Toulouse Noir

Brand-New Stories By: Al Baylac, Maïté Bernard, Tanella Boni, Manu Causse, Gaspard Chauvelot, Pascal Dessaint, Francis Émourgeon, Sarah Grall, Adeline Grand-Clément, Nicolas Rouillé, Hafid Saïdi, and Benoît Séverac. All stories translated from French by David and Nicole Ball.

From the Introduction by Charles-Henri Lavielle:

If these stories are rooted in cities—Toulouse in this case—even reduced to their specificity, they also speak to our common humanity. 'Nothing human is foreign to me,' French anthropologist Alban Bensa said repeatedly. And that's probably enough of a reason to read this collection, even if you've never set foot here...

Bensa also advocated for the necessity of always returning to the terrain to observe and listen. Describing before writing is the only way to give a credible account... That ability to observe is what guided my choice of authors for this collection. I tried to bring together a variety of people, of various ages, backgrounds, genders, with different life experiences, who all have a strong connection to Toulouse and to writing—in an attempt to attach the atmosphere of the city to your future steps. And if you never come, to make you feel what you would have found here.