Every successful artist comes from a family - parents or siblings or both - who, although equally gifted, chose not to pursue the treacherous and difficult path of the artist. Chris Abani artistchoosedifficult Change image and share on social
Men do communicate, often very directly, but women sometimes cannot accept how simple what we have to say is. Chris Abani acceptcommunicatedirectly Change image and share on social
When I was growing up in Nigeria - and I shouldn't say Nigeria, because that's too general, but in Afikpo, the Igbo part of the country where I'm from - there were always rites of passage for young men. Men were taught to be men in the ways in which we are not women; that's essentially what it is. Chris Abani afikpocountryessentially share on social
My mother was English. My parents met in Oxford in the '50s, and my mother moved to Nigeria and lived there. She was five foot two, very feisty and very English. Chris Abani 50senglishfeisty Change image and share on social
Sometimes I feel very alone. I am a bit of a nomad. Many people in sort of emerging countries, emerging economies, find themselves displaced. So there is that sense, and so I'm part of a whole, I think, group of displaced people. Chris Abani bitecountrydisplace share on social
I read mostly Irish, African, Japanese, South American, and African writers. You can count on Scandinavian literature for a certain kind of darkness, a modern mythic style. Chris Abani africanamericancount Change image and share on social
In this time of the Internet and nonfiction, to be on an actual bookshelf in an actual bookstore is exciting in itself. Chris Abani actualbookshelfbookstore Change image and share on social