Leone Ross Knihy

From headless schoolgirls, to talking food and threesomes, pretty much anything can happen in these witty, weird and wonderful short stories by Leone Ross.Ranging from flash fiction to intense psychological drama, magical realism, horror and erotica, these strange, clever, frank and sometimes very funny stories have a serious side too. Carefully crafted over 15 years, they explore unbounded sexualities, a vision of the fluidity of the person, and politics – from the deaths of black people at the hands of the police, to the deep shifts that signal the subtle changes in the nature of capitalism and much more. These stories may sometimes tickle, sometimes shock; but will always engage both the intellect and the heart.

LONGLISTED FOR THE ONDAATJE PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE DIVERSE BOOK AWARDS 'Dazzling' Cosmopolitan 'I deeply admire This One Sky Day - and also, not so secretly, bitterly envy it...' MARLON JAMES 'Gorgeous' Financial Times 'Haunting' Independent 'Wonderfully fearless' New Statesman 'Stunning' KEI MILLER Dawn breaks across the archipelago of Popisho. The world is stirring awake again, each resident with their own list of things to do: A wedding feast to conjure and cook An infidelity to investigate A lost soul to set free As the sun rises two star-crossed lovers try to find their way back to one another across this single day. When night falls, all have been given a gift, and many are no longer the same. The sky is pink, and some wonder if it will ever be blue again. What readers are saying 'Brimming with and life and love and just absolutely gorgeous writing. a one-of-a-kind novel.' 'I couldn't put it down and I will be recommending it to everyone.' 'A story luxuriously and confidently told, which is sumptuous from sentence to sentence. There is both literal and literary magic here.' 'This book is bursting at the seams with beauty! Magic! Love! Imagination! It is a burst of colour and flame.' 'It's hard to explain, but if you love getting lost in a story, this could be one for you.'

Tony Pellar, a man of former style and fading beauty, has fled to the subway tunnels beneath New York. There he makes an even more perilous interior journey convinced the key to his sanity lies in retracing the events of his North Carolina childhood. As Tony gradually remembers, the stories of both his childhood friend Mikey, and of Agatha, a complex woman with a disfigured face, interweave with his own. All three stories finally come together against the backdrop of the civil rights movement and a heartrending and haunting climax.

Seventeen candid, refreshing stories tell the story of lives rarely seen in an unflinching tone that will challenge and delight Letters across the ocean tell a family’s story spanning 29 years…A young Asian wife battles the silence that threatens her…In St Kitts, a son tries to pick the lock of his father’s reserve…When cousin Jasvir visits, the world changes for a ten-year-old boy…70s Rasta rhythms reverberate through a teenage love affair…In a defiant return to church, Lauren shows what she’s made of…Here are 17 stories from the pens and hearts of black and Asian writers in Birmingham. Stories that must be heard: tender whispers of family and rites of passage, harsher whispers of hurt and conflict – the emotions seep into the very walls around us. Sometimes these walls feel like barriers, but still the stories pervade the city and help define its uniqueness. Whispers in the Walls not only illuminates the lives of black and Asian people in Birmingham but addresses all communities – sometimes in rage, sometimes in joy. Refreshing, candid, funny and alive with rhythm – talented voices speak out with diversity and intensity. We tell the stories that show we are here.