Podcast appearances and mentions of Chris Abani

From Dr. Chisaraokwu's website: "My art is a practice of retrieval, reanimation, and re-presentation of the parts of ourselves lost in the wake of trauma. Poetry is the sound, the feel, of those missing | mis-seen parts— raw, unapologetic, found, free. .CHISARAOKWU. is an Igbo American transdisciplinary poet artist, scholar, writer, performer, health futurist, and a 2023 California Arts Council Fellow. Inspired by her love of history, dreamscapes, the environment, quantum physics, and all things Africa(n)|(in)diaspora, she weaves images, textures, and text to create poems. Her work has been honored with awards and fellowships from MacDowell, Cave Canem, Vermont Studio Center, Anaphora Arts, Ucross and Headlands Center for the Arts, among other honors. She is an alum of the Brooklyn Poets Mentorship Program and the 2022 Tin House Winter Workshop. Nominated for Best of Net (Poetry; 2019, 2020, 2021), Best New Poets (2022), and Best New Small Fiction (2022), her words have appeared in academic and literary journals including Transition, Obsidian, midnight&indigo, The Lancet, and The New England Journal of Medicine. Her debut visual art work is featured in Michigan Quarterly Review's Spring 2024 issue, African Cartographies edited by Chris Abani. She earned her BA in History from Stanford University, MD from Duke University School of Medicine, MSPH from UNC Gilling School of Global Public Health, and certification in Global Mental Health & Trauma from Harvard School of Public Health's Refugee Trauma Program. She is a retired pediatrician and an alum of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program at Yale University where her research focused on adverse childhood experiences, mental health and spirituality, and community-based participatory research projects. She is currently working on two poetry collections and a novel. She is the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship for 2025!! https://www.arts.gov/.../creative.../chisaraokwu-asomugha

Chris Albani and Kwame Dawes chat with Dion O'Reilly about KUMI: New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set THE LIMITED-EDITION BOX SET is a project started in 2014 to ensure the publication of up to a dozen chapbooks every year by African poets through Akashic Books. The series seeks to identify the best poetry written by African poets working today, and it is especially interested in featuring poets who have not yet published their first full-length book of poetry. The nine poets included in this box set are: Nurain Oládèjì, Sarpong Osei Asamoah, Claudia Owusu, Nome Emeka Patrick, Qhali, Connor Cogill, Feranmi Ariyo, Dare Tunmise, and Adams Adeosun. KWAME DAWES is the author of numerous books of poetry and other works of fiction, criticism, and essays. His most recent poetry collection is Sturge Town which was published by Peepal Tree Press in the UK and W.W. Norton in the US. Dawes is a George W. Holmes University Professor of English and Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner. He teaches in the Pacific MFA Program and is the series editor of the African Poetry Book Series, director of the African Poetry Book Fund, and artistic director of the Calabash International Literary Festival. He is a Chancellor for the Academy of American Poets and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Dawes is the winner of the prestigious Windham/Campbell Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2022 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. In 2022, Kwame Dawes was awarded the Order of Distinction Commander class by the Government of Jamaica, and in 2024, he was appointed Poet Laureate of Jamaica.CHRIS ABANI's prose includes The Secret History of Las Vegas, Song for Night, The Virgin of Flames, Becoming Abigail, GraceLand, and Masters of the Board. His poetry collections include Smoking the Bible, Sanctificum, There Are No Names for Red, Feed Me the Sun, Hands Washing Water, Dog Woman, Daphne's Lot, and Kalakuta Republic. He holds a BA and MA in English, an MA in gender and culture, and a PhD in literature and creative writing. Abani is the recipient of a PEN USA Freedom to Write Award, a Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond Margins Award, a PEN/Hemingway Award, and a Guggenheim fellowship. He won the prestigious 2024 UNT Rilke Prize and was a finalist for the 2024 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. He is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Born in Nigeria, he is currently on the board of trustees, a professor of English, and director of African Studies at Northwestern University.

