What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

And, suddenly, when you place them in this, you know, magical world, it takes on different connotations.

What is this world you reveal?ĪRIMAH: So I like speculative stories - you know, magical realism, fantasy, science fiction, what have you - because we can take sort of things that we take for granted as rules to follow in our world. This begins with a woman who wants a child and weaves one out of hair. SIMON: And also out of your imagination, the story 'Who Will Greet You At Home.' That was a National Magazine Award finalist when you wrote it for The New Yorker. And I said I wanted to play with the idea of the reversal of fortunes in that way. And so westerners now become refugees coming to South America to Africa to Australia. And so within this world, the continents that are consumed by the rising floodwaters are Europe and America. You know, I was interested in sort of imagining what an alternate future would look like if climate change is taken to its ultimate conclusion. SIMON: Let's begin with this title story, 'What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky.' This is a world, in many ways, that you've turned upside down in just a few short pages. LESLEY NNEKA ARIMAH: Thank you for having me. Lesley Nneka Arimah joins us from Bagamoyo, Tanzania. It's a book that ranges from the story of a child that a mother weaves from hair to a father's anxiety for the daughter he sends out into the world and an upturned world that's ravaged by natural disasters that can have everlasting results. One of the most anticipated books of the year is out - 'What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky.' It's the first book of short stories from Lesley Nneka Arimah who's won an African Commonwealth prize among many others.

What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah