Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo: The Tiny Things are Heavier w/ Ruben Reyes Jr.

Event guidelines:

• Each ticket will include either a copy of the featured book or a $10 Books Are Magic gift card.
• Additional copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.
• A signing will follow the talk.
• Home address is collected for contact tracing purposes; it will not be used otherwise.
• The event will also be livestreamed for free here: https://youtube.com/live/04Ot9gXxQdA
• As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event, even if you have a ticket; email us and we'll work it out.

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact ZXZlbnRoZWxwIHwgYm9va3NhcmVtYWdpYyAhIG5ldA==.

A heart-rending debut novel about a Nigerian immigrant as she tries to find her place at home and in America—a powerful epic about love, grief, family, and belonging.

Named a Best Book of 2025 by Vogue and Harper's Bazaar

The Tiny Things Are Heavier follows Sommy, a Nigerian woman who comes to the United States for graduate school two weeks after her brother, Mezie, attempts suicide. Plagued by the guilt of leaving Mezie behind, Sommy struggles to fit into her new life as a student and an immigrant. Lonely and homesick, Sommy soon enters a complicated relationship with her boisterous Nigerian roommate, Bayo, a relationship that plummets into deceit when Sommy falls for Bryan, a biracial American, whose estranged Nigerian father left the States immediately after his birth. Bonded by their feelings of unbelonging and a vague sense of kinship, Sommy and Bryan transcend the challenges of their new relationship.

During summer break, Sommy and Bryan visit the bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria, where Sommy hopes to reconcile with Mezie and Bryan plans to connect with his father. But when a shocking and unexpected event throws their lives into disarray, it exposes the cracks in Sommy’s relationships and forces her to confront her notions of self and familial love.

A daring and ambitious novel rendered in stirring, tender prose, The Tiny Things Are Heavier is a captivating portrait that explores the hardships of migration, the subtleties of Nigeria’s class system, and how far we’ll go to protect those we love.

Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and a fourth-year PhD student in Creative Writing at Florida State University. Her works have appeared in Isele Magazine, Southeast Review, and Catapult. She’s a recipient of the 2021 Elizabeth George Foundation Grant and a 2024 Torch Literary Arts Fellowship. Home for her is Lagos, Nigeria. She lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

Ruben Reyes Jr. is the son of two Salvadoran immigrants and the author of There is a Rio Grande in Heaven, which was a finalist for the Story Prize, the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Harvard College. His writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Slate, American Short Fiction, and other publications. Originally from Southern California, he now lives in Queens. His first novel, Archive of Unknown Universes, is forthcoming on July 1st.

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