As Chris Abani once stated, “The art is never about what you write about. The art is about how you write about what you write about.” Here, we find Abani's "how" thick with feeling, braided by nimble and swift metaphors, and shaped by mercurial forms. Imprisoned several times for his political writing, Abani does not shy away from the messy reality of exile, both in geography, culture, and memory. Following the reading, Abani is joined by poet and theologian Pádraig Ó Tuama for a conversation in which he discusses history, West African mythology, and how language continues to change within and around us. Abani reminds that poetry at its greatest, will always resist time.

This special episode features the most recent edition of Weinberg College's faculty speaker series “Conversation with the Dean.” This event series is designed to deliver insights into cutting-edge research and teaching from faculty experts around the College. The events are offered live to Weinberg College Leadership Society donors with a real-time Q&A. In this conversation, Professor of English Chris Abani and Dean Adrian Randolph discuss “ubuntu,” a concept that recognizes our interconnectedness, the importance of an English major in today's world, and the Program in African Studies, which holds the largest collection of African and Africana books and artifacts outside of Africa.  Weinberg College Leadership Giving Society: https://giving.northwestern.edu/s/1479/282-giving/21/interior3.aspx?pgid=7407&gid=282   Explore more "Conversations with the Dean": https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/for-alumni/conversations-with-the-dean/

Saddiq Dzukogi reads "Bakandamiya XI." from MQR's Spring 2024 special issue African Writing: A Partial Cartography of Provocations, guest edited by Chris Abani.

Glen Retief reads his fiction piece "Ghost Fish" from MQR's Spring 2024 special issue African Writing: A Partial Cartography of Provocations, guest edited by Chris Abani.

Chika Unigwe reads her fiction piece "Miracle in Lagos Traffic" from MQR''s Spring 2024 special issue African Writing: A Partial Cartography of Provocations, guest edited by Chris Abani.

Matthew Shenoda reads his poem "Capitalism's Migration" from MQR's Spring 2024 special issue African Writing: A Partial Cartography of Provocations, guest edited by Chris Abani.

Afua Ansong reads her poem "Light in Exile" from MQR's Spring 2024 special issue African Writing: A Partial Cartography of Provocations, guest edited by Chris Abani.

Leye Adenle reads "The House of Oluawo" from MQR's Spring 2024 special issue African Writing: A Partial Cartography of Provocations, guest edited by Chris Abani.

Shahilla Shariff reads her poem "Exile" from MQR's Spring 2024 special issue African Writing: A Partial Cartography of Provocations, guest edited by Chris Abani. Photography in the video appears courtesy of Shahilla Shariff.

This podcast is a commentary and does not contain any copyrighted material of the reference source. We strongly recommend accessing/buying the reference source at the same time. ■Reference Source https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_abani_on_humanity ■Post on this topic (You can get FREE learning materials!) https://englist.me/149-academic-words-reference-from-chris-abani-on-humanity-ted-talk/ ■Youtube Video https://youtu.be/DgupQtuXJx8 (All Words) https://youtu.be/1kSmYNVGsyA (Advanced Words) https://youtu.be/k6G63lvn3f0 (Quick Look) ■Top Page for Further Materials https://englist.me/ ■SNS (Please follow!)

This podcast is a commentary and does not contain any copyrighted material of the reference source. We strongly recommend accessing/buying the reference source at the same time. ■Reference Source https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_abani_telling_stories_from_africa ■Post on this topic (You can get FREE learning materials!) https://englist.me/200-academic-words-reference-from-chris-abani-telling-stories-from-africa-ted-talk/ ■Youtube Video https://youtu.be/weLEetx_Fnk (All Words) https://youtu.be/HnFRLIlfvTk (Advanced Words) https://youtu.be/cmP3af862Rw (Quick Look) ■Top Page for Further Materials https://englist.me/ ■SNS (Please follow!)

Matt Crawford speaks with author, poet and editor Kwame Dawes about his and Chris Abani's edited work, Tisa: New-Generation African Poets, A Chapbook Box Set. This twelve-piece, limited-edition box set, an African Poetry Book Fund (APBF) project, features the work of eleven new African poets. For those of you out there who are daunted by poetry, I implore you to listen to this interview and then go and get the box set. professor Dawes, completely lifts the veil on poetry and makes it accessible to us all. In this set I discovered how an African poet could transport me to their home and convey their struggle with one verse. 

Award-winning Vermont Author Brad Kessler in conversation about his 2021 novel, North (Overlook Press). One review of Brad Kessler's work, a blurb by the author Chris Abani, mentions  the way that Brad lets his characters' dignity lead the story. I love this observation, and have been thinking a lot about it. This week's Write the Book Prompt is to consider the dignity of your characters, no matter what their goals, obstacles, or plight. Consider their dignity as you work to make them real, honest, not caricatures of good or bad. Keep their dignity in mind as you try to find your way, and help them find theirs. Good luck with your work in the coming week, and tune in next week for another prompt or suggestion. Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro 770

"Grounding is to be aware of the body" - Leslieann Hobayan As we work to cultivate more self-awareness, we must first begin with a solid foundation. We need to establish where we are at this present moment in time before we can understand how we got here and where we want to go from here. Grounding is key to anchoring into our bodies before we dive within. Take a listen to find out more! * Today's poems/ Books / Oracle / Tarot Cards mentioned: Tarot Card: The Empress (reversed) "Birth Right" from Smoking the Bible by Chris Abani

