Podcast appearances and mentions of Lesley Nneka Arimah

Fiction writer Lesley Nneka Arimah joins co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan to discuss how Black horror writing speaks to our current cultural moment. She talks about editor/director Jordan Peele's new anthology, Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror, in which her work is included, and how she went from avoiding horror to writing it. Arimah reads from her story “Invasion of the Baby Snatchers,” explains its origins in her own fears, and shares an alternative ending. To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/ This episode of the podcast was produced by Anne Kniggendorf. Lesley Nneka Arimah What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror (ed. Jordan Peele) Others: Jordan Peele Toni Morrison Stephen King “Black horror is having a big moment. So is its pioneer, Tananarive Due” by Paula L. Woods | L.A. Times N.K. Jemisin Nnedi Okorafor  Violet Allen The Nesting by C.J. Cook The Leech by Hiron Ennes Rebecca Roanhorse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week is a special roundtable episode. An exciting, challenging and very very thought-provoking tour of contemporary Black horror, in the company of three writers at the bleeding edge.  Nnedi Okorafor, Maurice Broaddus and Lesley Nneka Arimah are just three of the contributors to Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror. It's curated by Jordan Peele, who knows a thing or two about that particular landscape, and these three authors present a fantastic cross-section of how versatile Black horror is right now. We talk about their stories, about the anthology as a whole and the broader topic of Black horror. What does that even mean? What is the role of history? Of trauma? And of the future? At times, these guests turn the interview around on me, asking me to reflect on my own presumptions and the baggage I bring to these stories. Like I said, challenging and exciting. Hope you enjoy it. Out There Screaming was published on October 3rd by Picador and Random House Books mentioned: Dark Dreams: A Collection of Horror and Suspense by Black Writers 92004), ed. Brandon MasseyKing Maker (2010), by Maurice BroaddusHow High We Go in the Dark (2022), by Sequoia NagamatsuDemon Copperhead (2022), by Barbara KingsolverThe Changeling (2017), by Victor LaValleNo Gods, No Monsters (2021), by Cadwell TurnbullThe Nesting (2020), by C.J. CookeLeech (2022), by Hiron Ennes“Africanfuturism Defined.” (2019), by Nnedi OkoraforSupport Talking Scared on Patreon Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com Support the show

10 Things I Learned from Junot Diaz: 1. “Unless it's breaking you, why would anyone else care?” 2. Give readers a chance to interact with the work - don't chew it up and put it in their mouths. Let them come to different conclusions. Give them choices to let them decide what to think.  3. Writers cannot be "in cahoots" with the story - safeguard a space for the reader in the story. The story shouldn't be dictated by the author. 4. Memory is contained and not dangerous. Memory work disrupts the immersion of the story because the character is not immersed in remembering 5. 1st POV should not try to discharge the function of 3rd POV 6. Withholding information is not developing character or plot. Non-information creates disinterest. 7. With characters, take away the one thing you think is important and see what you have left. Allow them to interact with others to let the reader see who they really are. Scaling with at least 2 others allows you to triangulate. 8. We look away to spare ourselves from feeling the pain and hope the reader will do the work for us. By taking the reader into our pain, we can be seen. 9. Always Be Building Character 10. Tend to your wound. Integrate it and write from there. Balance the person and the artist. Tend to your personhood so that if you never write again, you'll still love yourself. Mentions: - A Midsummer Night's Dream - https://www.instagram.com/p/ChxVmTbpG_V/ - Mysterious Galaxy - https://www.mystgalaxy.com/ - DJ Reads Books IG live - https://www.instagram.com/p/ChlNnAiFEyq/ - Scrivener - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview - Storyist - https://www.storyist.com/ - Patricia C. Wrede Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions - https://pcwrede.com/pcw-wp/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/ - Holly Black on Magic Systems - https://www.penandstory.com/2011/04/17/holly-black-on-creating-working-magic/ - VONA/Voices writers workshop - https://www.vonavoices.org/ - Junot Diaz - http://www.junotdiaz.com/ - Hurston Wright Foundation - https://www.hurstonwright.org/ - Dolen Perkins-Valdez - https://dolenperkinsvaldez.com/ - Writers mentioned: Kacen Callender, Ines Johnson, Shanae Johnson, Nicole Dennis-Benn, Daniel Jose Older, Lesley Nneka Arimah    The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing. Join fantasy and paranormal romance author L. Penelope as she shares insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week's best thing. Subscribe and view show notes at: https://lpenelope.com/podcast | Get the Footnotes newsletter - http://lpen.co/footnotes Support the show - http://frolic.media/podcasts! Stay in touch with me! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook Music credit: Say Good Night by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported— CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/SZkVShypKgM Affiliate Disclosure: I may receive compensation for links to products on this site either directly or indirectly via affiliate links. Heartspell Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Creatures made of paper coming alive. A magical mathematical formula that takes away emotions. A toilet baby?!? These are just some of the fantastic stories we read this week from our short story collections. Are you a fan of short stories? Books mentioned on this episode: The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah, and Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/keepitfictional/message

