Nothing surprises us anymore. Populism and fake news “prove” the world we knew will collapse any time. Migrants are not trying to escape heartless business models conceived by greedy arms dealers, they’re here to steal our jobs, rape our women and cut our heads off. Gay people lurk around every corner and threaten to infect our children who’ll also become homosexual. Right now, lizards are taking over the planet. And, yeah, the Earth is flat…
That’s what you can find out in the most reliable sources of social media. But here and there you can still find people who search for answers in literature. Answers about real life. Answers about people you’d never want to meet, but you empathize with anyway. About people who jeopardize everything to reach their goals, although you can tell from the start they’re not going to reach them. About people like … you and me.
So, another Alibi is over, another bunch of awesome people, not to talk about food and drink and what stories came out at the end.
This year we were kind of Balkan-themed: Johnny Shaw was in Croatia when we first talked about Alibi in January, Anamaria Ionescu is from Romania, and Marko Popovič & Robert Perišić, well we share the country that doesn’t exist anymore. And we represent Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia in the BalkaNoir anthology published by Greek publisher Kastaniotis Editions.
For me, Alibi means having an alibi for three days of shameless eating and drinking … And writing, of course, the third day means reading what you wrote in front of an audience. Check it out.
Again a group of fine people got together ― I’m not sure whether I have such luck in picking just the right people or is just every crime and noir writer a wonderful person?
Again some fine stories came out of the mix of hard work, earthly pleasures and mutual inspiration. Find them here.
In two years, a very special thing is going to happen: all the writers will get together again and celebrate the Alibi Anthology, where all the stories from 2015 to 2019 are published together.
PS: If you’re at Frankfurt Book Fair, visit the panel on Balkan Noir where I’m one of the speakers.
Cass Loyola is a Cuban merchant seaman turned New York poet who is struggling to make ends meet in the big apple. Jobless and on the verge of losing his home, he begins an affair the wife of a rich banker and his life spirals even more out of control.
