Website | Extracts from Fiction | Poetry | Articles, Essays & Lectures
Interviews | In Translation | Miscellaneous
Interviews | In Translation | Miscellaneous
Articles & Essays | Dissertations | Studen Essays | Study Guides | Profiles | Reviews | Miscellaneous
Primary Sources
Extracts from Fiction
- Beginning of Graceland (2004), Today, NBC, 2005.
- First four chapters of Becoming Abigail (2006), Truthdig, 19 April 2006.
- 'Chris Abani Reading a Passage from His Novel Becoming Abigail', News & Notes: Web Extra, NPR, 19 May 2006. Audio.
- From Song for Night, PEN American Center, 2007.
- 'Friday - Excerpted from a novel in progress', Sentinel Nigeria 5 (February-April 2011).
Poetry
- 'Ode to Joy' & 'Jacobs Ladder' (from Kalakuta Republic), & 'Auckland: Some Notations of Value' (published in revised version as 'Auckland' in Hands Washing Water), new zealand electronic poetry centre, 2003.
- '1945' (from Daphne's Lot), Geoffrey Philps' Blog, 21 February 2011.
- 'Blue' (from Dog Woman), Poetry Foundation, 2004.
- 'Chant' (from Dog Woman), Poetry Foundation, 2004.
- 'Dog Woman' (from Dog Woman), Poetry Foundation, 2004.
- 'In the Middle of Dinner' (from Dog Woman), Poetry Foundation, 2004.
- 'Unholy Women' (from Dog Woman), Poetry Foundation, 2004.
- 'A Way to Turn This to Light', 'Lacan', 'The Old Artist Speaks To The Young Poet', 'War Widow' & 'Secrets', Fugacity 05 (2005). Also in Hands Washing Water.
- 'There Are No Names for Red' (section XX of There Are No Names for Red), OBAN '06 (new zealand electronic poetry centre), April 2006.
- 'Durban, South Africa - Some Notations of Value' (from Hands Washing Water), Poetry Foundation, 2006.
- 'Hanging in Egypt with Breyten Breytenbach' (from Hands Washing Water), Poetry Foundation, 2006.
- 'The New Religion' (from Hands Washing Water), Poetry Foundation, 2006.
- 'War Widow' (from Hands Washing Water), Poetry Foundation, 2006.
- 'War Widow' (from Hands Washing Water), Poetry Read Out Loud, 2006.
- 'The New Religion' (from Hands Washing Water) & 'There Are No Names for Red' (section XX of There Are No Names for Red), PEN American Center, 2006.
- 'Four Selections from There Are No Names for Red' (sections XIII, XIV, XV & XVI), Blackbird 6.2 (Fall 2007).
- 'From Sanctificum' (an early version of the opening poem of the section 'Renewal'), Blackbird 6.2 (Fall 2007).
- 'Sanctificum' (from Sanctificum) and 'There Are No Names for Red' (sections I to VI of There Are no Names for Red), Diode 1.1 (Fall 2007).
- 'There Are No Names for Red' (sections I, II, III, VI, XI & XVI of There Are No Names for Red), Sentinel Poetry 59 (November 2007).
- 'Chris Abani reading three poems at the 2008 Dodge Poetry Festival' ('Geography Lesson', 'The New Religion' and 'Histories, #1'), You Tube, video.
- 'Elephants', SPECS Journal of Art and Culture 2.1 (2009), pp. 11-12.
- 'Histories', SPECS Journal of Art and Culture 2.1 (2009), pp. 13-16.
- 'A Letter to Robert Pinsky', Court Green 6 (2009), p. 112.
- 'Say Something about Child's Play' (from Hands Washing Water), goodreads, 2010.
- 'Om' (from Sanctificum), Poets & Writers Magazine, 2010.
- 'Taxonomy', The Offing: A Literary Magazine, 28 April 2015.
- 'Poet of an Ordinary Heartbreak', Academy of American Poets, 24 November 2015.
- 'Cremation', Harvard Review 50 (2016). Also published in Poetry International Magazine (2016).
- 'Ritual Is Journey', World Literature Today [online], 9 October 2020.
Articles, Essays & Lectures
- 'The Lottery', New York Times Magazine, 1 February 2004, p. 74.
- 'Africans can't shake mythic past in contemporary collection', review of The Prophet of Zongo Street, by Mohammed Naseehu Ali, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 August 2005.
- 'Thinking man's rebel from Nigeria', review of You Must Set Forth at Dawn, by Wole Soyinka, San Francisco Chronicle, 23 April 2006.
- 'Abigail and My Becoming', Truthdig, 19 April 2006.
- 'Immigrant family's reality differs between generations', review of The Fruit of the Lemon, by Andrea Levy, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 February 2007.
- 'Divided hearts', review of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, by Dinaw Mengestu, Los Angeles Times (Book Review), 4 March 2007. Also published as 'Dante, Beatrice in a narrative of immigration', Baltimore Sun, 11 March 2007.
- 'Chris Abani on the Stories of Africa', TED, June 2007 [published on the web August 2007]. Video.
- 'Chris Abani Muses on Humanity', TED, February 2008 [published on the web July 2008]. Video.
- 'Chris Abani Speaks at A Tribute to Chinua Achebe', PEN American Center, 2008. Audio.
- Review of Slumberland, by Paul Beatty, Los Angeles Times (Book Review), 15 June 2008.
- 'What Men Aren't Telling Us', O Magazine, July 2008.
- 'Coming to America: A Remix', Tarpaulin Sky 14 (Summer 2008).
- 'When we cannot look away', Age, 18 October 2008. Extract from Abani's opening address at the Brisbane Writers Festival.
- 'Los Angeles: Der diebische Engel', in Megacitys: Die Zukunft der StĂ€dte, ed. Alex RĂŒhle (Munich: C.H. Beck, 2008), pp. 154-160. Also published in SĂŒddeutsche Zeitung, 27 May 2010.
- 'Ethics and Narrative: the Human and Other', Witness 22, issue on 'Dismissing Africa' (2009), pp. 167-173.
- 'Lagos: A Pilgrimage in Notations', in African Cities Reader I: Pan-African Practices, ed. Ntone Edjabe & Edgar Pietersepp (Cape Town: African Centre for Cities & Chimurenga, 2010), pp. 1-8.
- 'For Chris Akunda', Pilgrimages, 3 July 2010.
- 'Las Vegas: The Last African City', in African Cities Reader II: Mobilities & Fixtures, ed. Ntone Edjabe & Edgar Pieterse (Cape Town: African Centre for Cities & Chimurenga, 2011), pp. 89-91.
- 'Humanity's willing curator', Mail & Guardian, 7 October 2011.
- UCR CHASS Group 2 Commencement Speech (16 June 2012), YouTube, 5 July 2012.
- 'Chinua Achebe: My Complicated Literary Father', Wall Street Journal, 25 March 2013.
- 'Our Living Ancestor: Chris Abani Remembers Chinua Achebe', Daily Beast, 26 March 2013.
- 'Painting a Body of Loss and Love in the Proximity of an Aesthetic', The Millions, 25 November 2013.
- 'A Young Seminarian Found Comfort In "Giovanni's" Melancholy', NPR Books, 28 December 2013.
- 'Sin City On-Screen: Sexy and Shocking Scenes Set in Las Vegas', Bookish, 31 January 2014.
- 'The Graceful Walk', Governor's Lecture in the Humanities, Humanities Nebraska, 2014.
- 'An Introduction in Two Movements', in collaboration with Kwame Dawes, introduction to Eight New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set, Akashic Books, 29 April 2015.
- 'Ghosting, Invisibility and the Erasure of Particular Bodies: A Spell', Four Way Review, 29 June 2015. A photo essay.
- 'What Happens in Vegas', review of Dragonfish, by Vu Tran, New Yok Times (Book Review), 16 August 2016, p. 10. [online version: 10 August 2016]
Interviews
- 'Chris Abani on PEN World Voices', PEN American Center, undated. Short video.
- Interview by Michael Krasny, Forum, KQED, 31 May 2004. Audio.
- 'Conversation: Chris Abani & Walter Mosley', PEN American Center, 2004. Video file recorded during the PEN Foreign Exchanges I.
- 'The model of African wars', Voices in Wartime (2005, documentary film). Transcript.
- 'An Interview with Chris Abani', by Carlye Archibeque, Poetix, 2005.
- Interview with Kate Durbin, Elegant Variation, 4 April 2007.
- 'Chris Abani in Conversation with Richard Wolinsky', Bookwaves, KPFA, 8 April 2004. Audio. Recorded on 26 February 2006.
- Interview by Elizabeth Austen, The Beat, KUOW, 28 February 2005. Audio. Chris Abani section starts at 33:41.
- 'Chris Abani Interview', by Connie Martinson, Drucker Institute, 2006. Video.
