Podcasts about Irenosen Okojie

Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian British author whose work pushes the boundaries of form, language and ideas. Her novel, Butterfly Fish, and short story collections, Speak Gigantular and Nudibranch, have won and been nominated for multiple awards. Her journalism has been featured in The New York Times, the Observer, the Guardian and the Huffington Post. She has also judged various literary prizes including the Dylan Thomas Prize, the Gordon Burn Prize and the BBC National Short Story Award. She was a judge for the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction. Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, she was awarded an MBE For Services to Literature in 2021. She is the director and founder of Black to the Future festival. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her latest novel Curandera. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RADIO ROMANCE by Garrison Keillor, chosen by Sarah Phelps PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi, chosen by Irenosen Okojie ABSOLUTELY AND FOREVER by Rose Tremain, chosen by Harriett GilbertTwo authors pick books they love with Harriett Gilbert.Screenwriter, playwright and television producer Sarah Phelps (The Sixth Commandment, A Very British Scandal, EastEnders) brings us the trials and tribulations of a small-town radio station in the Midwest. Told with humour and irony, but also packs a punch.Novelist and short story writer Irenosen Okojie (Hag, Butterfly Fish, Speak Gigantular) chooses Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, an autobiographical graphic novel charting the writer's childhood in Iran, set against the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution, before her move to Austria.Harriett Gilbert brings Absolutely and Forever by Rose Tremain, a story about the all-consuming power of first love, set 1960s London.Produced by Sally Heaven for BBC Audio Bristol Join the conversation on Instagram @bbcagoodread

Irenosen Okojie talks to Johny Pitts about her new book, Curandera.

In Episode 4: Emotional Beats (Part 1) Jeannetta and Brittany welcome Kara Smith to The Write Attention podcast!   Kara is a Bermudan-British screenwriter based in the UK who has worked on the HULU drama series BLACK CAKE, the UK's highly acclaimed streaming series: HBO/Sky's horror-comedy THE BABY, Netflix's new genre series LOCKWOOD & CO from Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright, as well as Amazon's ANANSI BOYS created by Neil Gaiman, among other productions. In the first part of this conversation, Kara, Brittany and Jeannetta discuss the cross-sections between screenwriting and fiction/poetry including how screenwriters view emotions in writing and whether you should write about what you know. Show Notes 1. La Maison Baldwin, https://www.lamaisonbaldwin.org/ 2. Irenosen Okojie, https://www.irenosenokojie.com/. 3. Save the Cat by Blake Snyder, https://savethecat.com/ 4. “Phenomenal Women” by Maya Angelou can be found here: ​​https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48985/phenomenal-woman 5. Mad Men, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0804503/ 6. “The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power” by Audre Lorde can be found in Sister Outsider   

Irenosen Okojie is the Nigerian-British author of Butterfly Fish and the short story collections, Speak Gigantular and Nudibranch. She co-presented the BBC's Turn Up for The Books podcast, she's vice chair of the Royal Society of Literature and was a judge for the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction.   The plaque she chose is on Lands Lane in Leeds and reads: "Pablo Fanque. Born William Darby, he was the first Black circus owner in Britain. He regularly performed in Leeds. On 18th March 1848, near to this location in King Charles' Croft, his circus building collapsed causing the death of his wife Susannah. Both are now buried in the Leeds General Cemetery. 1810-1871". We spoke about the cultural power of the circus during the 19th century, Fanque's entry into the circus and equestrian talent and how and why he appeared in a Beatles song lyric.    The Blue Plaque Pod is brought to you by Kassia St. Clair, author, cultural historian and commemorative plaque fancier. I would love to know what you think, whether you have a favourite plaque, or if there's someone you think would make a great guest. Get in touch at blueplaquepod.com. 

"A hermit in the middle of Los Angeles" is one way she described herself - born in 1947, Butler became a writer who wanted to "tell stories filled with facts. Make people touch and taste and know." Since her death in 2006, her writing has been widely taken up and praised for its foresight in suggesting developments such as big pharma and for its critique of American history. Shahidha Bari is joined by the author Irenosen Okojie and the scholar Gerry Canavan and Nisi Shawl, writer, editor, journalist – and long time friend of Octavia Butler.Irenosen Okojie's latest collection of short stories is called Nudibranch and she was winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for Fiction for her story Grace Jones. You can hear her discussing her own writing life alongside Nadifa Mohamed in a previous Free Thinking episode https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000k8sz Gerry Canavan is co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to American Science Fiction. Nisi Shawl writes about books for The Seattle Times, and also contributes frequently to Ms. Magazine, The Cascadia Subduction Zone, The Washington Post.Producer: Luke MulhallYou might be interested in the Free Thinking episode Science fiction and ecological thinking https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000h6yw and on Ursula Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b6yb37 and a playlist exploring Landmarks of Culture including Frantz Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks and the writing of Audre Lorde, and of Wole Soyinka https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jwn44

After the Disney 100 miniseries, it's time to get back on the path of the Wilderness Years as film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Sam Summers plunge into the mysterious depths of 2001's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. And this time, they're joined by very special guest Irenosen Okojie – author, and founder of the Black To The Future festival – to get to grips with an all-out science-fiction action-adventure movie, the first of its kind in the Walt Disney Animation Studios catalogue. Together, our intrepid trio talk the Greek origins of the Atlantis myths, the instant appeal of Michael J. Fox, the impact of comic book artist Mike Mignola, and whether or not Kida is a Disney Princess. Expect lots of Indiana Jones references, discussions of the film's colonial themes, and heartbreak over the betrayal of Mole. Et tu, Mole? Next up: Lilo & Stitch. Finally! Disniversity is brought to you by Ben Travis (@benstravis) and Sam Summers (@samsummers0), with art by Olly Gibbs and music by Nafets. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @disniversity. This podcast is not affiliated with Disney. — Welcome to Disniversity, the podcast crash course through the history of Disney's animated classics, with film journalist Ben Travis and animation academic Dr. Sam Summers. Each week, we'll be moving forward in time through the legendary Walt Disney Animation Studios catalogue, watching every feature film in chronological order – from Snow White to Strange World. Watch along with us, and listen as we explore each film's historical context, advances in animation and lasting legacy, and talk about how they stand up today.

