Arena volume 2 Noir Fiction Anarchists in fiction

Arena Two taps into the rich seam of anarchists in fiction, and anarchist/libertarian noir authors. This second volume focuses on books with atmospheric qualities that are dark and sinister–but not without hope. Their protagonists, some with profoundly flawed personalities, have something of the romantic optimist about them; men and women driven to face moral challenges and to do battle with the forces of evil or plain banality. They live in a world where natural justice isn’t part of the landscape. Authors we will be looking at include: Diego R. Barbosa (of the Novela Ideal series), Stig Dagerman, Andre Helena, Leo Malet, George Navel, Jean-Marc Raynaud, Leda Rafanelli, B. Traven, and Simone Weil. There will also be reviews by Agustin Guillamon of Miguel Mir’s Entre El Roig I El Negre (supposed memoirs found in London of a FAI gunman) and by Massimo Ortalli on a 1923 novel published by a Salesian friar, The Regeneration of An Anarchist (imprisoned anarchist finds God and recommits his life) with extracts from the original. The issue will also examine the relationship between surrealism and anarchism with articles by Simon Watson Taylor and Stephen Schwartz.