- 'Interview with Chris Abani', by David Inge, Focus 580, WILL-AM 580, 3 April 2006. Audio.
- 'Chris Abani: The Truthdig Interview', by Zuade Kaufman, Truthdig, 19 April 2006. Transcript & audio.
- 'Exiles in America', PEN American Center, 27 April 2006. Audio.
- 'PEN and Telling', Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC, 28 April 2006. Audio.
- 'Becoming Abigail: Chris Abani's Next Novel', by Farai Chideya, News & Notes, NPR, 19 May 2006. Audio.
- 'An Interview With Poet and Fiction Writer Chris Abani', by Ron Singer, Poets & Writers Magazine [online], 1 June 2006.
- 'Chris Abani and Colm TĂłibĂn in Conversation', Bomb 96 (Summer 2006), pp. 30-35. Published online as 'Chris Abani, by Colm TĂłibĂn'. Also available as an audio interview.
- Interview by Nancy Nangeroni & Gordene O. MacKenzie, Gender Talk 577, 23 September 2006. Chris Abani section starts at 1:39:11.
- Interview by Daisy HernĂĄndez, Colorlines (November-December 2006).
- 'Awards Do Not Make Good Writers', by Morenike Taire, AfricanWriter.com, 21 May 2007. Originally published in Vanguard.
- 'Song for Night Highlights Hope, Despair', by Michel Martin, Tell Me More, NPR, 4 October 2007. Transcript and audio.
- 'Writer Chris Abani Taps Geopolitics, Emotions', by Farai Chideya, News & Notes, NPR, 7 November 2007. Audio.
- 'At the Confluences', interview by Amatoritsero Ede, Sentinel Poetry 59 (November 2007).
- 'Donna Seaman Interviews poet Chris Abani', Open Books, @ your library, 16 March 2007.
- 'Author Interview: Chris Abani', by Dominique McCafferty, Riverside Public Library, 16 March 2007.
- 'Cristina GarcĂa' by Chris Abani, Bomb 99 (Spring 2007), pp. 34-37.
- Interview with Juliet C. Kinkade, Mary Magazine (Spring 2007).
- 'Stray Questions for: Chris Abani', by Dwight Garner, New York Times, 22 June 2007.
- 'From apartheid to Darfur: Africa's struggle against disdain', event with Chris Abani, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Alexandra Fuller, Chenjerai Hove and Wole Soyinka, Black Mountain Institute, 11 September 2007. Audio file.
- Interview with Gabriela Jauregui, ARTSblock Live!, KCET, 28 January 2008. Audio.
- 'Chinua Achebe and Chris Abani', by Leonard Lopate, Leonard Lopate Show, WNYC, 26 February 2008. Audio.
- Interview by Andrew Denton, Enough Rope, ABC (Australia), 6 October 2008. Transcript, audio file & video excerpt.
- 'International Dreamer: Chris Abani', by Carl Lindgren, Map Magazine, 5 December 2008.
- 'A Conversation with Chris Abani', by Patty Paine, Blackbird 8.1 (Spring 2009). Transcript & audio. Recorded on 23 April 2008.
- 'Chris Abani: A long way from persecution and jail', by Mwabi Kaira-Murdock, Jamati Online, 9 March 2008.
- Writing Matters 9.3 (Spring 2009), pp. 3-4.
- 'Q&A with Nigerian author Chris Abani', by Paige Parker, Daily Bruin, 3 May 2009.
- 'Foregrounding Agency in the Melancholy of Alienation', Center for the Humanities: University of Wisconsin-Madison, 13 April 2010. Scroll down the page: low quality audio.
- 'Compassion, Courage, and Doubt... You Know, the Small Stuff: An interview with Nigerian Writer Chris Abani', by Jeff Severns Guntzel, Utne Reader (June 2010).
- 'From the Archives: A Conversation with Chris Abani', by Sarah Shook & Laura Brink, Molossus, 2 August 2010. Transcript of a 2007 interview first published in World Literature Today 2 (2008).
- 'Encounters: Chris Abani', by Marie Elizabeth Mali, Union Station Magazine (July 2010).
- Interview with Rafael F.J. Alvarado, Blogtalkradio, 9 August 2010. Audio.
- 'Kwame Dawes with Chris Abani: Reading and Conversation', Lannan Foundation, 29 September 2010. Audio & video.
- 'Chris Abani', Time Out, special issue on 'Celebrating Nigeria at 50' (October 2010), p. 73.