This book inspires the topics discussed in this episode with personal essays from 24 Nigerian writers, and a more complete and authentic image of the country comes to light. The book delves into the complexities and paradoxes of patriotism, the influence of social class and privilege in Nigerian society, the tension between traditional customs and the diasporic way of life, and the potency of storytelling and its intrinsic association with Nigeria's history. In this collection, highly acclaimed and award-winning writers share their unique memories and experiences of Nigeria, providing an insider's perspective of a country whose influence can be felt worldwide. With essays from Nels Abbey, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Yomi Adegoke, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Oyinkan Akande, Ike Anya, Sefi Atta, Bolu Babalola, J K Chukwu, Abi Daré, Inua EllamsChịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ, Caleb Femi, Helon Habila, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Anietie Isong, Okey Ndibe, Chigozie Obioma, Irenosen Okojie, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe, Lola Shoneyin, Umar Turaki, Chika Unigwe and Hafsa Zayyan. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/caught-readhanded/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/caught-readhanded/support

Our guest co-host. Arianna Reiche, is a Bay Area-born writer based in London. She is the author of the two-story chapbook Warden / Star (Tangerine Press), and At The End Of Every Day (Artia Books/Simon & Schuster). She was also nominated for the 2020 Bridport Prize and the 2020 PANK Magazine Book Contest. She won first prize in Glimmer Train's 2017 Fiction Open and Tupelo Quarterly's 2021 Prose Prize. Her stories have appeared in Ambit Magazine, Joyland, The Mechanics' Institute Review, Berlin's SAND Journal, Feels Blind Literary, Lighthouse Press, and Popshot. Her features have appeared in Art News, The Wall Street Journal, New Scientist, USA Today, The London Fashion Week Daily, Fest Magazine, Vogue International, and Vice. She also researches and lectures in interactive narrative and metafiction at City, University of London.     In Episode 7, Arianna Reiche joins us for a conversation about Place, Peculiarity, & Persistence. We discuss ways we are able to write about place and how that may challenge common conceptions, embracing strange and peculiar perspectives, persisting through life changes, and bearing the brutal bruises of editing.    Questions 1. Place has a lot to do with my fiction - I just wrote a whole novel about the grounds of a theme park, and my next book is set in Berlin - but I often struggle with feeling that I've earned the right to write intimately about any given place. I find that I often sidestep writing about towns/cities/countries with real earnestness because of that, and instead adopt a lens of irony or eeriness. Or I just end up writing about the Bay Area, where I grew up, more than I probably truly want to, because no one can challenge me on my connection to it! Have you ever felt that conflict before? And more generally, how do you approach geography in your work   2. What does writing in earnest and with authenticity-one's OWN sense of what is authentic-look like? How do you capture it on the page to honor our own telling or to honor our truth and perspective? And how, if it all, does that challenge and expand the narratives we see present in certain spaces or among certain people?   3. How do you deal with feeling repelled by your own work during the editing process? It's something I've heard almost every writer I know talk about; I describe the feeling of opening the laptop for your third round of manuscript edits as poking a bruise. How do you stay enthusiastic about your own work when you're frankly just sick of looking at it?     Show Notes 1. At the End of Every Day by Arianna Reiche https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/At-the-End-of-Every-Day/Arianna-Reiche/9781668007945 2. Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez https://bookshop.org/p/books/our-share-of-night-mariana-enriquez/18486460  3. The Age of Magic by Ben Okri https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-age-of-magic-ben-okri/20082895?ean=9781635422689  4. The Ben Okri story about Istanbul is called “Dreaming of Byzantium” found in Prayer for the Living, https://bookshop.org/p/books/prayer-for-the-living-ben-okri/13693373?ean=9781617758638  5. Irenosen Okojie, https://www.irenosenokojie.com/ 6. Helen Oyeyemi, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/59813/helen-oyeyemi/  7. CA Conrad - Poetry Rituals https://somaticpoetryexercises.blogspot.com/2018/08/somatic-poetry-rituals-basics-in-3-parts.html 8. Raymond Queneau, was part of the Oulipo group, a collection of writers and mathematicians who imposed rules on writing to increase creativity. More here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/oulipo#:~:text=An%20acronym%20for%20Ouvroir%20de,and%20mathematician%20Fran%C3%A7ois%20Le%20Lionnais. 9. Kathy Winograd - https://kathrynwinograd.com/about/ 10. La Maison Baldwin, https://www.lamaisonbaldwin.fr/   

We're talking to Louise Minchin, Chair of the Women's Prize for Fiction, and one of her five co-judges, the Nigerian-born, award-winning novelist Irenosen Okojie MBE. Louise is an endurance triathlete and the well-known journalist, who presented BBC Breakfast for 20 years and was one of BBC News 24's main anchors.  Now in its 28th year and started by Kate Mosse OBE, the prize aims to encourage and award the finest women writers around the world. Louise and Irenosen talk us through the six finalists who stand to win the coveted prize of £30,000.   Their enthusiasm for the shortlisted books makes this a fun, lively and highly enjoyable listen.   The shortlisted books are: ‘Fire Rush' by Jacqueline Crooks, a state-of-the nation portrait of black womanhood ‘Trespasses' by Louise Kennedy, set during the Belfast Troubles ‘Demond Copperhead' by Barbara Kingsolver, David Copperfield reimagined for today  ‘Black Butterflies' by Priscilla Morris Priscilla Morris, set against the siege of Sarajevo ‘Hamnet' by Maggie O'Farrell, the story of Shakespeare's son  ‘Pod' by Laline Paull, about a dolphin saving her pod The winner will be announced on Wednesday 14th June Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Join Vick Hope as she sits down with writer Irenosen Okojie to discuss wild imaginations and magical realism in literature and if imposter syndrome comes into play when you're a judge for the Women's Prize for Fiction. Irenosen's intoxicating debut novel, Butterfly Fish, won the 2016 Betty Trask Award, and her highly acclaimed short story collections, Speak Gigantular and Nudibranch have both been nominated for countless awards and received praise from Bernardine Evaristo and Margaret Atwood to name just a couple. In 2021 she was awarded an MBE For Services To Literature. Irenosen is also a judge for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction, and has previously judged the Women's Prize Discoveries programme for new writers. Irenosen's book choices are:  ** Jazz by Toni Morrison  ** Black Vodka by Deborah Levy  ** At the Bottom of The River by Jamaica Kincaid  **  I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell  ** The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season six of the Women's Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women's Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don't want to miss the rest of Season Six? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.

Can fiction remake reality? In the first episode of REWORLDING, we hear from artists, musicians and writers who use dreaming and imagination to remake worlds. __ This episode features Tai Shani, Irenosen Okojie reading 'Black Planetarium', Heavens by Revital Cohen & Tuur van Balen, the Holorama soundscape by Perez & Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster from Alienarium 5, Kostas Stasinopoulos (Associate Curator, Live Programmes, Serpentine), and The Whole Earth Chanting by Libby Heaney & Nabihah Iqbal. __ You can read more about REWORLDING and access a full transcript of this episode here. __ Subscribe now to never miss an episode of Serpentine Podcast. Rate and review to share your responses to REWORLDING with us. __ Credits Serpentine Podcast: REWORLDING is presented by Gaylene Gould. The series was produced by Katie Callin, with production support from Nada Smiljanic at Reduced Listening, and curated by Serpentine's Editorial team, Hanna Girma and Fiona Glen. Thanks to all members of Serpentine's Programmes, Communications and Audiences teams for their direction and contribution. Special thanks to Serpentine's leadership team Bettina Korek, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Yesomi Umolu. The theme music for REWORLDING was conceived and produced by KMRU, and the visual identity is by the unloved. Jesse Lawson is Executive Producer at Reduced Listening, and Arlie Adlington is the sound mixer. Our thanks go to all guests, contributors and advisors on REWORLDING.  