Amanda and Jenn discuss books set in Chicago, love-to-hate-them protagonists, magical realism, and more in this week’s episode of Get Booked. Follow the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. Feedback Coyotes of Carthage by Steven Wright (rec’d by John) Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages by Phyllis Rose (rec’d by Amanda) What is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi and Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler (rec’d by JB) Questions 1. I would love some recommendations for books set in Chicago. I used to live in the city and have been finding myself missing it lately. Since I won’t be able to travel there anytime soon (thanks, COVID), I’m hoping to read something that will allow me to visit without the actual travel. I usually prefer to read literary fiction, memoir, historical fiction, and narrative non-fiction, but I’m fairly open in terms of genre (would prefer not to venture too far into SFF though). The most important thing is that the books that are Chicago-centric and capture the essence of a particular place and/or time in the city. Books I’ve Already Read Set in Chicago: The Devil in the White City; The Time Traveler’s Wife; Native Son; Divergent; There Are No Children Here; The Warmth of Other Sons; The House on Mango Street; A Raisin in the Sun; Twenty Years at Hull House; Gang Leader for a Day; Never a City So Real; The Good Girl; Becoming; The Story of Jane Thanks, -Sarah 2. I have always been the “fall hard, fall fast” types in a relationship. Me and my boyfriend have been together for almost two years now and I have known since the first day that I was completely in love. He’s more of the “take things slow and enjoy the moment” kind of person. We live together and bought a house together last year. We are in a serious relationship and talk about our future as life-partners, but I can’t get over how much I want to get married. I don’t know what it is about this totally antiquated idea, but I think about it all the time. He used to say he wasn’t sure about getting married due to issues in a past relationship and his fear of getting hurt/loss, but over time we’ve moved into talking about marriage as “when we get married.” Even though he’s evolved, I know marriage is still far-off in the cards for him. I’m looking for recommendations, fiction or nonfiction, to help me be patient while waiting for him to get a place where he’s ready or one that shows me that the future I want is possible or even that partnerships don’t have to be defined by marriage. I’m not looking for anything to criticize my desire to be married (because yes, I know the yearning is ludicrous), but something to keep me hopeful about the future. I love most genres, especially mystery, thriller, literary fiction or the ill-named “chick-lit”. Other than Red, White and Royal Blue, I don’t love romance (though I’m tolerant which I know is really silly considering my question) and don’t love what I would consider “foofy” novels that are all rainbows and butterflies and irrational hope or cheeriness. I like serious plots, in-depth stories and am a sucker for a long book. Hope this isn’t too difficult considering all my caveats and that you don’t take too long, because I’m clearly impatient. (Lol, just kidding.) You guys are amazing and I’m so grateful for your podcast. -Maddison 3. I’m re-watching the TV show House, and Gregory House is one of my favourite characters ever. It got me thinking about how I’d love to read a character like him. An intelligent curmudgeon, sometimes you love him sometimes you hate him and can be humourous and charming. A sidekick like Wilson is a bonus. What books have a love to hate/hate to love protagonist? The character doesn’t need to be male. And please, no Poirot or Holmes. Literary fiction, mystery/thriller and light science fiction welcome. No fantasy please. Thank you and happy reading! -Michelle 4. Hello Ladies! Thank you for the podcast! I have found so many lovely books from listening to your recommendations. I was hoping you could help me with finding more memoirs to enjoy. I am not a big nonfiction reader generally, but have really found that memoirs (or essay collections on personal experiences?) really speak to me. Huge bonus if I can get it in audio, especially if it’s read by the author.  Some that I have read and loved (mostly recommended here or on All the Books) are Black Widow, The Clancys of Queens, You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey, Solutions and Other Problems, Born a Crime, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?, Educated, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, A Man Without a Country, Marathon Woman, and Furiously Happy (which is truly what started this). I am a long-time listener, so show favorites and more recent recommendations are likely on my list. In writing this I’ve realized that my listing is pretty US-centric and mostly Black or White authors. I’m open to more of the same, but if you have any good recs from authors of other backgrounds/countries, that’d be very welcome too. I am not against graphic novels (I also read and was floored by John Lewis’ March), but I don’t think that’s what I’m looking for. I am also not generally super interested in celebrity memoirs, unless they’re something like Born a Crime which fully stands on its own. Thank you! -April 5. I need y’all’s help finding a lush, whimsical magical realism book. I loved Smoke by Dan Vyleta, The Minimalist by Jessie Burton and Things In Jars by Jess Kidd. I love luxurious, rich writing and am always drawn to the Gothic stories where a house, city, place are a character.  Full high fantasy can be a lot for me, but the fun magic/whimsy/spirits/etc just a touch outside of reality is what I love. I love the show – thanks so much for the help! -Alex 6. So I’ve just finished Reverb by Anna Zabo which Jenn recommended in the Handsell a couple of weeks ago. I devoured the first half of the book so fast—the characters’ chemistry and buildup is just so good—however for the latter part, I consciously took my time and savored each page. I was filled with dread while reading the last couple of pages, I just didn’t want to bid goodbye to these endearing characters. But all good things must come to an end, right? Now I don’t think I can ever find something within the genre that’s as good as this. Those were my running thoughts up until I tuned in to ep 269 today and realised that help is right in front of me, or in my ear or whatever. Just like what you did in the Handsell, I hope you can give me another unproblematic queer contemporary romance fiction that’s as good as Anna Zabo’s or better. Maybe one with loads of angst—the only thing Reverb kinda lacks.  Bibliotherapy helped (and still helping) me cope with the pandemic and our still ongoing lockdown. I’ve been listening to your past and recent episodes every workday since I discovered your podcast 2 weeks ago, really amazing stuff you’ve got going, Cheers! -G 7. I retired late summer 2020 from my job of 15 years.  I had not planned to do so, but budget cutbacks related to COVID, and job frustrations sped up the decision.  I now find myself adrift in my personal life and my reading life as well.  I want a book that reflects my stage of life, re-invention, and moving forward.  I also like quirky characters who find happiness and purpose against the odds.   Some favorites in the past few years.  Brit-Marie Was Here, A Gentleman in Moscow, Hamnet, The Dutch House, Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine.  I really need a book to resonate right now.  Any ideas?   -Karen Books Discussed Chicago by Alaa Al-Aswany The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes (tw: domestic abuse) Serena Singh Flips The Script by Sonya Lalli (cw: domestic violence) The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso (tw racism) The Secret History of Las Vegas by Chris Abani (cw: war crimes) Fairest by Meredith Talusan  The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh (cw: domestic violence, self-harm, violence against women) What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur Small Change by Roan Parrish (cw: discussion of depression and self-harm) The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward (tw: suicide) Dakota Blues by Lynn M Speer See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As her retrospective opens at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Ethiopian-born, New York-based artist Julie Mehretu talks in depth about her life and work. She discusses the rich language she uses in her paintings, drawing on geopolitical subject matter but pushing towards abstraction. She talks about the influence of contemporary artists like David Hammons, Kara Walker and Glenn Ligon, her collaboration with the British artist Tacita Dean, how Rembrandt made his mark on her as a child and the way she uses news photography as the basis for her most recent works. She talks about her literary influences, from Toni Morrison to Chris Abani, on the music she listens to in her studio, from Sun Ra to Joan Armatrading, and her fruitful collaborations with the jazz pianist Jason Moran and the theatre and opera director Peter Sellars. Among much else, she also talks about the cultural experience that changed the way she sees the world, the one work of art she would choose to live with, and answers our ultimate question: what is art for? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Episode 086. Saddiq Dzukogi discusses grief, fathering, and migration through poetry. Saddiq Dzukogi is the author of Your Crib, My Qibla. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Oxford Review of Books, Kenyon Review, Oxford Poetry, Salamander, Southeast Review, and Obsidian, among others. His chapbook Inside the Flower Room was selected by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani for the APBF New-Generation African Poets Series. He was a finalist for the 2017 Brunel International African Poetry Prize. Saddiq is currently a PhD student in English at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Order Your Crib, My Qibla here: https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496225771/

