels with mixed-race characters: White Chocolate (featured on Montel), Dark Secret, Twilight (with Billy Dee Williams), and two hip-hop novels for Urban Books that were in Black Expressions Book Club. After attending Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Elizabeth was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for articles on race at The Detroit News. She also celebrated a 100-pound weight loss on Oprah.

E. J. Olsen comes from a long line of sturdy Michigan folk, and has lived in the Detroit area most of his life. He works as a freelance writer and editor and is currently writing his first novel.

Here are the links:
http://www.empowerourselves.org/
http://www.detroitnoir.com/

Q&A with Detroit Noir contributor Nisi Shawl

Posted on December 8, 2007
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Nisi Shawl is a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her short horror story, “Cruel Sistah,” which first appeared in Issac Asimov’s SF Magazine, was reprinted in the nineteenth volume of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror.

Shadows covered the car hood, the road ahead, the view out of either window. Thin shadows, thickening as she noticed them, leafless branches crowding together to warm their sap in the spring sun. They were in the woods, and suddenly that ignorant driver had swung into an unpaved side road. The car slowed to a crawl, ruts and puddles rocking it along. Farmer stopped again, for no reason Leora could see.
“Is this where we hide to look for the deer? And I can learn to drive?” the boy asked.
“Yessir, Mister McGinniss. This here’s the place. Just let me take you on my lap.” The driver got out and went around the back to Kevin’s side. As Farmer opened the door, the fear smell came off him in great stinking waves like a waterfall. Leora reached for Kevin. She got him by his waist and held him as Farmer grabbed his arm, lifting half off the car seat.
The boy screamed. They were pulling him apart, hurting him. Leora loosened her grip, but only for a moment. Then she had him again, by his wool-clad thighs this time, and they were both out on the ground, Farmer yelling and yanking Kevin’s arm, jerking him around so that Leora rolled din the mud. Sharp pains, blows to her sides that made her sick. Someone was kicking her and she screamed, held on tighter as if the boy could keep away the pain.
“Stop.” It was a man’s voice, sounding quiet above all the noise, like smoke above a flame. Leora held Kevin solidly in her arms, sat up on the muddy ground and looked.
There were three of them. The driver Farmer, or whatever his real name was, and two more. The others wore masks, but she recognized one by his sweater, a thick gray cardigan bunched up over his broad hips. He’s been sitting on the sawhorse at the construction site. He had a gun. It was aimed at her. And beside him stood a man in a long coat with his hands in the pockets.
“What do you want?” Leora asked. The thin man snorted.
“Shut up, mammy.” Farmer rolled his shoulder, wincing like she’d hurt him. Good.

–from “Little Horses” by Nisi Shawl

What are the challenges (if any) in writing about Detroit?
Doesn’t seem like there’s any special challenge there: lots of themes, scenes, characters, etc. Everybody should be doing it.

Have you written other fiction set in Detroit?
Yes, my short fantasy story “Wallamelon” takes place partly in Detroit and partly in Kalamazoo. It’s available online at the site of Aeon Magazine; there’s a “teaser” at http://www.aeonmagazine.com/aeonthree.html. The heroine of “Wallamelon,” Oneida Brandy, spends summers with her Big Mama near the Detroit Institute of Arts.

What attracts you to the (broadly-defined) Noir style?
What attracts me is the possibility of perverting it. Okay, maybe I mean *sub*verting it. I’ve always been a fan of Raymond Chandler’s descriptive powers; I would like to harness them to my own attitudes and sensibilities, my feminism and my experiences as a person of color. I’m not the only one interested in doing this, I know. But that’s what I want. Among other things. I do have one other neo-noir story out there: “But She’s Only a Dream,” on the website of a magazine called Trabuco Road (http://www.trabucoroad.com/stories/only_a_dream.html).
Does it fulfill my ambitions? You tell me.

Is your story based on, or overtly influenced by, actual events?
I used to have a friend. She was white. One day she felt comfortable enough with me to speak about her lifelong desire to have a black child. Not to give birth to a black child, but to possess one. That’s part of the emotional background of “Little Horses.” If you could write anything and see it published, what would it be? Hey, I’ve got a couple of novels already finished–be nice to see *those* published. One’s a “dark fantasy” called La Verde, a YA book about body image and soul maggots; another’s a science fiction novel called The Blazing World, dealing with cloning and slavery 300 years in the future. I’ve also got this weird “faux history” project I’d like to write and see printed. It’s called The Five Petals of Thought, and it’s based on a dream. I’ve got a publisher who is very interested, but I need someone to pay my rent while I do the research and put the manuscript together. And I’ve got a few chapters done on an Intermediate Level (9- to 12-year-old reader) fantasy novel called Speculations, about a little girl who finds a pair of glasses that let her see ghosts. I’ve got plenty more plans, but you’ve probably heard enough for now. Is there any particular effect you want your writing to have on the reader? Why? I want to assume total control of my readers’ minds. I want power! Power!!