From a farming family in Jamaica to travelling in Europe and Northern Africa, the writer Claude McKay became a key figure in the artistic movement of the 1920s dubbed The Harlem Renaissance. Publishing under a pseudonym, his poems including To the White Friends and If We Must Die explored racial prejudice. Johnny Pitts has written an essay about working class community, disability and queer culture explored in Claude McKay's Romance in Marseille, which was published for the first time in 2020. Pearl Cleage's play Blues for an Alabama Sky is set in 1930s New York. The African-American playwright is the daughter of a civil rights activist, and has worked as speechwriter for Alabama's first black mayor, founded and edited the literary magazine Catalyst, and published many novels, plays and essays. Nadifa Mohamed's novels include Black Mamba Boy and her most recent The Fortune Men (shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize). They talk to Shahidha Bari about Claude McKay and the flourishing of ideas and black pride that led to the Harlem Renaissance. Producer: Tim Bano Blues For an Alabama Sky runs at the National Theatre in London from September 20th to November 5th. Johny Pitts presents Open Book on Radio 4. His books include Afropean: Notes from Black Europe which you can hear him discussing on Free Thinking https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005sjw His collaboration with Roger Robinson Home Is Not A Place exploring Black Britishness in the 21st century is out this month. You can hear more from Nadifa talking about her latest novel The Fortune Men and comparing notes about the writing life with Irenosen Okojie in previous Free Thinking episodes available on our website in the prose and poetry playlist and from BBC Sounds https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000x06v and https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000k8sz Alongside Verso's reissue of Home to Harlem they have 3 other books out: Not Without Laughter by Langston Hughes, The Blacker The Berry by Wallace Thurman, and Quicksand And Passing by Nella Larson. On BBC Sounds and in the Free Thinking archives you can find conversations about Black History https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08t2qbp and a Radio 3 Sunday Feature Harlem on Fire in which Afua Hirsch looks at the history of the literary magazine https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06s6z0b

Dan Smith, Irenosen Okojie and Simon Savidge are joined by Libraries Champion and author Bobby Seagull, to discuss the Novels That Shaped Our World list. On this episode, they look at the category of Family and Friendship, which includes books by Roald Dahl, George Eliot, Dodie Smith and Armistead Maupin. They also discuss the joy of libraries, the power of reading on memory and just how many library cards it would take to get to the moon, if they were all stacked on top of each other. We'll also hear from Professor Sebastian Groes, from the University Of Wolverhampton, about their findings from research they have conducted into the Novels That Shaped Our World list.

In this episode of Turn Up For The Books, the creator of Line Of Duty - Jed Mercurio - discusses his love of graphic novels and libraries. He explores the category of Power, Politics and Protest - from the Novels That Shaped Our World list - and gives us an insight into his writing and collaborative processes. Dan Smith, Irenosen Okojie and Simon Savidge also talk to Jed about the importance of libraries, which books they think are missing from this category and whether Line Of Duty will be coming back...

Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory and Circus Of Wonders, joins Dan Smith, Irenosen Okojie and Simon Savidge to discuss her love of libraries and writing influences. She also talks about her pottery, and how the tragedy of her cat deleting 10,000 words of her book draft was actually a positive thing. The hosts also discuss the Identity category from the BBC's Novels That Shaped Our World list, including which books stand out and which they think are missing.

Singer, songwriter, DJ and model - Skin joins Dan Smith, Irenosen Okojie and Simon Savidge to chat about reading, libraries and the joy of audio books. She discusses her memoir, It Takes Blood And Guts, and teases us with some exciting news of upcoming projects. The hosts also discuss the Rule Breakers category, taken from the BBC's Novels That Shaped Our World List.

Bastille singer Dan Smith, award-winning author Irenosen Okojie and library guru Simon Savidge guide you seamlessly through the sometimes daunting world of book recommendations. Using the Novels That Shaped Our World list of 100 titles as their starting point, this trio give the low down on what your next book choice could be. With the help of fellow book lovers such as Skin, Bobby Seagull, Vick Hope and others, let this warm bath of book recommendations bathe you in the delightful world of classics and new titles, libraries and the pleasure of reading. Expect light-hearted and conversational chat which is for book aficionados as well as reading newbies but most importantly never, ever scary.

Nigerian-British writer Irenosen Okojie and host Miriam Robinson discuss what would have happened if, in her early 20s, Irenosen had accepted a job as an editorial assistant at a magazine in New York. Along the way they discuss why mentors matter, the importance of embracing mess and why everything good starts with a fabulous lunch.Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian-British author. In 2021 she was awarded an MBE For Services To Literature, and she is an RSL Fellow. Her debut novel Butterfly Fish won a 2016 Betty Trask Award. Her short story collection Speak Gigantular, was published was shortlisted for the inaugural Jhalak Prize and the 2017 Edge Hill Short Story Prize. Nudibranch, her collection of short stories, was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2020, and its story ‘Grace Jones' won the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. Make sure to subscribe to hear the rest of Season 1 – in each episode, Miriam interviews a guest about a path their life might have taken and together, step by step, they write the stories of their unlived lives.Produced by Tess Davidson.#MyUnlivedLife Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nudibranch is the latest short story collection from Irenosen Okojie and she joins Yvonne to examine her use of description in this work. Irenosen explains how she used description within the different stories and styles in the book to explore character and develop the spaces for the narrative to play out.Write Your Novel is an innovative write-along podcast series - written and devised by Dr Yvonne Battle-Felton. A writing exercise at the end of each conversation supports the listener to help them proactively work through the techniques in their own work. A transcript for this episode is available here: https://newwritingnorth.com/projects/write-your-novel/Presenter: Yvonne Battle-FeltonProducer: Candace WilsonMusic: Joe GardnerA Sonderbug Production funded by Arts Council England and supported by New Writing North.

