Memphis Noir

A rich volume of Southern urban noir exploring sides of Memphis that only the locals know, but often don't reveal.

“A remarkable picture of contemporary Memphis emerges in this Akashic noir volume . . . Something for everyone.” ―Publishers Weekly

“Memphis Noir covers train cars and Beale Street, hoodoo and segregation, Nathan Bedford Forrest and, of course, Graceland, and even includes a graphic novella.” ―Memphis Flyer

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.

Featuring brand-new stories by: Richard J. Alley, David Wesley Williams, Dwight Fryer, Jamey Hatley, Adam Shaw, Penny Register-Shaw, Kaye George, Arthur Flowers, Suzanne Berube Rorhus, Ehi Ike, Lee Martin, Stephen Clements, Cary Holladay, John Bensko, Sheree Renée Thomas, and Troy L. Wiggins.

From the introduction by Laureen P. Cantwell & Leonard Gill:

A city equal parts darkness and hope. A scarred city. An often violent one. But a resilient city too.

That’s our Memphis.

Like many cities, we have a namesake―in Egypt, Men-nefer became Menfe became Memphis, enduring and beautiful, on the banks of the Nile. Centuries later, another continent, another people, another river: Memphis, Tennessee, the soul of the Mississippi Delta, was formed. We are a place born of history, inhabited as much by memory as by the living―the past and present inextricably and inescapably linked . . . . Memphis is marvels and misfits―two-faced and unabashedly so.

We are Memphis, and this is our noir.

LEONARD GILL (1953–2017) was born and raised in Memphis. He wrote a book column and blog for the Memphis Flyer, the city’s alternative newsweekly, and wrote spotlights on local writers for a monthly book feature in Memphis magazine. He's the coeditor of Memphis Noir.

LAUREEN P. CANTWELL grew up in eastern Long Island and eventually found her way to Memphis ―“the rock ’n’ roll side of Tennessee.” She lived in Midtown for two years while working as a librarian at the University of Memphis and grew to love the darkness of the city―and Elvis. She is the coeditor of Memphis Noir.