College English Department celebrates 30 Years of the Minnesota Writers Series with two author events, Oct. 18 and March 24, 2018

September 25, 2017

The Anoka-Ramsey Community College English Department is celebrating the 30^th anniversary of its Minnesota Writers Series with appearances by two guest writers: Lesley Nneka Arimah, author of What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky on Oct. 18, and Kelly Barnhill, author of the Newbery Award-winning novel The Girl Who Drank the Moon on March 24, 2018.

For 30 years, the Minnesota Writers Series at the Anoka-Ramsey Community College Cambridge Campus has featured some of the state’s most exciting and accomplished writers. The campus provides a beautiful, intimate setting for writers to read and discuss their work, take questions from the audience and sign books following the program. The organizers take great pride in offering high-quality literary events for the college community and the East Central Minnesota region. All events are free and open to the public.

"We've got a rich history going back to the late 80's, from powerhouses like Garrison Keillor and Kate DiCamillo to exciting emerging voices like Ed Bok Lee and Lesley Nneka Arimah,” said English Faculty member and series organizer, William Breen. “We hope to keep this going for a long time."

The first Minnesota Writers event featuring Lesley Nneka Arimah is scheduled for Oct. 18, noon- 1 pm in the Cambridge Campus Auditorium (G202).

Arimah is a graduate of Mankato State University's Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing and a Minneapolis resident. She was born in the United Kingdom and raised partly in Nigeria. What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, her first collection of short stories, was named one of the most anticipated of 2017 by Time, Elle, and The Chicago Tribune. It’s been hailed by NPR as “a truly wonderful debut” of “stories that reward rereading”, and it has earned a starred review from Kirkus Review as a collection that “heralds a new voice with certain staying power.”

"Arimah's writing hums and howls with life. Expansive and beautiful, her stories capture emotions and experiences that both haunt the reader in strangely familiar ways and cut new paths for the hungry soul,” said English Faculty member and friend of Arimah, Kelly Meyer. “The Minnesota literary community is incredibly lucky to call Arimah one of its own, and I couldn't be more pleased that she is sharing her talent with our Cambridge Campus students and the local community."

Minnesota Writers Series: Lesley Nneka Arimah, What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky
Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017
noon
Cambridge Campus Rm G202
The event is free, and the public is encouraged to attend.

For more information about Arimah and her work, visit www.larimah.com/

For more information on Anoka-Ramsey Community College’s English Department and related events, visit AnokaRamsey.edu/academics/departments-faculty/english/