Esse mês elegemos as literaturas africanas como tema central aqui no Rede Poderosa. Para carregar o mês nas costas, trouxemos o livro O que Acontece Quando um Homem Cai do Céu, da nigeriana radicada nos EUA Lesley Nneka Arimah. Publicado pela Editora Kapulana (@editorakapulana) em 2018, com tradução da Karina Kuhn Facchin. São 12 contos com protagonistas mulheres que exploram múltiplas facetas da vida e do fazer literário: da mais pura solidariedade ao mal absoluto; do realismo clássico à ficção científica. Com narrativas cirúrgicas, cortantes e imersivas, Lesley deixa bem claro em seu livro de estreia o porquê de ter recebido tantos prêmios sendo ainda uma autora tão jovem. Mais um livrão pra conta desse 2022 cheio de boas surpresas! Vem com a gente! * Atenção: Para mais informações sobre este episódio e todos os outros, acessem nosso site www.centralredepoderosa.com.br. Para acompanhar e interagir conosco, nos sigam no Instagram @centralredepoderosa. Para sugestões, parcerias e tudo o mais, nosso e-mail redepoderosa@gmail.com também está disponível. Produção: Caio Lima (@caiorede) e Patricia Quartarollo (@poderosoresumao). Arte: Nátali Nuss (@nuss.art)

This episode is dedicated to the being and memory of my mother, Sheila Kay Jenks Odum

In our last episode of Season 1 we discuss Light by Lesley Nneka Arimah. In this story we follow a Nigerian father and daughter and explore the fragility of their bond amidst the complex reality of raising a girl today. Arimah asks us to question what expectations and limitations we put on girls and young women, and how parents fight to navigate this in the best interests of their child. This story won the 2015 Regional Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. Link to story: Light by Lesley Nneka Arimah Twitter: @shortsthepod Instagram: @shortsthepodcast Sound editing & mix by Nikola Vasovic

In this episode, novelist Nadifa Mohamed and host Douglas Cowie discuss What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, a collection of short stories by Lesley Nneka Arimah. They discuss several of the stories, and the overlaps and differences in cultural expectations between the United States and Africa, the pressures of young womanhood, and more. Nadifa Mohamed's latest novel, The Fortune Men, is published by Penguin, and will be available in German from September, under the titel Der Geist von Tiger Bay, published by C.H. Beck Verlag.

We discuss one of Lesley Nneka Arimah short stories from her collection What it means when a man falls from the sky , published in 2017. It's a short dive into what the story means for us and how we connect to modern day life. Download and subscribe --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/chos-and-sherry/message

Join Lesilee and Mikel as they discuss three recent short story collections by three authors under the age of 40. The collections discussed are “What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky” by Lesley Nneka Arimah, “What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours” by Helen Oyeyemi and “Orange World and Other Stories” by Karen Russell.

Guest host Robert Sean Leonard presents stories about transgression, misunderstandings, and betrayal. “Initials Etched on a Dining Room Table Lockeport Nova Scotia” call up a host of memories in this story by Peter Orner, performed by Maulik Pancholy. A chef down on his luck gets a new start in “Ollie’s Back,” by Lynn Sloan, performed by Nate Corddry. And parents disagree about the raising of a lively daughter, in “Light,” by Lesley Nneka Arimah, performed by Crystal Dickinson. Join and give!: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/symphonyspacenyc?code=Splashpage See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Sinica, Kaiser is joined by Wall Street Journal correspondent Te-Ping Chen to talk about her just-released collection of short fiction, Land of Big Numbers: Stories. Featuring 10 short stories all set in China or featuring Chinese characters, it showcases both the author’s keen eye for detailed observation and her imaginative powers and offers an unfailingly empathetic look at China from a wide range of disparate angles. Te-Ping even reads a passage from one short story, “Lulu,” which was previously published in The New Yorker.10:51: A real-life inspiration for her fiction28:30: A reading from “Lulu”37:10: The cultural disconnect between China and the U.S.43:16: Te-Ping’s writing and publishing processRecommendations:Te-Ping: A short story collection titled What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky, by Lesley Nneka Arimah, and My Country and My People, from a collection of essays from the 1930s by Lín Yǔtáng 林语堂.Kaiser: The Index of Self-Destructive Acts, by Christopher Beha.

