Latino Noir: Private Eyes And Really Bad Vatos

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This week, Alt.Latino takes a look at a literary genre that explores the darker sides of Latino imagination. Darko Labor/Getty Images/EyeEm hide caption

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Darko Labor/Getty Images/EyeEm

This week, Alt.Latino takes a literary turn as we explore the world of Latino noir.

Good guys, bad guys and cops who are both; murder, intrigue and gallows humor; highly stylized writing — it’s all there, as with any noir fiction. But these books and stories are written by Latinx authors.

Our guide through this wonderful world of crime fiction is writer Carmen Amato. She’s the author of a thrilling series featuring a detective named Emilia Cruz, the first female detective on the Acapulco police force.

We have a lengthy discussion of Amato’s writing, and she helps us explore the work of other Latino-noir writers. To do that, we’re trying something new in our show: Along with music, you’ll hear dramatic readings of excerpts of stories and books by the authors we discuss.

The show is a little different this week, but our intent is still the same: to present Latinx arts and culture in as many forms as possible. Listen, enjoy and find something new to love.

All readings by Washington, D.C.-based actress and performer Marisa Arbona-Ruiz.