Ready for some piping-hot tea?! Or how about a completely level-headed and reasonable discussion of what it's like to heal from a breakup? Mary and Wyatt settle in at the kitchen table and talk about a monumentally important conversation they had this week about their exes and past heartbreak. They then talk about their experiences with healing and how they found support in difficult times. Also on the agenda: Real Housewives talk, Mary shares the grossest story about foot massages in the history of the world, and poems by Chris Abani and Nikky Finney. 

We are delighted to share this conversation between Nobel Prize winner Program of African Studies (PAS) and professor of English. Thank you to PAS for sharing this interview with us, which they hosted on October 2, 2020. Soyinka shares his thoughts on the American presidential election, the African diaspora, reclaiming African art, and more. Before the interview, Kim and Rachel share some news highlights, including election controversies in Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire. … More Ep. 99: Wole Soyinka in conversation with Chris Abani

How do you speak of — and to — your body? This is a poem dedicated to the body. “The body is a nation I have never known,” Chris Abani writes. Throughout the 21 lines of this work, he describes lungs, skin, bone, touch, smells, sweat, armpits and hunger. For all the embodiedness of the poem, there is disembodiedness too: the poem continues to question how to truly be in your own body.Chris Abani is a novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. Born in Nigeria to an Igbo father and English mother, he has lived in the United States since 2001. He is Board of Trustees Professor of English at Northwestern University. His poetry collections include Sanctificum and Hands Washing Water.Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

You’ve just enrolled in one of the best classes anyone could ever take. This week’s guest, Chris Abani, is a master teacher, poet, screenwriter, and thinker who is ready to help you understand, even if the process kicks your butt a little. In this marathon episode recorded before the pandemic descended, Chris talks about the ways our languages shape our understanding of time and space, how the stories of his childhood in Nigeria inform his tongue, the dilemma of writing something important, and much more. Enjoy the lil bit of extra VS in this jumbo-sized episode! NOTE: Make sure you rate us on Apple Podcasts and write us a review!  