Episode Notes Hey guys, how are you doing? I hope you're taking good care of yourself and doing well.  In this episode, I will be reviewing What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah. Are you ready? Cos I am. Let’s go clubbing! This book is a short story collection. So first things first, before I launch into my review, I’m gonna tell you about my beef with short story collections. I don't typically read them. And the reason I don’t read short stories is because I don't feel like I get enough time with the characters or enough time to sink my teeth into the character’s stories before I'm being dragged off into another story. It feels like speed dating. And for this reason Short story collections have always felt unsatisfying to me. So I usually avoid them.  Something else that I don't like about short stories, is that usually not always, but usually the endings never give any resolutions. So I'm speaking of a true resolution though not the resolution that I want. Let me explain. For example, I, just like most people, typically yearn for a happy ending to stories. But even where I don't get a happy ending, I want some sort of closure. So even where I don't get the happy ending that I want I will admire the alternative ending. I respect the alternative ending. I will think that it's brave of the author to choose the alternative ending. I may even concede that the alternative ending was the better ending. But on the other hand, I also think it is cowardly for a writer to choose no ending, to leave the story unresolved. And I feel like short story writers are typically guilty of this and short stories give writers a cop out from any sort of true ending or closure. Short story writers are notorious for jumping off the story and leaving you hanging with some intentionally esoteric ending, with some fill in the blanks with your own ending. Personally I find it gutless, weak, pathetic and I don't see anything to be admired with a lack of resolution in storytelling. And short stories are often guilty of this. So there’s my rant and now that’s out of the way. But first I’ll give you a teaser of the book. The stories tackle domestic abuse, untreated ptsd and its effects on a family, troubled teenagers, ghosts, domestic and sexual abuse. So this review is going to be a little bit different than the reviews of novels. Because this is a short story collection so we are not following the same characters from beginning to end, we're not following the same narrative arc, the themes change from story to story, and so forth.  So here’s what I loved about What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky. Fortunately in what it means when a man falls from the sky, most of the stories are well resolved. This does not mean Happy Endings or Bad Endings it just means there's closure. Most of the stories don't leave you intentionally hanging by the end. What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky is gorgeously written. The author's sentences are so economical it's a thing of stunning beauty. Lesley Nneka Arimah says the most with the least possible amount of words. I'll read from the first story called The Future looks good  and this is from on page 2. But before I read it, the context here is that a step mother puts a boy out of his home. Got it? Ok here we go… "The boy is 15 and returns from the market to find his possessions in two plastic bags on the front door step, he doesn't even knock to find out why or to ask where he's supposed to go but squats with other unmothered boys in an abandoned half-built bungalow where his two best shirts are stolen and he learns to carry his money with him at all times. He begs, he sells scrap metal, he steals, and the third comes so easy to him it becomes his way out. He starts small, with picked pockets and goods snatched from poorly tended market stalls. He learns to pick locks, to hotwire cars, to finesse his sleight-of-hand." See how she very quickly describes how this boy is abandoned by his parents and forced to become scrappy and street smart. It is So tightly done. there was not a spare, extra word. For example if you contrast this against Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. There's a huge chunk of the novel Oliver Twist where Charles Dickens spends a lot of his prose talking about how the Artful Dodger and Fagin teach Oliver how to become a pickpocket. A good good chunk of Oliver Twist is spent on what Lesley Nneka Arimah spends on a paragraph. Of course I understand that there are differences, one is novel and the other is a collection of short stories, and that in economizing your prose you sacrifice other things like character development and developing a fuller story for instance. But i still think my comparison between the two examples for the purposes of making my particular point about economy of words, holds. Or check this out on page 24 in the 3rd story titled Wild, but before I read the sentence I'd like to set the stage. Here we have a mother who's at her wit's end with her badly behaved daughter and she has had enough.. And so here goes the sentence. Enough had started with stupid teenage things that, magnified under the halo of Chinyere my well-behaved cousin made me a bad bad girl. So here's why i think this sentence is pretty great and that the writer's use of economy of words is so ridiculously good is because of how she introduces us to a new character Chinyere a well-behaved cousin and then uses just one word halo, to fully establish and develop this character. Halo is suggestive of as you know an angelic, saintly person and then when contrasted against the main character that this short story is about, you know the one whose mother has had enough, helps us understand more fully their personalities in so few words. Or how about  one more example on page 25 still on the same story. "My mother was a small woman who carried her weight in her personality." Do you see how, tight and powerful that sentence is? basically, that short sentence tells us the mother is a small sized person with an outsized personality. These sentences are so good and I feel like they gleam because they are scrubbed of anything unnecessary. No superfluous adjectives no unnecessary adverbs. And let me tell you applying restraint as a writer is an extremely difficult thing to do and this author has honed this skill well. Something else I also loved about what it means when a man falls from the sky is that The stories are short and snappy, like a flash of electricity. The stories are short but emotionally complex and layered. They hold an explosive power like dynamite. Like boom boom pow. I mentioned in episode 2 of the Misty Bloom Book Club the observational skills that a writer must possess and the reason it matters is because life is the ultimate inspiration for any writer. Now in this book on page 61 in the story titled light there's a sentence I thought was just so profound and I'll read it to you. " this starts another argument between husband and wife, mild at first, but then it peppers and there is this thing that distance does where it subtracts warmth and context and history and each finds that they're arguing with a stranger." I'm not going to interpret the meaning of this sentence for you. All I'll say is that the sentence is stellar because it does show off the author's observational skills, how she deconstructs the anatomy of an marital argument but what is most important here is the ability to not only observe but to translate the moment and articulate it into seemingly effortless wisdom. So great job, Lesley Nneka Arimah.  I often mention how metaphors are effective tools for great storytelling so there's this line on page 61 that reads "the girl holds a grudge as well as she holds water in her fist". A lesser author could have easily written the girl was terrible at holding grudges but that would not have come off as commonplace and much less impactful. Also this metaphor of a fistful of water or lack thereof conjured up an image, that was effective in describing the girl's carefree temperament, and also read as original. The economy of sentences is not just important for its own sake but it also forces the reader to participate within the story so that it feels more immediate and really captures your attention and emotions. Check out this line from page 71 on the fifth story Second Chances so I'll read this so it starts out by saying, "after my mother died, I spent a few months in a place where they spooned food and medication into me." The reason I select the sentence is because it just very sparsely talks about being in this facility because obviously if you are being spooned food and medication it's some sort of facility where a third party is doing these things to you most likely a medical professional but I think this an an excellent example of participating with the prose so even though the sentence says enough it doesn't say a lot so as a reader, I'm forced here to fill in the blanks here with you know the medical professional, with it being a facility. I am forced to generate emotions associated with someone  who needed to be in a facility because of the tragic passing of a parent, someone who needed to be spoon-fed because circumstances have left them unable to do it for themselves. Therefore the tragedy feels heavier because sufficient little is said which forces me to participate in the story by filling in the blanks with my own imagination and feelings about the situation. The 6th story, Windfalls was crushing. It is written in the second person. and by second person I mean you. I've never been convinced that writing in the second person had any sort of merit whatsoever. I've been adamant against any writer ever exploring writing prose using the second person. I've never thought of it as a sustainable way of telling a complete story but this story, windfalls, and Lesley Nneka Arimah have convinced me otherwise. However I still have to say that in using the second person, you, I never got to know the characters names. And I think putting a name to someone helps you feel like you're connected in a way to that person. And without having a name of any of the characters I felt a certain loss. But I also don't know if that was intentional by the writer.  