Who are some of your favorite authors?
I already mentioned Chandler. Colette, she’s another big influence. Samuel R. Delany and Gwyneth Jones are both SF authors (not “sci-fi,” please–that’s like calling me a Negro) who totally awe and astound me. Richard K. Morgan writes “neo-cyber-punk,” a subgenre of SF with a strong noir influence. His most recent novel, Thirteen it’s called in the US, is just brilliant. And William Gibson, the first widely known cyberpunk writer, has just published a pair of great anti-thrillers, Pattern Recognition and Spook Country. Walter Mosley is simply one of the best writers living. I especially love his Easy Rawlins mysteries. Karen Joy Fowler, of Jane Austen Book Club fame, has also written some beautifully weird and nearly unclassifiable stuff such as Sister Noon and Sarah Canary. Haruki Murakami’s Hardboiled Wonderland and the Edge of the World is not to be missed–I dreamt about it for weeks after I finished it. Can you tell I like reading books?

Detroit speed round: Eminem or the White Stripes?
Eminem. Fo sho.

Dearborn goes Noir!

Posted on November 29, 2007
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Detroit Noir editors and contributors continue their tour of the Metro Area with a stop tonight, Friday, November 30, at Borders Books & Music in Dearborn.

The event starts at 7pm, and will feature editor E.J. Olsen, as well as authors Joe Boland, Roger K. Johnson, Lolita Hernandez and Dorene O’Brien.

The store is located at 5601 Mercury Drive, north off Ford Rd, between the Southfield Freeway and Greenfield Road. Call the store for more details at 313.271.4441.

Stop by and say hello!

EJO & JCH

Q&A with Detroit Noir contributor P.J. Parrish

Posted on November 18, 2007
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P.J. Parrish, the New York Times best-selling author is the Louis Kincaid series, is actually two sisters, Kris Montee and Kelly Nichols. Their books have been multiple nominees for the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, and Thriller awards. They were born and raised in Detroit, and return home as often possible–both in person and in their fiction.

In the few seconds before he arrived, I took small, calming breaths and I hoped for things I had no right to hope for.
I hoped the T-shirt I had brought to put over the gun would muffle the sound. I hoped the people who lived there were too used to gunfire to even hear it anymore. I hoped no one had seen me move from my car to the shadows at the side of the apartment building. I hoped Angela would not grieve for this man too long.
I heard his footsteps before I saw him.
It kicked my heart up another notch and I drew what I knew would be my last full breath for the next few minutes.
I raised the gun. Kept it close to my side so it was partially obscured.
The sheen of his leather jacket caught the glow of the streetlight first. Then I saw a slice of skin and the glint of an eye that for a second looked more animal than human.
Two steps further and his entire body came into focus. He was walking straight toward me, but the emptiness of the night made me invisible to a man seeing only the weak yellow light of his front door.
He stopped at the stoop, nose and ears turned up to the air, as if he could smell my presence.
I stepped from the darkness.

–From “Pride” by P.J. Parrish

What are the challenges (if any) in writing about Detroit?
We were born and raised in Detroit. A great place to grow up. But because we have not lived there since 1962, we had to be very careful we didn’t fall prey to stereotypes or worse, nostalgia. Memory — Sanders fudge sundaes as Madeleine? — is not always a novelist’s best research tool.

Have you written other fiction set in Detroit?
Not set in the city itself. Our four “Michigan” books have been set in various locales, including Leelanau County, Ann Arbor, Saugatuck Grosse Pointe and the Irish Hills. We considered setting our series character Louis Kincaid in Detroit because he always wanted to work for DPD. But Detroit is a complex city, with none of the facile glamour of say, LA or Miami, and it’s subtly is not easily captured by an outsider. Which, if you haven’t lived in Detroit for years, you definitely are.

What attracts you to the (broadly-defined) Noir style?
While they might not be categorized as classically “noir,” our series books are dark toned and realistic. We like stories that explore the gray shades of morality. Not all heroes are good; not all villains are evil. And not everyone gets out alive.

Is your story based on, or overtly influenced by, actual events?
This is the only thing that is true in our story: Kris, just out of college, lived in a basement apartment off Woodward and at night could hear the lions roaring the Detroit Zoo. It just took her thirty years to figure out why.

If you could write anything and see it published, what would it be?
A truly funny book. Writing humorous fiction is not for the weak or timid. Believe us, we’ve tried. You can fake hardboiled, maybe even noir. You can’t fake funny.

Is there any particular effect you want your writing to have on the reader?
We want them to care about the people. Character is everything.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
Joyce Carol Oates. John D. MacDonald. Ross MacDonald.

Detroit speed round: Eminem or the White Stripes?
Good lord. We cast a dissenting vote for the Amboy Dukes. We’re older than dirt.

Birmingham goes Noir!

Posted on November 16, 2007
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Detroit Noir editors and contributors continue their tour of the Metro Area with a stop tonight at Borders Books & Music in Birmingham.

The event starts at 7pm, and will feature editors E.J. Olsen and John C. Hocking, as well as authors Roger K. Johnson, Michael Zadoorian, Craig Bernier and Dorene O’Brien.

The store is located at 34300 Woodward, between Lincoln St. and W. Maple Road (15 Mile). Call the store for more details at 248.203.0005.

Stop by and say hello!

EJO & JCH

— keep looking »