- 'Nigerian Author, Chris Abani, on Writing, Politics and the Controversy Over Graceland', by Ebele Chizea, Drumtide Magazine, 19 November 2010.
- 'A conversation with Chris Abani', by Unoma Azuah, Sentinel Nigeria 5 (February-April 2011).
- 'Chris Abani, Nigerian Writer and Political Activist', by Steve Scher, Weekday, KUOW (NPR), 5 April 2011. Audio. Extracts also broadcast as 'Best Of Weekday: Chris Abani and Paul Farmer', by Steve Scher, KUOW (NPR), 5 October 2011 (Chris Abani section starts at 3:35).
- 'I Need Distractions all the Time: An Interview with Poet Chris Abani', by Joshua Barnes, Sampsonia Way, 12 September 2013.
- 'PEN Ten with Chris Abani', by Lauren Cerand, PEN America, 7 January 2014.
- 'When Words Can Get You Killed: An Interview with Chris Abani', by Jonathan Sturak, Noir Nation, 8 January 2014.
- 'Las Vegas, Ghost Towns, and Crimes of the Past: An Interview With Chris Abani', by Toby Carroll, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, 14 January 2014.
- 'Against Forgetting: Chris Abani and Victor Lavalle at Community Bookstore', Restless Books, 3 February 2014. Audio.
- 'The Rumpus interview with Chris Abani', by Peter Orner, The Rumpus, 10 February 2014.
- 'Interview: Chris Abani, author of The Secret History of Las Vegas', by Kristin Centorcelli, My Bookish Ways, 28 February 2014.
- 'Chris Abani', by Amy Sutherland, Boston Globe, 22 March 2014.
- 'Chris Abani', by Doug Silver, Late Night Library, 25 March 2014.
- 'Q&A: Chris Abani On The Search For Better Questions', by Bridgett M. Davis, Bold as Love Magazine, 2 April 2014.
- 'Nigerian writer to deliver lecture on creativity, impact on society', by Chris Bowling, Daily Nebraskan, 10 September 2014.
- 'Chris Abani', by Indu Iyer, nineteenquestions, 6 February 2015.
- 'An Interview with Chris Abani', by Lolade Fadulu, Amherst College, 24 February 2016. Video file.
- 'Launch Party Livestream with Chris Abani, Dana Levin, & Victoria Chang', YouTube, uploaded by Copper Canyon Press, 18 May 2022.
- 'The Perfect Balance between Momentum and Stillness', by Janet Rodriguez, Rumpus, 29 June 2022.
- 'Short Conversations with Poets: Chris Abani', by Jesse Nathan, McSweeney's, 11 August 2022.
In Translation
From Hands Washing Water
Miscellaneous
- 'Chris Abani, Nigeria', by Iris Pronk, Trouw, 17 June 2003. In Dutch. Chris Abani comments on his poem 'Things to Do in London When You Are Dead'.
- 'Call for Submissions: Lagos Noir', Naijablog, 1 June 2007.
- 'A Reading by Chris Abani', by Jeff Lodge, Blackbird 8.1 (Spring 2009). Transcript & audio (recorded on 23 April 2008).
- 'The Importance of the Humanities: Viewpoints', Humanities (Spring 2009), p. 2.
- 'A Sentimental Education', New York Times (Sunday Book Review), 9 February 2014, p. BR16. On Gabriel GarcĂa MĂĄrquez's' Love in the Time of Cholera. [online version: 6 February 2014]
- 'Booknotes - Chris Abani The Secret History of Las Vegas', largeheartedboy, 26 February 2014. A playlist of songs that inspired The Secret History of Las Vegas.
- 'PEN Receives Letter from Members About Charlie Hebdo Award', PEN, 5 May 2015. Reproduces the letter sent by 242 signatories (including Chris Abani) to PEN following the organization's decision to give a Courage Award to Charlie Hebdo.
Secondary Sources
- Asika, Ikechukwu Emmanuel & Jane Nkechi Ifechelobi, 'The Writer as a Psychiatrist: A Psychoanalytical Reading of Chris Abani's Becoming Abigail', Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 5.5 (2015), pp. 199-208.
- Celis, Abigail, 'Literacies of the Flesh in the Future Tense: Chris Abani's Becoming Abigail', Palimpsest: A Journal on Women, Gender, and the Black International 10.1 (2021), pp. 83-101.