Finally I'm gonna end what I loved about What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky by talking about my favorite story in the book titled what is a volcano. And I think I like it because it's a folktale, it's very multi-layered has many hidden meanings, packed full of wisdom, imagination, profundity, and I think this is the one story where I felt like the author let herself go and and relaxed on the page. And the best part? It does have a great resolution. So those are the main elements of what I loved about  What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky. But before I tell you what I liked much less about this short story collection, here is a quick message from my sponsor. Don’t go anywhere. Welcome back to the Misty Bloom Book Club. thanks for staying with me. Without further ado, let’s talk about what I liked less about What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah.   In Wild, the third story, the main character has a Lebanese friend named Leila which I kind of thought in the manner of naming conventions, was kind of lazy. Really? This is like the hundred thousandth Arab female character in fiction named Leila? Come on! I also think it did a disservice to the character because Leila is such a common name that non-arab artists tend to use in their art that it did a disservice to who Leila could be. Giving her such a common name made her feel basic and since the short story format doesn't leave enough room for character development it made Leila feel one dimensional. Imagine the English equivalent of a character named Jane, that you barely get to know. With little room for character development, you would subconsciously ascribe Jane with flat, one note, basic girl next door characteristics. I think this is a good tip for new or aspiring writers is to put a lot of thought into how you name your characters. You cannot pretend that when you see a person's name you don't ascribe a set of traits or characteristics or make assumptions about that person even without meeting them. There's a reason for naming Mother of Dragons Daenerys Targaryen versus Mary Ellen Because of how much Lesley Nneka Arimah's sentences shone it really contrasted when other sentences weren't quite as good. But honestly there were veral few examples of not so great sentences and I believe in a lesser author these examples wouldn't matter at all but seeing what this writer is capable of, the lesser sentences. For example a sentence on page 61 reads, " but the space between mother and daughter is widened to hold something cautious, and elephants of mistrust and awkwardness." I didn't  at all care for this sentence. Elephants as metaphors for vastness and space is so overdone and overused and I just was disappointed to see it. I mean I realize there are very few examples of things that exist in nature that are big and can be used to describe space and distance but I think also think that Lesley Nneka Arimah didn't use elephant in a particularly original or fresh way. But honestly it feels like I'm nitpicking because this is only one average sentence out of a million other incredible sentences. Shortly after this, a really beautiful sentence follows and it reads, "she strings his virtues out like Christmas lights" how freaking magical and redeeming is that? The writing is so polished, feels like MFA in Fiction writing type work. And for those who don't know what an MFA is, it is a Master's in Fine Arts. Basically an advanced degree for how to be a fiction writer. To me this book appears to be the product of intense work shopping. When A Man Falls From The Sky is very clean, refined. it's almost surgically precise, clinical. There's no frayed edges there's no rawness, no feeling of letting loose on the page. Its been work shopped to perfection. And for this reason the book as a whole does not feel approachable. So it's kind of like when you polish silver and it's shiny and perfect. So you don't want to touch it you don't want to leave fingerprints or scuff marks. You admire from a distance. So in that vein this book does not feel approachable. It left me with a very interesting mixed feeling. on one hand I think the stories definitely do have mass appeal. There’s a mix of middle class and upper as well as working class characters. However, the surgically precise writing created a little bit of distance between writer and reader. So even when earlier I would say things like I found a story to be sad or moving or whatever, I still feel like the emotions that Lesley Nneka Arimah's writing generated felt a little bit more cerebral than deeply heartfelt. Like the emotions didn't stay with me. they didn't last but I also don't know if that's a factor of the short story format where the reader doesn't get to linger with the characters enough in order to empathize with them in a fuller more complete way. You only get to meet short story characters in passing and so your emotions are also shortlived. So think about how certain characters become fixtures in your life. And I'll use an extreme example. Harry Potter. And the reason Harry Potter is so well loved is because we've spent years knowing and empathising with Harry Potter. With a short story which is on the very opposite end of the spectrum from Harry Potter you're spending very little time with the characters so it's a challenge for the reader to feel invested in any meaningful way. In spite of that though, I still think just the ability to elicit any type of emotion whether cerebral or heartfelt from a reader in only 10 to 15 pages is still pretty exceptional and very difficult to do. So big props to Lesley Nneka Arimah The story I liked the least was actually the title story, What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky. It's a futuristic, science fiction story that's also a deconstruction of grief. Grief as in sadness sorrow mourning. This story holds an interesting concept of grief eating. However I didn't find it particularly original for a scifi futuristic type story because it's a sort of play of of the old Welsh custom of sin eating, where a person would eat the sins of a newly deceased person or in other words take on the sins of a recently deceased person. Look it up on Google if you haven't heard of it it's pretty fascinating. And what it means when a man falls from the sky it's basically a rip off of sin eating where in this story it is grief eating. Yeah I was kind of cool but not that interesting. But I didn't connect to it on an emotional or even intellectual level because I am not a huge consumer of science diction anyway so it totally makes sense why I didn't connect with this particular story. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. I was indifferent and kinda bored. Its like the title track of a musician's album. You go in wanting to love the title track of an album because the musician obviously does. Otherwise they wouldn't name their entire album after the title track. And the title track is supposed to be this crowning glory of the entire album. Similarly, what it means when a man falls from the sky is in my opinion, supposed to be the pinnacle story you know. So, when you don't connect with the title track or the title story in this case it's kind of disappointing. The writing was good, but the story fell super flat for me.  So, there you  go, those are the parts of the book that I didn’t like quite as much. As you can see, it’s a spectacular book and the weaknesses I talked about are still pretty superior. But anyway, I gotta wrap this up. So I wanna do my fun guessing game of what I think Lesley Nneka Arimah is like in real life. And close out with my final thoughts but before I do, here is a quick message from my sponsor. Don’t go anywhere.  Welcome back to the Misty Bloom Book Club. thanks for staying with me. So, here is what I think this author’s personality may be like. I'm gonna guess that Lesley Nneka Arimah is a perfectionist. However, I would guess that she is perhaps not necessarily interested in wanting to be the best BUT is more interested in giving the best that she is capable of. That's my first thing.  The second is that I think she's one of those people that's been writing since she was a child and perhaps feels most comfortable expressing herself through writing. Like writing is her comfort zone, safe space, that kind of thing.  If you know Lesley Nneka Arimah, let me know if I'm right on target or completely missed the mark.  Final thoughts, I'm so impressed with the economy and refinement of Lesley Nneka Arimah's wordsmithing. But I also acknowledge that economy is well suited to the short story format. So I'd be up for checking out what she does with the longer-form narrative like a novel. If she will retain her signature style or will approach a long form novel differently. I'm definitely curious. Let me know what you think of What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky. Support Misty Bloom Book Club by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/mistybloombookclub Find out more at https://mistybloombookclub.pinecast.co

