This image is the cover for the book Beirut Noir, Akashic Noir

Beirut Noir, Akashic Noir

“Haunting” stories about crimes that are “often submerged in the greater tragedy of a beautiful city constantly torn within and without by violence” (Publishers Weekly).

Beirut is a city both urban and rural, a city of violence and forgiveness, memory and forgetfulness, war and peace. This short story collection, rich with moody suspense, brings this Middle Eastern city and its troubled history to vivid life—revealing the vast maze of the city that can’t be found in tourist brochures or hazy, nostalgic depictions of Beirut.

Featuring brand-new stories by Rawi Hage, Mohamad Abi Samra, Leila Eid, Hala Kawtharani, Marie Tawk, Bana Baydoun, Hyam Yared, Najwa Barakat, Alawiyeh Sobh, Mazen Zahreddine, Abbas Beydoun, Bachir Hilal, Zena El Khalil, Mazen Maarouf, and Tarek Abi Samra.

“The Lebanese authors featured in the collection draw from a much broader palette of Beirut life, and, true to the genre, they tap into their city’s dark past and uncertain present. Some stories are absurd and humorous, but almost all are haunted in some way by a nagging memory, a war, a death.” —The National

Iman Humaydan

Iman Humaydan is a Lebanese writer, creative writing teacher, translator, editor/publisher, and journalist. Her novels B as in Beirut, Wild Mulberries, Other Lives, and The Weight of Paradise, all written in Arabic, have been translated and published internationally. She is the cofounder of the Lebanese chapter of PEN, and splits her time between Beirut and Paris. She is the editor of Beirut Noir.

Akashic Books