If I should stay, I would only get in your way. Caroline and Irenosen Okojie get extremely giddy about The Bodyguard, arguably the best date movie of all time. We talk about the tragic history of Whitney, the power of sister relationships in art, and the psychological weight of assassinations within contemporary culture. Irenosen is the author of several books, including the most recent Nudibranch. She is the winner of the Betty Trask award, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and was recently awarded an MBE for her services to literature. Caroline is an author and eats trash for dinner See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

With their first two novels Isabel Waidner has established themself as one of the most disruptive, vital and boundary-pushing fiction writers at work in the UK today. Their latest novel Sterling Karat Gold (Peninsula Press), a surreal inquiry into the real effects of state violence on gender-nonconforming, working-class and black bodies, takes this work to the next level.In celebration of its publication Isabel is in conversation with another of the UK's most innovative fiction writers, Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch (Dialogue Books). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A Somali man arrested for murder in 1950s Cardiff inspired the latest novel from Nadifa Mohamed. She talks to Rana Mitter about uncovering this miscarriage of justice in a newspaper cutting with the headline, "Woman Weeps as Somali is Hanged". On stage at the National Theatre in London, Michael Sheen, Karl Johnson, and Siân Phillips lead the cast in a production of Under Milk Wood, so we look at the craft of Dylan Thomas's writing and talk to Siân Owen about her framing of the story for the National Theatre stage. And we hear about the links between art and community demonstrated by the Cardiff collective called Gentle/Radical who've been nominated for this year's Turner Prize, and look at the work on show in Artes Mundi 9 at the National Museum, Cardiff, Chapter Arts Centre, and g39. Nadifa Mohamed's novel, out now, is called The Fortune Men. You can find her discussing the writing life alongside Irenosen Okojie in the Free Thinking playlist called Prose and Poetry - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p047v6vh Under Milk Wood runs at the National Theatre in London from 16 June–24 July 2021. An exhibition of work by Gentle/Radical will be held at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry from 29 September 2021 - 12 January 2022, as part of the UK City of Culture 2021 celebrations. The Turner Prize winners will be announced on 1 December 2021. The Artes Mundi 9 Prize exhibition is now open at the National Museum Cardiff, Chapter Arts Centre, and g39 until 5 September. The prize winner is announced on 17 June 2021. BBC Cardiff Singer Of The World 2021 is taking place between 12 and 19 June in Cardiff, with broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. Producer: Emma Wallace

On April 20, 2021, we held a virtual reading and conversation with Irenosen Okojie, winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. Moderated by Prof. Lahra Smith, Director of African Studies Program.Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian-British writer. She is the winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize For Fiction for her story, “Grace Jones.” Her debut novel Butterfly Fish won a Betty Trask award and was shortlisted for an Edinburgh International First Book Award. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, the Observer, the Guardian, the BBC and the Huffington Post amongst other publications. Her short stories have appeared internationally in publications including Salt's Best British Short Stories 2017, Kwani? and The Year's Best Weird Fiction. She was named at the London Short Story Festival by Booker Prize winning author Ben Okri OBE as a dynamic writing talent to watch and featured in the Evening Standard Magazine as one of London's exciting new authors. Her short story collection Speak Gigantular, published by Jacaranda Books was shortlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Saboteur Awards and nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her collection of stories Nudibranch which includes her AKO Caine Prize winning “Grace Jones” is published by Dialogue Books.Lahra Smith is Director of the African Studies Program at Georgetown University. Smith is a Political Scientist with a particular interest in African politics, migration and refugees, and citizenship and equality. Her book, Making Citizens in Africa: Ethnicity, Gender and National Identity in Ethiopia, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2013. She teaches courses on migration, women and politics and theory and policy in Africa. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

"A hermit in the middle of Los Angeles" is one way she described herself - born in 1947, Butler became a writer who wanted to "tell stories filled with facts. Make people touch and taste and know." Since her death in 2006, her writing has been widely taken up and praised for its foresight in suggesting developments such as big pharma and for its critique of American history. Shahidha Bari is joined by the author Irenosen Okojie and the scholar Gerry Canavan and Nisi Shawl, writer, editor, journalist – and long-time friend of Octavia Butler. Irenosen Okojie's latest collection of short stories is called Nudibranch and she was winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for Fiction for her story Grace Jones. You can hear her discussing her own writing life alongside Nadifa Mohamed in a previous Free Thinking episode https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000k8sz Gerry Canavan is co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to American Science Fiction. Nisi Shawl writes about books for The Seattle Times, and also contributes frequently to Ms. Magazine, The Cascadia Subduction Zone, The Washington Post. Producer: Luke Mulhall You might be interested in the Free Thinking episode Science fiction and ecological thinking https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000h6yw and on Ursula Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b6yb37 and a playlist exploring Landmarks of Culture including Frantz Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks and the writing of Audre Lorde, and of Wole Soyinka https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jwn44

A conversation about beginnings with Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch and winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for her short story Grace Jones, and Helen Lewis, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of Difficult Women.  If you would like to read the extracts discussed in this episode go to: https://linebyline.substack.comTwitter:  @tds153 @IrenosenOkojie @helenlewis Line by Line is produced by Ben Tulloh with readings by Deli Segal. Music by Dee Yan-Key

Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the 2020 Readings Prize for New Fiction, Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan. Our book of the week is Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie.  This collection of short stories was a Guardian Must Read Book of 2019.  We read the story Grace Jones, which won the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing.  Highly recommended. Coming up: The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. Follow us! Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie LItsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

"My daughter asked if she could choose my wig after chemo..." In this episode, I speak with Susmita Bhattacharya. She's an award-winning author with many books to her credit. Her debut novel, The Normal State of Mind, was longlisted for the Mumbai Film Festival prize, Word to Screen. Her short story collection, Table Manners, won the Saboteur Award in 2019 . Susmita's work has been featured in many magazines and BBC Radio 4. She also teaches creative writing at universities and to young people in the community, and has judged many short story competitions. We talk about the taboo around discussing any major illness in our culture. Particularly, cancer. Susmita shares her own journey of discovering she had cancer, going through chemotherapy, learning to talk about it with her kids. She talks about the silence around the issue within the South Asian community as well as the support she received from some community members. MORE ABOUT SUSMITA: • Creative Writing Lecturer, Winchester University • Creative Writing faciliator for Mayflower Young Writers, an ArtfulScribe project in collaboration with Mayflower Theatre, Southampton http://www.artfulscribe.co.uk/blog-category/mayflower-young-writers Editing services: https://www.upclose-editing.com Insta @susmita_b_writer Twitter @susmitatweets MORE ABOUT SUSMITA'S BOOKS http://dahlia-books.kong365.com/en-gb/products/table-manners https://www.parthianbooks.com/products/the-normal-state-of-mind “A deliciously bold debut novel …vivid and tender, funny and bittersweet. It's fearlessly full of surprises about what it meant to be young and female in 1990s India on the cusp of change.” Rosie Dastgir, A Small Fortune Table Manners on BBC Radio 4 Extra: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dpz8?fbclid=IwAR3NFwKb1VEm905Y34Yl9OGlmhDcfuBS-dJBaNMV3DLpDKT5T9aFHZXiUWQ “These triumphant, sharp eyed humorous stories mark the arrival of an intriguing new voice; tender, poignant and wry.” Irenosen Okojie, Speak Gigantular RESOURCES:If you've been affected by the themes of this episode, please check out these resources: MACMILLAN Phoneline – Support available from 9-5, Monday – Friday – 0808 808 0000 NHS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS STIGMA AMONG SOUTH ASIANS