'Skinned' envisions a society in which young girls are ceremonially 'uncovered' and must marry in order to regain the right to be clothed. It tells the story of Ejem, a young woman uncovered at the age of fifteen yet 'unclaimed' in adulthood, and her attempts to negotiate a rigidly stratified society following the breakdown of a protective friendship with the married Chidinma. With a wit, prescience, and a wicked imagination, 'Skinned' is a bold and unsettling tale of bodily autonomy and womanhood, and the fault lines along which solidarities are formed and broken. --- 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

ZZ Packer joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Who Will Greet You At Home,” by Lesley Nneka Arimah, which appeared in a 2015 issue of the magazine. Packer’s story collection, “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,” was published in 2003.

We discuss what's been happening behind the scenes in the book world and Mervyn has a conversation with Mohale Mashigo about her life as a writer, and get recommendations from Book Lounge staff. Mohale mentioned ‘What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky' by Lesley Nneka Arimah, ‘Paradise' by Toni Morrison, ‘Maru' by Bessie Head, ‘The Vanishing Half' by Brit Bennett, ‘In The Dreamhouse' by Carmen Maria Machado, and ‘The Longest March' by Fred Khumalo. Jess recommends ‘Girl, Woman, Other' by Bernardine Evaristo, Colin recommends ‘Pew' by Catherine Lacey, and Luami recommends ‘The Discomfort of Evening' by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld. 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. Produced by Andri Burnett.

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

In this episode, Susan speaks with Jordan Williams, Senior Communications Specialist for UNT's Lifelong Learning & Community Engagement department, which runs OLLI at UNT. They discuss Jordan's interest in Afrofuturism and he does his best to explain what the term means. Jordan identifies some key concepts that relate to Afrofuturism and gives examples of artists and works of art that exemplify the genre. Episode Notes: Listen to actor LeVar Burton give a dramatic reading of Lesley Nneka Arimah's short story, "What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky" at https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/stitcher/levar-burton-reads/e/50741707. To learn more about OLLI at UNT, please visit https://olli.unt.edu/ or email olli@unt.edu.

