Chris Abani.

Novelist and poet Chris Abani was recently in a conversation with Paul Holdengraber, Director of New York Public Library (NYPL)’s Public Programming. The conversation, which took place via a phone call, centered on “tenderness, Yoruba creation myths, James Baldwin, and trying to write an essay about the refugee experience.” It is published by Literary Hub.

Professor of English at Northwestern University, Chris Abani is the author of the novels: Masters of the Board (1985), GraceLand  (2004), Becoming Abigail (2006), The Virgin of Flames (2007), Song For Night (2007), and The Secret History of Las Vegas (2014); and of the poetry collections: Kalakuta Republic (2001), Daphne’s Lot  (2003), Dog Woman (2004), Hands Washing Water (2006), Feed Me The Sun – Collected Long Poems (2010), There Are No Names for Red (2010), and Sanctificum (2010). 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.

Chris Abani is currently headlining the Lagos International Poetry Festival.

Listen to the conversation HERE.