This is House of SpeakEasy Foundation's The SpeakEasy Podcast where writers come together to eat, drink, and share stories on a range of themes. Hosted by SpeakEasy’s co-founders, Amanda Foreman and Lucas Wittmann, episodes will feature previously recorded storytelling performances from our live Seriously Entertaining shows at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater in New York City as well as new audio segments from our outreach programs, including our bookmobile outings and work with high school students. In this episode, poet-essayist and novelist Chris Abani, poet-critic Steph Burt and novelist and essayist Geoff Dyer share stories tied to the theme "When Strangers Meet." At the root of each of our performers stories, there seemed to be two basic questions just who is a stranger anyway? And what exactly can strangers tell us about ourselves? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's good, dearest homies. After last week's riveting conversation with Geffrey Davis about family and ethics, language and tone, we dove into "Goodnight" by Li-Young Lee—a poem that will properly mess you up. You've been warned. GEFFREY DAVIS is the author of Night Angler (BOA Editions), winner of the 2018 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, and Revising the Storm ​(BOA Editions), winner of the 2013 A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize. ​A native of the Pacific Northwest, Davis lives with his family in Fayetteville, AR. He teaches at the University of Arkansas and with The Rainier Writing Workshop, Pacific Lutheran's low-residency MFA program. Davis also serves as poetry editor for Iron Horse Literary Review.   LI-YOUNG LEE was born in 1957 in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese parents. He is the author of The Undressing (W. W. Norton, 2018); Behind My Eyes (W. W. Norton, 2008); Book of My Nights (BOA Editions, 2001), which won the 2002 William Carlos Williams Award; The City in Which I Love You (BOA Editions, 1990), which was the 1990 Lamont Poetry Selection; and Rose (BOA Editions, 1986), which won the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Poetry Award. He lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife and their two sons.   REFERENCES: "Painting a Body of Loss and Love in the Proximity of an Aesthetic" by Chris Abani; Dante Micheaux

It’s the birthday of Chris Abani, who at age 17 was jailed by the Nigerian government for writing a novel that supposedly inspired an attempted coup.

On the fifth episode of "From the Catbird Seat," Rob Casper goes behind the scenes with Ghanaian poet and editor Kwame Dawes about the February 2017 "Conversations with African Poets and Writers: African Poetry Book Fund Spotlight" event at the Library of Congress. Dawes discussess the formation of the African Poetry Book Fund, an organization that promotes and advances the development and publication of the poetic arts of Africa, and then we'll listen to event clips featuring African Book Fund editorial board members Chris Abani, Matthew Shenoda, and Aracelis Girmay; and poets Chekube O. Danladi, Safia Elhillo, Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, and Hope Wabuke.

In this episode, Paul Holdengraber talks to the writer Chris Abani about the refugee experience, the timelessness of James Baldwin, and the paradox of love. For more, visit LitHub.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stories from The Hidden World of Girls with host Tina Fey: Nigerian writer Chris Abani tells about his English-born mother enlisting him at age 8 to be her translator in Nigeria as she travels door to door through the villages teaching women the Billings Ovulation Method of birth control. Plus stories from singer/actress Janelle Monae, science fiction writer Pat Cadigan, Estonian activist Tiina Urm and her “Let’s Do It Campaign” and more stories about girls and the women they become.

For this week’s episode we’re bringing you a conversation between two Nigerian authors whose works include plays, novels, poetry, essays and more. Chris Abani is known as an international voice on humanitarianism, art, ethics and our shared political responsibility. Wole Soyinka won of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986 and has received accolades for his work in writing and advocating for human rights. The two recently sat down at the Library for a on the intersections between art, writing, activism, and politics.