Ten minutes with... is a special series presented by Coode Street that sees readers and booklovers from around the world talk about what they're reading right now and what's getting them through these difficult times. Jonathan is joined by Newbery Medal and World Fantasy Award-winning author Kelly Barnhill to discuss the joys of listening to audiobooks, the importance of reading gently, and much more. Books mentioned include: Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories by Kelly Barnhill The Ogress at the Far End of Town by Kelly Barnhill (coming next year) The Book of Delights by Ross Gay The Changeling by Joy Williams Washington Black by Esi Edugyan Terry Pratchett audiobooks LeVar Burton reads... (podcast ) What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah (read by Levar Burton)    

An audio rendition of a short story written by Lesley Nneka Arimah, one of Nigeria's finest storytellers.

On February 18, 2020, the Lannan Center presented "Power and Language," a special event with Caine Prize winning writer Lesley Nneka Arimah. Welcome: Aminatta Forna (Director of the Lannan Center, Georgetown University). Introduction: Scott Taylor (Director of the African Studies Program, Georgetown University).Lesley Nneka Arimah is the author of “Skinned,” winner of the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing; What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky (2017), her debut short story collection; and “Light,” winner of the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky was chosen for the New York Times/PBS book club and won both the 2017 New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award and the 2017 Kirkus Prize. Arimah holds a BA in English from Florida State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University. Currently, Arimah is a 2019 United States Artist Fellow in Writing living in Las Vegas.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Sharifah and Jenn discuss further awards news, including the gender breakdown of Hugo winners, African SF/F, and more. This episode is sponsored by our Mystery/Thriller Giveaway, the audiobook edition of The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz, and Loki: Where Mischief Lies, written by Mackenzi Lee, read by Oliver Wyman. Subscribe to the podcast via RSS here, Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here. The show can also be found on Stitcher here. To get even more SF/F news and recs, sign up for our Swords and Spaceships newsletter! NEWS Follow-up: The Tiptree Award is getting renamed after all. Follow-up: Elsa Sjunneson-Henry is the first blind woman to win a Hugo. Gender and the Hugo Awards, by the Numbers (and companion Twitter thread) Fonda Lee to write for Marvel! The Watch Update: non-binary rep! BOOKS DISCUSSED “The Broken Nose” by Mame Diene (read it on Omenana) “What If I Fall” by Anne Dafeta (read it on Omenana) “Skinned” by Lesley Nneka Arimah (read it on McSweeney’s) Rosewater by Tade Thompson “Tatashe” by Cassandra Mark and Tobe Max Ezeogu Shuri by Nnedi Okorafor and Leonardo Romero Shuri novel announcement!

Fantastisch, empathisch, realistisch. Lesley Nneka Arimahs preisgekrönte Stories erzählen von rebellischen jungen Mädchen und Frauen zwischen Nigeria und den USA. Mara Widmann liest "Kriegsgeschichten" von Vater und Tochter in ihren zwei Welten. Cornelia Zetzsche im Gespräch mit Lesley Nneka Arimah.

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

Mieke van der Weij en Jeroen Vullings van het NPO Radio 1-programma Nieuwsweekend (OmroepMax) bespreken vier recent verschenen romans waarover zij enthousiast zijn: 'Wat het betekent wanneer er een man uit de lucht valt' van Lesley Nneka Arimah 'De onverwachte rijkdom van Altena' van Jan van Mersbergen 'Machines zoals ik' van Ian McEwan 'Arthur, de koning van eens en ooit' van T.H. White

Dunkle, lodernde Geschichten: Lesley Nneka Arimah schreibt über menschliche Konflikte und kulturelle Gräben, über geografische Vertreibung und seelische Entfremdung. Im Zentrum stehen junge Frauen, die beheimatet sind zwischen Nigeria sowie den USA - und die ihren Platz in einer globalisierten Welt suchen. Rezension von Claudia Kramatschek. Aus dem Englischen von ZoëBeck CulturBooks Verlag 2019 ISBN 978-3-95988-105-0 200 Seiten 20 Euro

Ali discusses the short story, "Who Will Greet You at Home," admiring the creative yet heartbreaking tale from a book of short stories called What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah. She also talks about the reason she bought the book per a recommendation from the creator of one of her all-time favorite TV shows and how she had the opportunity to meet him and chat with him about it.

