Chris Abani’s prose includes three novels: The Virgin of Flames (Penguin Group, 2007) GraceLand (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004), and Masters of the Board (Delta of Nigeria, 1985); and two novellas from Akashic Books: Becoming Abigail (2006) and Song for Night (2007). His poetry collections are Hands Washing Water (Copper Canyon Press, 2006), Dog Woman (Red Hen Press, 2004), Daphne's Lot (Red Hen Press, 2003), and Kalakuta Republic (Saqi Books, 2001).

Abani’s awards include the PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, the Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the PEN Hemingway Book Prize. He is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, and has a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Southern California.  

Photo by Carlos Puma