- Courtois, CĂ©dric, 'The Travelling Bodies of African Prostitutes in the Transnational Space in Chris Abani's Becoming Abigail (2006) and Chika Unigwe's On Black Sisters' Street (2009)', Women on the Move: Body, Memory and Femininity in Present-Day Transnational Diasporic Writng, ed. Silvia Pellicer-OrtĂn, Julia TofantÂhuk (Abingdon: Routledge, 2019), pp. 25-45.
- Dawson, Ashley, 'Surplus City: Structural Adjustment, Self-Fashioning, and Urban Insurrection in Chris Abani's Graceland', Interventions 11.1 (March 2009), pp. 16-34.
- Dawson, Ashley, 'Cargo Culture: Literature in an Age of Mass Displacement', WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly, 38.1&2 (Spring-Summer 2010), pp. 178-193. Includes a discussion of Becoming Abigail.
- Fitriani, Ilma, & Leni Marlina, 'Stepping up Effort to Enlightenment in the Novel Graceland (2004) by Chris Abani', E-Journal of English Language and Literature 8.4 (December 2019), 11 pp.
- Gehrmann, SusanneCharlott Schönwetter, 'The African Child Soldier Novel: Anti- or Alternative Bildungsroman?', Working Papers of the Department of Anthropology and African Studies of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz 174 (2017), 14 pp. Partly deals with Song for Night.
- Kattanek, Sita Maria, 'The Nigerian Coming-of-Age Novel as a Globalization Device: A Reading of Chris Abani's GraceLand', Rupkatha: Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities 3.3 (2011), pp. 426-433.
- Krishnan, Madhu, 'Biafra and the Aesthetics of Closure in the Third Generation Nigerian Novel', Rupkatha: Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities 2.2 (2010), pp. 185-195. Includes a discussion of GraceLand.
- Krishnan, Madhu, 'Beyond Tradition and Progress: Re-imagining Nigeria in Chris Abani's GraceLand', Anglistica 15.1 (2011), pp. 97-106.
- Krishnan, Madhu, 'Of Masquerades and Mimicry: Performance, Identity, and Tradition in Chris Abani's The Virgin of Flames', Ariel 43.2 (2012), pp. 45-68.
- Kumar, Vinod V. & S. Gayathri, 'The Silence of Compliance: Child Soldier Trauma Narratives in Contemporary African War Novels', Theory and Practice in Language Studies 11.12 (December 2021), pp. 1540-1547. Partly discusses Song for Night.
- Luburić-Cvijanović, Arijana, 'Innocence and Experience: Echoes of William Blake and Ăgota KristĂłf in Chris Abani's Song for Night', in English Language and Anglophone Literatures Today: Proceedings, ed. Ljiljana Subotić (Novi Sad: Filozofski fakultet u Novom Sadu, 2011), pp. 480-489.
- Nwakanma, Obi, 'O, Polyphemus: On Poetry and Alienation', Ariel 39.4 (2008), pp. 139-146. Partly deals with The Virgin of Flames (pp. 141-143).
- Ojaruega, Enajite E., 'Representation of Female Mental Ill Health in the African Novel', International Review of Humanities Studies 7.1 (January 2022), pp. 32-43. Partly discusses Becoming Abigail.
- Opeyemi, Ajibola, 'Representation of Female Migrants in Selected Nigerian Migrant Narratives', in Literary and Linguistic Perspectives on Orality, Literacy and Gender Studies: A Celebration of Oluwatoyin Jegede @ 60, ed. Ayo Osisanwo, Kazeem Adebiyi-Adelabu, and Adebayo Mosobalaje (Lagos: Kraft, 2018), pp. 127-138. Partly discusses Becoming Abigail.
- Okpiliya, James Otoburu & Emmanuel Israel Archibong, 'The Metaphor of Pain in Chris Abani's Becoming Abigail', International Journal of Integrative Humanism 13.1 (March 2021), pp. 94-105.
- Ouma, Christopher E.W., 'Navigating the Lagos cityscape in Chris Abani's Graceland', Kunapipi 34.1 (2012), pp. 141-154.
- Okolo, Ifeyinwa Genevieve, 'The Child Without Sexuality Education: A Reading of Chris Abani's Becoming Abigail', UNIUYO Journal of Humanities 19.1 (2015), pp. 143-162.
- Patterson-Stein, Jacob, 'De-Nationalizing American Music in the "Third Space" of Graceland', eSharp 13, issue on 'Atlantic Exchanges' (Spring 2009), pp. 48-68.