Alice and Bethany finish up the year with their top 10s of 2018. Alice's book of the year is Women by Chloe Caldwell - https://amzn.to/2QiG9PM Bethany's book of the year is Skin Deep by Liz Nugent - https://amzn.to/2zP3IFm Bethany's top 10: Skin Deep by Liz Nugent - https://amzn.to/2zP3IFm Women by Chloe Caldwell - https://amzn.to/2QiG9PM Normal People by Sally Rooney - https://amzn.to/2AYKxc0 House of Impossible Beauties by Joseph Cassara - https://amzn.to/2QCrheq Fire Sermon by Jamie Quatro - https://amzn.to/2B3ktML Lullaby by Leila Slimani - https://amzn.to/2Pqi8B0 Revolting Prostitutes by Molly Smith and Juno Mac - https://amzn.to/2L598QU Bad Blood by John Carreyrou - https://amzn.to/2Pp96E1 Sabrina by Nick Drnaso - https://amzn.to/2B3lbcT I'll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara - https://amzn.to/2L1o56P Alice's top 10: Women by Chloe Caldwell - https://amzn.to/2QiG9PM Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata - https://amzn.to/2SC1259 Normal People - https://amzn.to/2AYKxc0 Lullaby by Leila Slimani - https://amzn.to/2Pqi8B0 Fire Sermon by Jamie Quatro - https://amzn.to/2B3ktML What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah - https://amzn.to/2PseLJA Ponti by Sharlene Teo - https://amzn.to/2Qig1El I'll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara - https://amzn.to/2L1o56P Little Eve by Catriona Ward - https://amzn.to/2B3ljsT Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott - https://amzn.to/2PkWcqR The 2019 releases we can already recommend are My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite Red Snow by Will Dean Stone Mothers by Erin Kelly Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal

Today’s book is What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah.Today’s tea is Green Ginger by TazoWant to Support us check out our Patreon and teepublic store!Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/orczoneTeepublic: https://www.teepublic.com/user/orczone

Bunmi and Dieuwke discuss “What it means when a man falls from the sky” by Lesley Nneka Arimah and focus on “The future looks good” Should a collection have a central theme? Or be stylistically uniform? Leone Ross “Come let us sing anyway” and Lesley Nneka Arimah prove one collection can contain traditional short stories AND dystopian stories, or even romantic or horror. Other books/ authors mentioned: - Alison Munro - Lydia Davis - Alice Walker with The Colour purple - Ben Okri with The famished Road - Raymond Carver - Ottessa Moshfegh - Arundhati Roy with The God of small things

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.

Where is Africa in world literature? After centuries of being confined to a cramped corner of the literary world—to being described by explorers, tourists, journalists, and activists—African writers discuss what it means to tell their own stories, in their own words and languages, and the journey their work takes to arrive in print, at home and abroad. Lesley Nneka Arimah's ‘What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky' is “completely captivating…whether you're in Nigeria or Chicago” (Ebony); Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's ‘Kintu' has been called “a masterpiece of cultural memory” (Publishers Weekly), and Sarah Ladipo Manyika's ‘Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun' is one of the “brilliant books that you really need to read” (Buzzfeed).

AUTHOR LESLEY NNEKA ARIMAH READS HER FESTIVE SHORT STORY, THE GIFT, WRITTEN AND RECORDED EXCLUSIVELY FOR STYLIST MAGAZINE See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Her Body and Other Parties (Graywolf Press) In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies. A wife refuses her husband's entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store's prom dresses. One woman's surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella "Especially Heinous," Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naively assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgangers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes. Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction. Praise for Her Body and Other Parties “The stories in Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties vibrate with originality, queerness, sensuality and the strange. Her voracious imagination and extraordinary voice beautifully bind these stories about fading women and the end of the world and men who want more when they’ve been given everything and bodies, so many human bodies taking up space and straining the seams of skin in impossible, imperfect, unforgettable ways.”—Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist and Hunger “Carmen Maria Machado’s Her Body and Other Parties tells ancient fables of eros and female metamorphosis in fantastically new ways. She draws the secret world of the body into visibility, and illuminates the dark woods of the psyche. In these formally brilliant and emotionally charged tales, Machado gives literal shape to women's memories and hunger and desire. I couldn’t put it down.”—Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! “Those of us who knew have been waiting for a Carmen Maria Machado collection for years. Her stories show us what we really love and fear.”—Alexander Chee, author of The Queen of the Night “Carmen Maria Machado writes a new kind of fiction: brilliant, blindingly weird, and precisely attuned to the perils and sorrows of the times.”—Ben Marcus, author of Leaving the Sea “Carmen Maria Machado has a vital, visceral, umbilical connection to the places deep within the soul from where stories emanate. With a tenderness that is both touching and terrifying, Her Body and Other Parties gives insight into a cluster of worlds linked by their depth of feeling and penetrating strangeness.”—Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine “Brilliantly inventive and blazingly smart, these stories have the life-and-death stakes of nightmares and fairy tales; they’re full of urgent, almost unbearable reality. Carmen Machado is an extraordinary writer, an essential voice.”—Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You “Her Body and Other Parties will delight you, hurt you, and astonish you as only the smartest literature can. In this collection Machado blends horror, fairy tale, pop culture and myth in mesmerizing ways that feel utterly new. These stories are peerless and brilliant.”—Alissa Nutting, author of Made for Love and Tampa “Carmen Maria Machado shuffles together fantastic, realistic, popular, and literary genres and then deals winning hand after winning hand. Whether it is reworking fairy tales, rewriting the entire run of Law and Order into a grim fantasy, or diving into unchartered territory entirely Machado's own, Her Body and Other Parties is a deft and thoughtful reclaiming of both literature and genre.”—Brian Evenson, author of A Collapse of Horses “Her Body and Other Parties is genius: part punk rock and part classical, with stories that are raw and devastating but also exquisitely plotted and full of delight. This is a strong, dangerous, and blisteringly honest book—it’s hard to think of it as a ‘debut,’ it's that good.”—Jeff VanderMeer, author of Borne “What Carmen Maria Machado has done with this collection is nothing less than stunning. Just when you think you’ve figured her out, she unveils another layer of story, so unexpected, so profound, it leaves you gasping.”—Lesley Nneka Arimah, author of What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky “With her lush, generative imagination, shimmering language, and utter fearlessness, Carmen Maria Machado is surely one of most ferociously gifted young writers working today. . . . Hilariously inventive, emotionally explosive, wonderfully sexy, Machado’s stories will carry you far from home, upend your reality, and sew themselves to your soul.”—Michelle Huneven, author of Blame and Off Course “Carmen Maria Machado is the way forward. Her fiction is fearlessly inventive, socially astute, sometimes pointed, sometimes elliptical, and never quite what you’re expecting—yet behind it you can always hear that ancient tale-teller’s voice, bartering for your attention with its dangers and its mysteries, its foolhardy characters pulled this way and that by the ropes of their emotions. . . . There is at once the breath of the new about these stories and the breath of the timeless.”—Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Brief History of the Dead “A form-bending fabulist in the tradition of Kevin Brockmeier, Kelly Link, and Karen Russell, she gleefully seeks out weird shapes and subjects for every story. . . . She writes uncanny, creepy, sexy, funny, feminist, magical-realist, metafictional, pop-cultural, and all-of-the-above stories, and she seems determined never to write the same story twice. Yet for all of its wildly inventive variety, Her Body and Other Parties is unified by the one story it keeps finding new ways to tell: how women can survive in worlds that want them to disappear, whether into marriage, motherhood, death, or (literally) prom dresses.”—Bennett Sims, author of A Questionable Shape  Carmen Maria Machado’s work has appeared in Granta, the New Yorker, NPR, Electric Literature, and elsewhere. She has been nominated for a Nebula Award and a Shirley Jackson Award, and was a finalist for the Calvino Prize. She lives in Philadelphia. You can visit her website at: www.carmenmachado.com  