"My daughter asked if she could choose my wig after chemo..." In this episode, I speak with Susmita Bhattacharya. She’s an award-winning author with many books to her credit. Her debut novel, The Normal State of Mind, was longlisted for the Mumbai Film Festival prize, Word to Screen. Her short story collection, Table Manners, won the Saboteur Award in 2019 . Susmita’s work has been featured in many magazines and BBC Radio 4. She also teaches creative writing at universities and to young people in the community, and has judged many short story competitions. We talk about the taboo around discussing any major illness in our culture. Particularly, cancer. Susmita shares her own journey of discovering she had cancer, going through chemotherapy, learning to talk about it with her kids. She talks about the silence around the issue within the South Asian community as well as the support she received from some community members. MORE ABOUT SUSMITA: • Creative Writing Lecturer, Winchester University • Creative Writing faciliator for Mayflower Young Writers, an ArtfulScribe project in collaboration with Mayflower Theatre, Southampton http://www.artfulscribe.co.uk/blog-category/mayflower-young-writers Editing services: https://www.upclose-editing.com Insta @susmita_b_writer Twitter @susmitatweets MORE ABOUT SUSMITA’S BOOKS http://dahlia-books.kong365.com/en-gb/products/table-manners https://www.parthianbooks.com/products/the-normal-state-of-mind “A deliciously bold debut novel …vivid and tender, funny and bittersweet. It’s fearlessly full of surprises about what it meant to be young and female in 1990s India on the cusp of change.” Rosie Dastgir, A Small Fortune Table Manners on BBC Radio 4 Extra: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dpz8?fbclid=IwAR3NFwKb1VEm905Y34Yl9OGlmhDcfuBS-dJBaNMV3DLpDKT5T9aFHZXiUWQ “These triumphant, sharp eyed humorous stories mark the arrival of an intriguing new voice; tender, poignant and wry.” Irenosen Okojie, Speak Gigantular RESOURCES:If you’ve been affected by the themes of this episode, please check out these resources: MACMILLAN Phoneline – Support available from 9-5, Monday – Friday – 0808 808 0000 NHS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS STIGMA AMONG SOUTH ASIANS

Anna and Annie discuss What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez, the follow-up to her National Book Award -winning The Friend. A woman helps her friend who is dying of cancer in this erudite and drily funny novel. In book news, Blacktop Wasteland by S. A. Cosby is being adapted for the big screen, and Hello Friend We Missed You by Richard Owain Roberts has won the Not The Booker Prize.  Coming up: Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie. Follow us! Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie Litsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

A special 150th episode! Anna chats with Jennie Orchard, curator of The Gifts of Reading: the Joys of Reading, Giving and Receiving Books, inspired by Robert Macfarlane.  We could not think of a more apt book to celebrate our 150th 'birthday' than this incredible collection as today's best writers share stories about their reading life and books they have given and received. A perfect gift and a joyous read.  Highlights include Chigozie Obioma, Candice Carty-Williams, Max Porter, Jan Morris, William Boyd, Philip Pullman, Sisonke Msimang, Marcus Zusak and Room to Read founder John Wood.  Jennie also shares the 5 books that she most often gives as gifts: No Friend But the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani translated by Omid Tofighian The Ungrateful Refugee by Dina Nayeri The Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura Necessary Losses by Judith Viorst Coming up: Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie and What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez. Follow us! Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras Twitter: @abailliekaras Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

Desperate for a fresh start, their mother Sheela moves them across the country to an old family house that has a troubled life of its own. Noises come from behind the walls. Lights flicker of their own accord. Sleep feels impossible, dreams are endless. In their new, unsettling surroundings, July finds that the fierce bond she's always had with September - forged with a blood promise when they were children - is beginning to change in ways she cannot understand. Taut, transfixing and profoundly moving, Sisters explodes with the fury and joy of adolescence. It is a story of sibling love and sibling envy that fans of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King will devour. 'Daisy Johnson is one of the best writers in this country ... an astonishing stylist. Sisters is a thumping good book, haunting, visceral and potent.' Max Porter, author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers 'A blistering read. An exquisitely rendered exploration of sibling love and rivalry that rattles the core.' Irenosen Okojie, author of Nudibranch 'I LOVE THIS BOOK! Explosive, dark, weird and utterly compelling... There are few writers as talented as Daisy Johnson.' Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/pbliving/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pbliving/support

Do you have the courage to try again?In this episode of OurShelves Lucy Scholes chats to Irenosen Okojie, author of Butterfly Fish; Speak Gigantular, Nudibranch and contributor to the short story collection Hag, about the wonder and power of short stories, finding joy in activism and literary legend Toni Morrison. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Poet Daljit Nagra and crime writer Val McDermid discuss capturing different forms of speech, a sense of place, and politics - in a conversation organised with the Royal Society of Literature and Durham Book Festival, and hosted by presenter Shahidha Bari. Plus, how the medieval fable of Reynard the Fox has lessons for us all today. As a new translation and retelling by Anne Louise Avery is published, she joins Shahidha to discuss the book with Noreen Masud - a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker from Durham University. Based on William Caxton's translation of the medieval Flemish folk tale, this is the story of a wily fox - a subversive, dashing, and anarchic character - summoned to the court of King Noble the Lion. But is he the character you want to emulate, or does Bruin the Bear offer us a better template? Reynard the Fox, a new version with illustrations, is published by the Bodleian Library, and is translated and retold by Anne Louise Avery. Daljit Nagra is the author of British Museum; Ramayana - A Retelling; Tippoo Sultan's Incredible White-Man-Eating Tiger Toy-Machine!!!; and, Look We Have Coming to Dover. Val McDermid is the author of several crime fiction series: Lindsay Gordon; Kate Brannigan; DCI Karen Pirie; and, beginning in 1995, the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series, which was televised as Wire in the Blood. Her latest book - a Karen Pirie thriller - was published in August 2020 and is called Still Life. Details of events for Durham Book Festival https://durhambookfestival.com/ One of the events features Durham academic Emily Thomas talking about travel and philosophy - you can hear her in a Free Thinking episode called Maths and philosophy puzzles https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fws2 Crime writer Ian Rankin compared notes on writing about place with Bangladeshi born British author Tahmima Anam in an RSL conversation linked to the Bradford Literature Festival https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000khk6 You can find more book talk on the website of the Royal Society of Literature https://rsliterature.org/ There are more book interviews on the Free Thinking playlist Prose and Poetry https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p047v6vh This includes: Anne Fine with Romesh Gunesekara; Irenosen Okojie with Nadifa Mohamed; and Paul Mendez with Francesca Wade. Producer: Emma Wallace