  AWP 2016 (the conference for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs) in Los Angeles was la-la lovely. Marion and I flew out together, for the first time in all of these years of traveling to different cities. Our first bit of business? We discussed what our podcast from AWP would be about. Literary Death Match?  Could we ever have an experience close to the awesomeness of Mark Doty in Chicago? Tony Hoagland in Boston? Abraham Smith in Seattle? How about Chris Abani, Susan Orlean, Danez Smith, and Kirsten Valdez Quade in L.A.?  And since it’s LA, let’s throw in some celebrities like, I dunno,  Martin Starr, Lena Waithe, Michaela Watkins, and Zach Woods.  The Stars at the Literary Death Match Sure, hot enough, but basically, we wanted to sit back and enjoy the show, and then immediately have umbrella drinks on the rooftop, so…what else could we talk about? How crowded it was?  Negative and boring. How expensive it was? Negative and boring. AWP Ladies and Gentlemen! Should we interview our Uber drivers?  Not a bad idea. But, when we thought just that much longer, probably about when we were flying over Wyoming, we thought about the AWP conference and everyone’s expectations, how overwhelming it can be to have so many choices, how undone one can become even when all of those choices are great, we thought about the bookfair. We thought about how much we enjoy “camping out” at the bookfair, letting the attendees and our far-flung friends come to us, doing laps ourselves when we need to stretch. Yes. We’d hang out and the boofair and talk to people about… Writing. What else? Tune in and hear what people are working on when they’re not swimming in the riches of the AWP conference. John-Michael Peter Bloomquis, the founder and director of Poetry for Trash talked to us about his organization. Poetry for Trash goes to public parks and forests, installing stations where passerby can read a poem. The reader decides how much trash the poem is worth, and places the litter they find inside a trash bag. Poetry really is making the world a better place! Tell us what you think about AWP (and anything else) on our Facebook event page. Sign up for our email list if you’re in the area and even if you’re not! Follow us on Twitter @PaintedBrideQ and Instagram @paintedbridequarterly. Read on! -KVM   Kathy Graber and Kazim Ali

Chris Abani’s books of fiction include The Secret History of Las Vegas, Song For Night, The Virgin of Flames, Becoming Abigail, GraceLand, and Masters of the Board. His poetry collections are Sanctificum, There Are No Names for Red, Feed Me The Sun: Collected Long Poems, Hands Washing Water, Dog Woman, Daphne’s Lot, and Kalakuta Republic. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the PEN Beyond the Margins Award, the Hurston Wright Award, and a Lannan Literary Fellowship, among many honors. His work has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish, Romanian, Hebrew, Macedonian, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Dutch, Bosnian and Serbian.

Q & A with Chris Abani, Tracy K. Smith, and Jennifer Bartell ’05

Chris Abani' reads from his novel The Secret History of Las Vegas. Cristina García reads from her novel King of Cuba. The discussion took place on April 1, 2014, and was moderated by Elena Creef, Associate Professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Wellesley College. Cristina García is the author of six novels: King of Cuba, The Lady Matador’s Hotel, A Handbook to Luck, Monkey Hunting, The Agüero Sisters, winner of the Janet Heidiger Kafka Prize; and Dreaming in Cuban, finalist for the National Book Award. García has edited two anthologies, Bordering Fires: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Mexican and Chicano/a Literature(2006) and Cubanísimo: The Vintage Book of Contemporary Cuban Literature (2003). She is also the author of three works for young readers, Dreams of Significant Girls (2011), a young adult novel set in a Swiss boarding school in the 1970s; The Dog Who Loved the Moon, illustrated by Sebastia Serra, (Atheneum, 2008); and I Wanna Be Your Shoebox (Simon and Schuster, 2008). A collection of poetry, The Lesser Tragedy of Death (Akashic Books), was published in 2010. García holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Barnard College, and a Master's degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Her work has been nominated for a National Book Award and translated into 14 languages. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Writers’ Award, a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, and an NEA grant, among others. García has been a Visiting Professor at the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas-Austin and The University of Miami. She teaches part time at Texas Tech University and will serve as University Chair in Creative Writing at Texas State University-San Marcos from 2012-14 Chris Abani's prose includes Song For Night, The Virgin of Flames,Becoming Abigail, GraceLand, and Masters of the Board. His poetry collections are Sanctificum, There Are No Names for Red, Feed Me The Sun - Collected Long Poems, Hands Washing Water, Dog Woman, Daphne's Lot, and Kalakuta Republic. He holds a BA in English (Nigeria), an MA in Gender and Culture (Birkbeck College, University of London), an MA in English and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing (University of Southern California). He is a Professor at the University of California, Riverside and the recipient of the PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, the Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond the Margins Award, the PEN Hemingway Book Prize & a Guggenheim Award. 