Highlights A cautionary tale about of making it about yourself Be honest, would you be friends with you? Note to self: Please stop projecting and take your OWN advice Episode Resources Book of the week [EXTENDED] What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky – Lesley Nneka Arimah. This is a collection of 12 […]

Nigerian-American short fiction favorite Lesley Nneka Arimah made waves in April with the release of her long-awaited collection What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky. For months […]

Nigerian-American short fiction favorite Lesley Nneka Arimah made waves in April with the release of her long-awaited collection What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky. For months prior, publications as varied as Time, Elle, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, and even Buzzfeed had lauded it as one of 2017’s most anticipated […]

Nigerian-American short fiction favorite Lesley Nneka Arimah made waves in April with the release of her long-awaited collection What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky. For months prior, publications as varied as Time, Elle, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, and even Buzzfeed had lauded it as one of 2017’s most anticipated releases – and with good […]

Today, a special bonus episode featuring a wide-ranging conversation between LeVar and Lesley Nneka Arimah, author of "What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky".  Thanks to our presenting sponsor Audible. Start your free trial and get a free audiobook at audible.com/levar.

A mathematician has discovered a formula that explains the universe and makes it possible to manipulate human bodies and emotions. "What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky" is the title story of Lesley Nneka Arimah's collection from Riverhead Books. Thanks to our presenting sponsor Audible. Start your free trial and get a free audiobook at audible.com/levar.

We speak with award-winning author Lesley Nneka Arimah about her story collection, What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky. She is also the author of the upcoming The Children of Bones.  We also talk with Phaedra Patrick about her new novel Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone. She is the author of The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, which has been published in 20 languages.

Mohsin Hamid, the bestselling author of the new novel EXIT WEST, calls in to the podcast to talk to us about writing characters who try to be decent people in an age of cynicism, while co-host Megan Labrise asks debut fiction writer Lesley Nneka Arimah about her story collection, WHAT IT MEANS WHEN A MAN FALLS FROM THE SKY. And our senior editors pipe up to tell you which bestselling books you should race out and read and which you might want to ignore.

We're back this week, talking about What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky: Stories by Lesley Nneka Arimah. We discuss: some "punch-in-the-guts" moments in the stories, reading short stories as collections versus as individual stories, the uplifting idea that you have to deal with your pain--- no avoiding it!, thematic connections to Girls (I know, seems a little cray), the role storytelling plays in these stories, the question of whether to look up an author before reading their work or not to look up an author before reading their work ;), our new memoir "Stuck With a White Man," and we then we get a little toasty at the end. Olivia drinks: cab or something Ashley drinks: some unnamed white wine We read: What it Means When a Man Falls From the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah Up next: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders Music by: Matt Costa

In which we discuss "Sabbath Wine" by Barbara Krasnoff and "The Future Looks Good" by Lesley Nneka Arimah. Also. Hope. Lies. And bungee running.