Code Noir is storytelling at its deepest and most intimate. These stories are magic and you must enter them as if you, too, are wondrous. Dionne Brand, author of Nomenclature, Theory, and Map to the Door of No Return

Canisia Lubrin’s debut fiction is that rare work of arta brilliant, startlingly original book that combines immense literary and political force. Its structure, deceptively simple, is based on the infamous Code Noir, a set of real historical decrees originally passed in 1685 by King Louis XIV of France defining the conditions of slavery in the French colonial empire. The original code had fifty-nine articles; Code Noir has fifty-nine linked fictionsvivid, unforgettable, multilayered fragments filled with globe-wise characters who desire to live beyond the ruins of the past.

Accompanied by black-and-white drawingsone at the start of each fictionby acclaimed visual artist Torkwase Dyson, and with a foreword by Christina Sharpe, Code Noir ranges in style from contemporary realism to dystopian literature, from futuristic fantasy to historical fiction. This inventive, shape-shifting braid of narratives exists far beyond the boundaries of an official decree.

Published : February 4, 2025

Language : English

Hardcover : 416 pages