It is 1889. You take a walk through the streets of Edinburgh with a mysterious individual who just might know some secrets about the tragic child murderer Jessie King.   This episode is a collaboration between Scotland, Dr Morag Allan Campbell and the Dangerous Women Project. We hope you enjoy it!   ----   CREDITS   This episode of Scotland was written by Morag Allan Campbell and narrated by Leanne Milne.   It was produced and sound designed by Michael Park. It is a production of Be Quiet Media.   Will You Take A Walk with me is part of the Dangerous Women Project. You can read it again at http://dangerouswomenproject.org, and find over 350 more pieces that reflect on the dynamics, conflicts, identities and power relations with which women have always lived, and still live today.   Fifty of those pieces, including essays by Nicola Sturgeon, Bidisha and Irenosen Okojie, have been gathered into a forthcoming book, published by Unbound. Dangerous Women: Fifty reflections on women, power and identity will come out in 2021, and you can still pledge for a copy at http://unbound.com/books/dangerous-women   Jamie Mowat does stunning illustrations for us which you can see in our episode art. See more and buy prints at tidlin.com.   Scotland is supported by Chris Lingwood and listeners like you on Patreon. Get involved and chuck us a couple of bucks at: patreon.com/scotlandhistorypodcast   You can find out more about the show on our website, http://scotland.bequiet.media and on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching Scotland - A Scottish History Podcast.

Next week finally sees the release of Tenet, the latest big-budget film by Christopher Nolan. For our Friday Review, film critic Ryan Gilbey and novelist and short story writer Irenosen Okojie give their response to the film, and consider the future of cinema in light of the pandemic. And they’ll be discussing their cultural picks – the TV series Broad City and Lovecraft Country. Algorithm-downgraded A level student Jessica Johnson on her strangely prescient Orwell Youth Prize winning short story about an algorithm that decides school grades according to social class. The British Museum is the UK’s most-visited tourist attraction but during lockdown it’s had no visitors. Now they’re getting ready to reopen with limited numbers. We speak to the director Hartwig Fischer about how the museum has been using the hiatus to rethink the ethos behind displaying its extraordinary collection. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage. While the story of the “Pilgrim Fathers” is well known, the history of the Wampanoag people they met is less so. Wampum: Stories from the Shells of Native America is a touring exhibition which hopes to change this. This new exhibition is presented by The Box, Plymouth and grew out of a partnership with Wampanoag Advisory Committee to Plymouth 400 and the Wampanoag cultural advisors SmokeSygnals. The wampum belt is a tapestry of tribal history made from thousands of handcrafted beads. Paula Peters, founder of SmokeSygnals and a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Nation, explains. Shedinburgh is an online festival attempting to capture the spirit of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by live streaming performances from sheds around the country. Theatre producer, Francesca Moody, who also made Fleabag explains the endeavour. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Sarah Johnson Studio Manager: Nigel Dix

Anna and Annie discuss the 2020 Booker Prize Longlist and the Caine Prize winner, Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie. Our book of the week is The White Girl by Tony Birch. This novel tells the story of Odette and her granddaughter Sissy in outback Australia.  Shortlisted for this year's Miles Franklin Award and winner of the 2020 NSW Premier's for Indigenous Writing. Coming up: our Best Books of 2020 So Far and A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville. Follow us: Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Facebook: Books On The Go Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras Litsy: @abailliekaras Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz

This episode is all about literary prizes. Our guest is the 2020 winner of the Caine Prize, Irenosen Okojie, and Book Lounge staff talk about some Booker-longlisted novels. Luami recommends ‘How Much of These Hills is Gold' by C Pam Zhang, Unathi recommends ‘The Shadow King' by Maaza Mengiste, Jess enjoyed ‘Such a Fun Age' by Kiley Reid and Mervyn recommends both ‘Shuggie Bain' by Douglas Stuart and ‘Real Life' by Brandon Taylor. Get in touch by emailing booklounge@gmail.com or send us a voice message on Whatsapp to +27 (0) 63 961-6154 Hosted by Vasti Calitz and produced by Andri Burnett

Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian-British writer. Her debut novel Butterfly Fish won a Betty Trask award and was shortlisted for an Edinburgh International First Book Award. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, the Observer, the Guardian, the BBC and the Huffington Post amongst other publications. Her short stories have appeared internationally in publications including Salt's Best British Short Stories 2017, Kwani? and The Year's Best Weird Fiction. She was named at the London Short Story Festival by Booker Prize winning author Ben Okri OBE as a dynamic writing talent to watch and featured in the Evening Standard Magazine as one of London’s exciting new authors. Her short story collection Speak Gigantular, published by Jacaranda Books was shortlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Saboteur Awards and nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her collection of stories Nudibranch which includes her AKO Caine Prize winning ‘Grace Jones’ is published by Dialogue Books.

Nigerian British writer Irenosen Okojie has been announced as the winner of this year’s £10,000 Caine Prize for African Writing. It was awarded for her story Grace Jones from her recent collection Nudibranch. We speak to her about the story. Kit de Waal discusses Supporting Cast, her new collection of short stories featuring characters from two of her earlier novels - the international bestseller My Name is Leon and The Trick to Time. Shirley Collins is regarded by many as England’s greatest living traditional folk singer. She was a pivotal figure in the English folk song revival of the 60’s and ’70’s but lost her voice to a broken heart and fell silent for 38 years. In 2016, in her eighties, she returned to music with her album Lodestar, and now discusses her latest release - Heart’s Ease. Star of Hollywood's Golden Age Olivia de Havilland has died aged 104. Cultural historian Matthew Sweet celebrates her indomitable spirit, as a person as well as a performer. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Hannah Robins

Prominent Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu has returned home, three years after surviving an assassination in the capital, Dodoma. In Malawi, several high-profile individuals connected to the government of former president Peter Mutharika are being interrogated in relation to alleged corruption. Nigerian-British author Irenosen Okojie has been announced as the winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story about a Grace Jones impersonator with a dark secret.

