In what is probably a first-ever, Ethiopian writers’ short stories are anthologized and published in the US this August. Addis Ababa Noir is the name of the collection edited by Maaza Mengiste and features big Ethiopian literary names such as Adam Reta, Bewketu Seyoum, Meron Hadero and Sulaiman Addonia. In total, the book includes fourteen fictional works by Ethiopians based in the country and the diaspora with each story set in a part of Addis Ababa, for example, Shiro Meda, Bole, Merkato, etc.
In describing the “Noir” genre in fiction, editor Maaza Mengiste, who was recently longlisted for the Booker Prize for her novel The Shadow Kind, says the stories capture “a beautiful city with dark edges.” Noir stories are stories that are dark at heart, revolving around a crime, a mystery or a deeply flawed central character. Linda Yohannes, a contributor in the collection of a story about a housemaid who steals from her employer, points out “the cover of the book is a good representation. It’s not glamorous Addis, but Addis by night, which is very different from say, Sunday morning Addis.” Teferi Nigussie Tafa who contributed the story set in Meskel Square says one of the reasons he picked that location was because he was once arrested from there.
The stories vary in style, each author morphing their personal philosophies and versions of Ethiopian noir into their fiction. Mikael Awake’s Father Bread features a tense relationship between a father and son that reflects on Ethiopia’s folk tales about people who turn into Hyenas. Maaza’s own entry titled Dust, Ash, Flight explores a story about an Argentine photographer who is forced to take photos of prisoners before they were executed by the Derg – an era in Ethiopia’s history that serves as the setting for more than one of the stories in the collection.
Other contributors in the anthology include Lelissa Girma, Rebecca Fisseha, Solomon Hailemariam, Girma T. Fantaye, Hannah Giorgis and Mahtem Shiferraw.
Many positive reviews of the collection are appearing, including The Washington Post: “Several of the 14 stories here, most of them striking and accomplished, involve post-revolution loss, guilt and revenge. Some are surreal — fitting for a culture where, as Mengiste writes in her introduction, “there are men who live in the mountains of Ethiopia and can turn into hyenas.”
The book is published by Akashic Books, an independent publisher in New York. It is available in book stores in the US and online on amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop and Akashic’s website. It may not be published in Ethiopia but the publishers have indicated that it may be launched and distributed in Ethiopia.
