Lesley Nneka Arimah

Lesley Nneka Arimah was born in the UK and grew up in Nigeria and wherever her father was stationed for work. She emigrated from Nigeria to Louisiana at the age of thirteen, a disorienting transition that left her keenly attuned to the shockwaves set in motion by displacement. The powerful stories in her first book, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, embrace magical realism while employing a deeply empathetic understanding of character and place. Arimah has been a finalist for a National Magazine Award and the Caine Prize, and a winner of the African Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and an O. Henry Award, among other honors. She lives in Minneapolis. Photo credit: Emily Baxter