Early Life Chris Abani was born December 27, 1966 to a Nigerian father and an English Mother. He was raised in Africa as a child, moved to England when it was a heavily troubled nation, and returned back to his native home a few years afterwards. Abani is a novelist, poet, screenwriter, and playwright (Goyal). Recipient of numerous awards, including the PEN USA Freedom- to-Write Award, the Prince Claus Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond the Margins Award, and a Guggenheim Award (Goyal. Abani published his first novel at the age of sixteen. Early Works Abani began writing at the age of six and had his first short written work of fiction published at the young age of ten. He wrote his first novel entitled Masters of the Board, at the age of sixteen. His first novel received unwanted attention because of its narrative plot: an ex-Nazi officer attempting to seize power in Nigeria. Nigerian officials accused Abani for aiding opposing forces in a coup against the country in 1985. Abani spent six months in prison because of this allegation. His second novel Sirocco, also received attention from the officials and they demanded the publication company be shut down and all copies of the book be destroyed. His third arrest was because another book entitled Song of a Broken Flute, which was about the regime’s abuse of human rights. He was sentenced to death without a trial, but luckily was bailed. Life in California Since his three arrests, Abani has moved on with his life and has experienced success in the education field. He currently holds a BA and MA in English, MA in Gender and Culture, and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature. He also taught at the University of California, Riverside. When he is not teaching as a professor, he makes appearances on the renowned TV Series TEDTalks speaking of his experiences in Africa and life lessons. Chris Abani for the most part, is also a philosopher and human activist. He uses his experiences as his voice to inform the public about civility, ethics, and what it means to be a vulnerable human being (Abani 169). Abani preaches about the ambiguity of human nature and the journey of the individual. This is what makes Abani an interesting writer and differentiates him from the average storyteller because subjects of his written works usually deal with internal struggles that many can relate to. As a writer, I am often opening up questions and exploring them with characters such that the work never shuts down, never ends and, in the end, never takes a definitive side (Goyal). Youth, in particular, are Abani’s primary subjects who navigate this volatile tension between debilitating constraint and euphoric optimism (Omelsky). Self-control or the lack thereof, is what makes humans human. |