The writing life of two authors who should have been sharing a stage at the Bare Lit Festival. Irenosen Okojie and Nadifa Mohammed talk to Shahidha Bari in a conversation organised with the Royal Society of Literature. And 2020 New Generation Thinker Seren Griffiths describes a project to use music by composer at an archaeological site to mark the summer solstice and the findings of her dig. The Somali-British novelist Nadifa Mohamed featured on Granta magazine's list "Best of Young British Novelists" in 2013, and in 2014 on the Africa39 list of writers under 40. Her first novel Black Mamba Boy won a Betty Trask Award. Her second novel The Orchard of Lost Souls won the Somerset Maugham Award and contributed poems to the collection edited by Margaret Busby in 2019 New Daughters of Africa. Irenosen Okojie's debut novel, Butterfly Fish, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Edinburgh First Book Award. Her short story collection, Speak Gigantular was shortlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Saboteur Awards and nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. Her most recent book is called Nudibranch. You can find more information about the Bare Lit Festival http://barelitfestival.com/ and about the Royal Society of Literature https://rsliterature.org/ Irenosen is one of the voices talking about Buchi Emecheta in this programme https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09r89gt Caine Prize 2019 winner Lesley Nneka Arimah is interviewed https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006mtb Caine Prize 2018 winner Makena Onjerika https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b89ssp Billy Kahora a Caine nominee https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02tw6fg The music used by Seren Griffiths is by https://jonhughesmusic.com/ and you can find out about the dig https://bryncellidduarchaeology.wordpress.com/the-bryn-celli-ddu-rock-art-project/ and the minecraft https://mcphh.org/bryn-celli-ddu-minecraft-experience/ New Generation Thinkers is the scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to select ten academics each year to turn their research into radio. Producer: Robyn Read

Today on Tea & Tattle, I’m joined by the prize-winning author, Irenosen Okojie, to discuss Irenosen’s fabulous short story collection, Nudibranch. Born in Nigeria, but having lived in London since she was a young girl, Irenosen Okojie’s stories illustrate her love for different cultures and languages, with tales set all around the world, from Japan to Wales to Mozambique. With poetically lyrical prose, Irenosen explores themes of gender, personal transformation, rebirth and womanhood in her writing, taking her readers on a vivid journey of the imagination as her stories delve into magic realism and fantasy. I loved chatting to Irenosen about her fascination for surrealism and poetry and why she finds short stories such a rewarding writing form. Read the show notes: teaandtattlepodcast.com/home/123 Get in touch! Email: teaandtattlepodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @teaandtattlepodcast If you enjoy Tea & Tattle, please do rate and leave a review of the show on Apple Podcasts, as good reviews help other people to find and enjoy the show. Thank you!

Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen has been an enormous success and has now transferred to London's West End. It's the story of a socially awkward young man who accidentally becomes a hero Feast & Fast: The art of food in Europe, 1500 – 1800 is the latest exhibition at The Fitzwilliam in Cambridge Greener Grass is a peculiar take on the American suburban comedy British Nigerian author Irenosen Okojie's collection of short stories; Nudibranch American documentary series maker Ken Burns has turned his attention to Country music for his latest series now airing on BBC4 Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Deborah Bull, Susie Boyt and Louisa Uchum Egbunike. The producer is Oliver Jones Photo by Matthew Murphy Susie: Wednesday Afternoon matinees at Regent Street Cinema and the Joan Crawford film Queen Bee Deborah: Ballet Black on tour and Inspire The Mind blog Louisa: Chinua Achebe- There was a Country and Chinelo Okparanta - Under the Udala Trees Tom: The Pallisers on Channel 4 and Lil Nas X - Old Town Road

This is the Writers’ Rebellion: Are You Here For This? The Extinction Rebellion Podcast is back to normal length; with an episode perfect to kick back to during the post rebellion regenerative period. It features a feast of stories and poems from the Writers' Marathon in Trafalgar Square, London (on the 11th of October, 2019). From Salena Goddens’ call to action, to Philip Hoare’s face-to-face encounter with a whale, Owen Sheers' poem to his daughter in the womb, to Natasha Walter and Tom Bollough’s recollections of being arrested for Extinction Rebellion. Oh, and there is also an interview with Booker Prize co-winner, and author of "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Testaments", Margaret Atwood. Other writers featured in this episode include: Ali Smith, Naomi Alderman, Anjali Joseph, Irenosen Okojie, Robert Macfarlane, Romesh Gunesekera, Simon Schama, and comperes Simon McBurney and AL Kennedy. Extinction Rebellion has three demands. 1) Tell the Truth - Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change. 2) Act Now - Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. 3) Beyond Politics - Government must create and be led by the decision of a Citizens' Assembly on climate and ecological justice. Producer / Presenter: Jessica Townsend Editor / Sound Engineer : Lucy Evans Social Media: Barney Weston

We sat down with a lot bae, Irenosen Okojie, to get the scoop on her upcoming books but also her writer's journey. We discussed:- Book faves- Bad-ass women of colour in publishing - Changing publishers- Writing process- Writing about London - The magic of short storiesContinue the conversation on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #NotAnotherBook

The Belgian theatre director Ivo van Hove on staging Ayn Rand's ideas in The Fountainhead. 'The theme of my novel', said Ayn Rand, 'is the struggle between individualism and collectivism, not in the political arena but in the human soul. Plus Shahidha Bari meets Lesley Nneka Arimah, the winner of the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing and looks at sex lives on screen and in print. How much do women share and how quickly do ideas about shame and acceptance come into play? Zoe Strimpel researches dating and sexual relationships and Lisa Taddeo has spent 8 years finding and tracking Three Women prepared to speak frankly about their desires. The Fountainhead runs at MIF July 10th - 13th performed by Ivo van Hove's Internationaal Theater Amsterdam ensemble. You can read all the stories shortliste for the Caine Prize here http://caineprize.com/ and hear interviews with past winners on Free Thinking https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b89ssp https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p040rr3n Louise Egbunike looks at Afrofuturism in this Radio 3 Sunday Feature https://bbc.in/2LkSmR9 Three Women by Lisa Taddeo is out now. Irenosen Okojie's film on Black Joy is here https://bbc.in/2Nx5IeY Free Thinking on Consent https://bbc.in/2XCH5St Free Thinking on Women, relationships and the law https://bbc.in/2C3svH1 Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Novelist Irenosen Okojie talks to Ivan about six things which she thinks should be better known. Electric Arches by Eve L. Ewing https://poetryschool.com/reviews/review-electric-arches-by-eve-ewing/ Autograph Gallery http://www.autograph.org.uk Black in The Day www.instagram.com/blkintheday/ Eve's Bayou https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve%27s_Bayou The Bunker Theatre www.bunkertheatre.com New Daughters of Africa Anthology edited by Margaret Busby www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/review-new-daughters-of-africa/

Charles Dickens. Walt Disney. The Romantic poets..These renowned artists and entertainers were all accused of being “over-sentimental”. But is our own age topping them all – with its culture of grief memoirs, gushing obituaries and feel-good fiction? Three Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature join Rana Mitter at the Free Thinking Festival to take a hard look at whether contemporary culture has “gone soft”. Lisa Appignanesi is the author of books including Everyday Madness: On Grief, Anger, Loss and Love; Mad, Bad, and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors; All About Love: Anatomy of an Unruly Emotion and Trials of Passion: Crimes in the Name of Love and Madness. She is Chair of the Royal Society of Literature Council. Irenosen Okojie is author of a novel Butterfly Fish and a short story collection Speak Gigantular - surreal tales of love and loneliness. She has written for The New York Times, The Observer, and The Huffington Post and is currently running a writing workshop at London’s South Bank. Rachel Hewitt’s books include A Revolution of Feeling:The Decade that Forged the Modern Mind and Map of a Nation: A Biography of the Ordnance Survey. She is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at Newcastle University, where she is also Deputy Director of the Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts. Producer: Zahid Warley