We are pleased to present a reading by Chris Abani, recorded at the 2009 Port Townsend Writers' Conference. Chris Abani is a novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. Born in Nigeria to an Igbo father and English mother, he grew up in Afikpo, Nigeria, received a BA in English from Imo State University, Nigeria, an MA in English, Gender and Culture from Birkbeck College, University of London and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern California. He has resided in the United States since 2001. He is the recipient of the PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, the Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond the Margins Award, the PEN Hemingway Book Prize and a Guggenheim Award. Abani's fiction includes The Secret History of Las Vegas (Penguin 2014), Song For Night *(Akashic, 2007), *The Virgin of Flames (Penguin, 2007), Becoming Abigail (Akashic, 2006), GraceLand (FSG, 2004), and Masters of the Board (Delta, 1985).   His poetry collections are Sanctificum (Copper Canyon Press, 2010), There Are No Names for Red (Red Hen Press, 2010), Feed Me The Sun - Collected Long Poems *(Peepal Tree Press, 2010) *Hands Washing Water (Copper Canyon, 2006), Dog Woman (Red Hen, 2004),Daphne’s Lot (Red Hen, 2003) and *Kalakuta Republic *(Saqi, 2001). --- The Port Townsend Writers' Conferece began in 1974 thanks to novelist Bill Ransom, who envisioned an egalitarian, non-hierarchical conference where the emphasis was on the craft of literary writing. Such writers and welcomers as Jim Heynen, Carol Jane Bangs, Sam Hamill, Rebecca Brown, and many others continued this emphasis on the writing craft over the next few decades, and the Conference has become an annual pilgrimage for many. Whether you’re seeking to create or revise new work, find writing community, or simply desire a writing retreat in an inspirational location, Centrum is at the heart of the thriving Pacific Northwest literary scene.   

Matthew Shenoda talks with Chris Abani about poetry in Nigeria, the oral and religious traditions in African poetry, and the one-sided conversation between African and European poets.

This week’s podcast features the event “Memorial Reading for Mutanabbi Street” commemorating the March 5, 2007 car bombing on Mutanabbi Street— the lively center of Baghdad bookselling. Poets and writers who participated include Chris Abani, Beau Beausoleil, Laila Lalami, Suzanne Lummis, Majid Naficy, Marisela Norte, Sholeh Wolpé, Terry Wolverton, with Iraqi music by the Saadoun Ay-Bayati Ensemble. The event was presented by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and cosponsored by Levantine Cultural Center, with support from the LA Poetry Festival, PEN Center USA, and Red Hen Press. It was moderated by Jordan Elgrably, Louise Steinman, and Justin Veach, and recorded on November 19, 2008.

Jennifer Abod, award winning feminist media producer, on her latest video production, "Look Us In The Eye: The Old Women's Project" Chris Abani, award winning author, professor and poet who was imprisoned, tortured and sentenced to death for his writing, on his poetry and writing

GraceLand (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) In Chris Abani's GraceLand, a teenage Elvis-impersonator in Lagos, Nigeria lives in poverty as he pursues an American pop-culture dream of success....