42 min listen
Nana Nkweti: ‘I Always Knew I Was Going to Write Stories’
Nana Nkweti: ‘I Always Knew I Was Going to Write Stories’
ratings:
Length:
57 minutes
Released:
Oct 19, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
On the Season One finale of Ursa Short Fiction, co-hosts Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton talk to Nana Nkweti, author of the acclaimed short story collection, Walking on Cowrie Shells (Graywolf Press).
Nkweti’s story “Dance the Fiya Dance,” performed by Enih Agwe, was featured in Episode 15.
Read the full transcript.
Support Future Episodes of Ursa Short Fiction
Become a Member at ursastory.com/join.
About the Author
Nana Nkweti is a Cameroonian-American writer, Whiting Award winner, and AKO Caine Prize finalist whose work has garnered fellowships from MacDowell, Vermont Studio Center, Ucross, Byrdcliffe, Kimbilio, Hub City Writers, the Stadler Center for Poetry, the Wurlitzer Foundation, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Clarion West Writers Workshop. Her first book, Walking on Cowrie Shells, was hailed by The New York Times review as a “raucous and thoroughly impressive debut” with "stories to get lost in again and again." The collection is also a New York Times Editor's Choice, Indie Next pick, recipient of starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and BookPage; and has been featured in The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, Oprah Daily, The Root, NPR, Buzzfeed, and Thrillist; amongst others. The work features elements of mystery, horror, myth, and graphic novels to showcase the complexity and vibrance of African diaspora cultures and identities. She is a professor of English at the University of Alabama where she teaches creative writing courses that explore her eclectic literary interests: ranging from graphic novels to medical humanities onto exploring works by female authors in genres such as horror, Afrofuturism, and mystery.
Episode Links and Reading List:
“Dance the Fiya Dance” (Ursa)
Walking on Cowrie Shells (Graywolf Press)
Nana Nkweti’s website
“Nana Nkweti’s Tales of Cameroonians at Home and in America” (Deesha Philyaw, The New York Times Book Review)
Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine
Bloodchild, Octavia Butler
“The Secret Sci-Fi Life of Alice B. Sheldon” (NPR)
More from Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton:
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, by Deesha Philyaw
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, by Dawnie Walton
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join
Nkweti’s story “Dance the Fiya Dance,” performed by Enih Agwe, was featured in Episode 15.
Read the full transcript.
Support Future Episodes of Ursa Short Fiction
Become a Member at ursastory.com/join.
About the Author
Nana Nkweti is a Cameroonian-American writer, Whiting Award winner, and AKO Caine Prize finalist whose work has garnered fellowships from MacDowell, Vermont Studio Center, Ucross, Byrdcliffe, Kimbilio, Hub City Writers, the Stadler Center for Poetry, the Wurlitzer Foundation, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Clarion West Writers Workshop. Her first book, Walking on Cowrie Shells, was hailed by The New York Times review as a “raucous and thoroughly impressive debut” with "stories to get lost in again and again." The collection is also a New York Times Editor's Choice, Indie Next pick, recipient of starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and BookPage; and has been featured in The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, Oprah Daily, The Root, NPR, Buzzfeed, and Thrillist; amongst others. The work features elements of mystery, horror, myth, and graphic novels to showcase the complexity and vibrance of African diaspora cultures and identities. She is a professor of English at the University of Alabama where she teaches creative writing courses that explore her eclectic literary interests: ranging from graphic novels to medical humanities onto exploring works by female authors in genres such as horror, Afrofuturism, and mystery.
Episode Links and Reading List:
“Dance the Fiya Dance” (Ursa)
Walking on Cowrie Shells (Graywolf Press)
Nana Nkweti’s website
“Nana Nkweti’s Tales of Cameroonians at Home and in America” (Deesha Philyaw, The New York Times Book Review)
Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine
Bloodchild, Octavia Butler
“The Secret Sci-Fi Life of Alice B. Sheldon” (NPR)
More from Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton:
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, by Deesha Philyaw
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, by Dawnie Walton
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://ursastory.com/join
Released:
Oct 19, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (32)
William Pei Shih on ‘Happy Family,’ Flawed Characters, and the Messiness of Life by Ursa Short Fiction