Oscar-tipped If Beale Street Could Talk is directed by Barry Jenkins who won Best Picture in 2016 for Moonlight... A woman in Harlem embraces her pregnancy while she and her family struggle to prove her fiancé is innocent of a crime Katherine Parkinson stars in Home I'm Darling, recently opened at London's Duke of York Theatre, as an ideal 1950s housewife living in the present day Tessa Hadley's newest novel Late In The Day. The death of a close friend in a tight circle of long-term friends throws all the remaining relationships into sharp relief The painter George Shaw - famed for his realist suburban subject matter has a new exhibition opening at the Holburne Museum in Bath A new BBC2 documentary David Bowie: Finding Fame investigates how David Robert Jones became David Bowie using previously unseen footage, interviews with friends and lovers and correspondence that is less than flattering. Tom Sutcliffe's guests are Susie Boyt, Irenosen Okojie and Pat Kane. The producer is Oliver Jones Podcast extra recommendations: Irenosen: Russian Doll on Netflix Tom: Ruskin Exhibition at 2 Temple Place

Welcome to our first episode of "Not Another Book Podcast". This week, BooksandRhymes, bookshy and Postcolonialchild discuss their overhyped books and underrated writers to look out for and Postcolonialchild drops the mic on Chinua Achebe and African literature.Key takeaways:Are some African writers being overhyped ?Overhype vs quality of writing?How literature festivals contribute to the hypeWho is behind the hype of some these overrated writers?The contribution of the school curriculum to hyping the western canons of literatureOverrated white writers that we are ready to say "Boy Bye" Overrated books:From Postcolonial ChildHomegoing by Yaa Gyasi: debut novel beginning in 18th century Ghana, and following the descendants of two half sisters until present day.Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue: debut novel following the lives of two very different families living and working in New York during the 28 financial crisis – one’s an immigrant family from Cameroon and the other a wealthy American family.From bookshyTwilight Series by Stephanie Myers: Bella. Vampires. Edward. More Vampires. The Cullens. Werwolves. Jacob. More Vampires. Vulturi.From BooksandRhymes:White Tears by Hari Kunzru: A trust fund hipster and a suburban nobody united by a love of music.Underrated books we recommended:From BooksandRhymes:What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah: strange and wonderful debut short story collection with stories centred on the lives of women and girls, parents and children, lovers and friends – all told with elements of the fantastical. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: debut YA fantasy in a world of magic and danger inspired by West Africa and the African Diaspora.From bookshyA Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar: fantasy fiction following the son of a merchant making his way for the first time to the distant land of Olondria.The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson: every time Molly bleeds, a new version of her is born. A horror novella with a twist.Speak Gigantular by Irenosen Okojie: a weird and wonderful debut short story collection. There are tales of suicide and ghosts haunting the London underground; twin sisters, impersonation, and inner demons coming to life; deadly foot fetishes and more.From Postcolonial ChildPachinko by Min Jin Lee: an epic historical novel following characters from Korea who eventually migrate to Japan.Confessions of a Lioness by Mia Cuoto: a dark, poetic mystery about the women of Kulumani and the lionesses that hunt them - through two interwoven diaries.Other books mentioned in the episode - in order of appearance:Idu by Flora NwapaForeign Gods, Inc. by Okey NdibeLonely Londoners by Sam SelvonNo Place to Call Home by J J BolaSmall Island by Andrea Levy 50 Shades of Grey by E. L. JamesThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldWilliam Shakespeare – in generalOf Mice and Men by John SteinbeckWinged Histories by Sofia SamatarLondon, Cape Town Joburg by Zukiswa Wanner Reflecting Rogue: Inside the Mind of a Feminist by Pumla Dineo GqolaButterfly Fish by Irenosen OkojieTweet us @@NABookPodcast  with the hashtag #NotAnotherBook your thoughts about our first episode, the books we mentioned and more importantly your wild reactions Postcolonialchild mic drop.Rate, Review and Subscribe to us on iTunes, Spotify, and Acast.

Linda Mannheim interviews author Irenosen Okojie about her short story collection Speak Gigantular, editor Valerie Brandes talks about why Jacaranda Books decided to publish the collection, and reader  Yovanka Paquete Perdigao explains why she picked up Speak Gigantular and read it even though it is unlike the books she usually reads. Music for Why Why Why is by Cathode Ray Tube.  You can find more of their music on CRTMusik.com. 

Buchi Emecheta explored child slavery, motherhood, female independence and freedom through education in over 20 books. Born in 1944 in an Ibusa village, she lost her father aged eight, travelled to London and made a career as a writer whilst bringing up five children on her own, working by day and studying at night for a degree. Shahidha Bari talks to her son Sylvester Onwordi, to New Generation Thinker Louisa Egbunike, to publisher Margaret Busby and magazine editor Kadija George. We also hear from other writers and publishers taking part in a day long series of discussions and performances at the Centre of African Studies at SOAS, University of London, on Saturday 3rd February. They include Alastair Niven - former Director of the Africa Centre, Dr Marie Linton Umeh, writer Irenosen Okojie, Professor Akachi Ezeigbo and poet Grace Nichols. Buchi Emecheta's career took off when she turned her columns for the New Statesman about black British life into a novel In The Ditch which was published in 1972. It depicted a single black mother struggling to cope in England against a background of squalor. Two years later Allison and Busby published her book Second-Class Citizen, which focused on issues of race, poverty and gender. Now, a year after her death, the Omenala Press is re-issuing editions of her work. Producer: Robyn Read

Irenosen is the author of two books. Her novel 'Butterfly Fish' won a 2016 Betty Trask Award, and her short story collection 'Speak Gigantular' is Longlisted for the inaugural Jhalak prize. Both books are published by Jacaranda Books. IRENOSEN'S BOOK CHOICES: Geek Love - Katherine Dunn (Abacus) Glyph - Percival Everett (Graywolf Press) Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen - Marilyn Chin (Penguin) She tweets @IrenosekOkojie and you can visit her website for more information. SHOW NOTES: Mentioned: Ishmael Reed What Irenosen's reading at the moment: Kevin Barry's Beatlebone

In which we discuss "Through the Wardrobe" by Lucy Caldwell and "Poko, Poko" by Irenosen Okojie. Also. Dolly zooms, scary statues, and the reality of fantasy