Rawi Hage - Carnival

Once I reached the river, I flew under the bridge. So long! I cried as I steered the carpet towards the narrow road and headed south to a small town of factories and workingmen. I landed safely. I left my carpet hovering at the doorstep and I entered the motel where the Magdalena girls once offered themselves to the killers of beasts. The Turk at reception was still there, in the same position as the last time I had visited this place. I asked him if the tall Arab was upstairs. Yes, he said. It is the end of the month. He is smoking at the window and the door of his room is always left open.

I took the stairs up. I stepped inside the room and saw the Arab at the window. I told him not to wait anymore, not to grieve, because she was dead and she was not coming back, and I left the room and flew again.

RAWI HAGE IS a writer and visual artist. His two critically acclaimed novels, De Niro’s Game and Cockroach , have been translated into twenty-nine languages. Born in Beirut, he lives in Montreal.

HOUSE OF ANANSI Press was founded in 1967 with a mandate to publish Canadian-authored books, a mandate that continues to this day even as the list has branched out to include internationally acclaimed thinkers and writers. The press immediately gained attention for significant titles by notable writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, George Grant, and Northrop Frye. Since then, Anansi’s commitment to finding, publishing and promoting challenging, excellent writing has won it tremendous acclaim and solid staying power. Today Anansi is Canada’s pre-eminent independent press, and home to nationally and internationally bestselling and acclaimed authors such as Gil Adamson, Margaret Atwood, Ken Babstock, Peter Behrens, Rawi Hage, Misha Glenny, Jim Harrison, A. L. Kennedy, Pasha Malla, Lisa Moore, A. F. Moritz, Eric Siblin, Karen Solie, and Ronald Wright. Anansi is also proud to publish the award-winning nonfiction series The CBC Massey Lectures. In 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011 Anansi was honoured by the Canadian Booksellers Association as “Publisher of the Year.”