Philadelphia Noir - Carlin Romano [99]
HALIMAH MARCUS was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Narberth, a western suburb of the city. After receiving her BA in English at Vassar College, she returned to live and work in West Philadelphia. She currently attends Brooklyn College’s MFA Program in Creative Writing for fiction.
CARLIN ROMANO, Critic-at-Large of the Chronicle of Higher Education and Literary Critic of the Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty-five years (1984–2009), is now Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Ursinus College. In 2006, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism, cited by the Pulitzer Board for “bringing new vitality to the classic essay across a formidable array of topics.” He lives in University City.
ASALI SOLOMON was born and raised in West Philadelphia. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award and was selected as one of the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” for her first book of short stories, Get Down. After nearly twenty years of wandering, she once again lives in West Philadelphia, with her husband and son.
LAURA SPAGNOLI lived in various apartments in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square area for twelve years before moving to the Italian Market neighborhood. Her poetry has appeared in ONandOnScreen.net, New Millennium Writings, and Philadelphia Stories, among other places. She works as an associate professor of French instruction at Temple University, where she founded a magazine featuring students’ original writing translated into and out of English.
DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI is the author of several best-selling Philadelphia-based crime thrillers, most recently Expiration Date and Severance Package. He also writes for Marvel Comics, and is especially proud that he once brought Frank Castle, a.k.a. the Punisher, to the mean streets of Philly. He’s the former editor-in-chief of the Philadelphia City Paper, and lives with his family in the so-called “Great Northeast.”
DENNIS TAFOYA was born in Philadelphia and lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His first novel, Dope Thief, was published by St. Martin’s Minotaur in 2009. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the International Thriller Writers, and the Liars Club, a Philadelphia-area writers group. His second novel, The Wolves of Fairmount Park, was published by St. Martin’s in June 2010.
JIM ZERVANOS is the author of the novel LOVE Park, which was hailed as “a love letter to Philadelphia” and a “tribute to the power of brotherly love.” His fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including the story anthology Philly Fiction. He is a graduate of Bucknell University and the Warren Wilson MFA Program. An English and creative-writing teacher, he lives with his wife in the city’s art-museum area.
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
PART I: CITY OF BURSTS
AIMEE LABRIE
South Philadelphia
SOLOMON JONES
Strawberry Mansion
ASALI SOLOMON
West Philadelphia
KEITH GILMAN
Grays Ferry
PART II: CITY OF OTHERLY LOVE
DENNIS TAFOYA
East Falls
LAURA SPAGNOLI
Rittenhouse Square
HALIMAH MARCUS
Narberth
PART III: THE FAKER CITY
MEREDITH ANTHONY
Fishtown
JIM ZERVANOS
Fairmount
CARLIN ROMANO
University City
DIANE AYRES
Bella Vista
PART IV: THOSE WHO FORGET THE PAST…
DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Frankford
CORDELIA FRANCES BIDDLE
Old City
GERALD KOLPAN
South Street
CARY HOLLADAY
Chestnut Hill
About the Contributors