- Savonic, Danica, '"The Problem of Locomotion": Infrastructure and Automobility in Three Postcolonial Urban Nigerian Novels', Modern Fiction Studies 61.4 (Winter 2015), pp. 669-689. Partly deals with GraceLand.
- Schenstead-Harris, Leif, 'Ghostwriting Abigail: The Haunting Authorship of Chris Abani and Dave Eggers', Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal 51.1 (March 2018), pp. 143-159.
- Schultheis, Alexandra, 'African Child Soldiers and Humanitarian Consumption', Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice 20 (2008), pp. 31-40. Includes a discussion of Song for Night.
- Sereda, Stefan, 'Riffing on Resistance: Music in Chris Abani's Graceland', Ariel 39.4 (October 2008), pp. 31-47.
- Simoes da Silva, Tony, 'From Lived Spaces to Literary Spaces: The Figure of the Child Soldier in Contemporary African Literature', African Geographical Review 37.2 (August 2018), pp. 109-119. Partly deals with Song for Night.
- Slaughter, Joseph R., 'World Literature as Property', Alif 34 (2014), pp. 1-35. Partly deals with GraceLand.
- Slaughter, Joseph R., 'Form and Informality: An Unliterary Look at World Literature', in The Work of Genre: Selected Essays from the English Institute, ed. by Robyn Warhol (Cambridge, MA: English Institute, 2011). Partly discusses GraceLand.
- Stobie, Cheryl, 'Indecent Theology, Trans-theology, and the Transgendered Madonna in Chris Abani's The Virgin of Flames', Research in African Literatures 42.2 (Summer 2011), pp. 170-183.
- Tunca, Daria, '"We die only once, and for such a long time": Approaching Trauma through Translocation in Chris Abani's Song for Night', in Postcolonial Translocations, ed. Silke Stroh, Marga Munkelt, Markus Schmitz & Mark Stein (Amsterdam & New York: Rodopi, 2013), pp. 127-143.
Dissertations
- Addei, Cecilia, 'Childhoods Dis-ordered: Non-Realist Narrative Modes in Selected Post-2000 West African War Novels', PhD dissertation, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, 2017, 249 pp. Partly deals with Song for Night.
- Adler, Lauren C., '"If the Sun Refuses to Rise, We Will Make it Rise": Queer Migration in Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) and GraceLand (2004)', MA dissertation, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, 2020, 44 pp.
- Bamberger, Katherine B., 'Postcolonial Entanglement: How the Carnivalesque Links Toni Morrison and Chris Abani in Disruptive Dialogue', Honors thesis, University of Vermont, USA, 2020, 65 pp.
- Chasen, Laura Elizabeth, 'Dislocated Subjects: Transnational Forced Prostitution, African Female Bodies and Corporeal Resistance', MA thesis, Georgetown University, USA, 2010, 58 pp. Contains a chapter on Becoming Abigail (pp. 26-47).
- Crowley, Dustin James, 'The Geography of Narrative: Representations of Place in African Literature', PhD thesis, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA, 2013, 169 pp. Contains a chapter entitled 'Half Slum, Half Paradise: Abani's Global Cities' (pp. 127-160).
- Denison, Sheri, 'Walking through the Shadows: Ruins, Reflections, and Resistance in the Postcolonial Gothic Novel', Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA, 2009, 415 pp. Contains a section on The Virgin of Flames (pp. 328-338).
- Dunn, Joshua, 'Cross Roads of the Living and the Dead: Necropolitics and Market Logic in Chris Abani's Graceland', MA thesis, University of South Carolina, USA, 2017, 45 pp.
- Frantz, Kristin, 'Finding the Maternal in Shakespeare, Kincaid, Abani, and Hamid', MA dissertation, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem NC, USA, 2019, 68 pp.
- Grilli, Fiorenza Germana, 'Blackness and the American Dream: Constructing Black Transnational Identity in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah and Chris Abani's GraceLand', MA dissertation, University of Padua, Italy, 2019, 139 pp.
- Hartwiger, Alexander, 'Cosmopolitan Pedagogy: Reading Postcolonial Literature in an Age of Globalization', PhD thesis, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA, 2010, 216 pp. Contains a section on GraceLand (pp. 189-205), and discusses Becoming Abigail and Song for Night, passim.
- Hawkins, Benjamin, 'Exploring Realism and Magical Realism in Slum Novels of the Global South', Honors thesis, Portland State University, USA, 35 pp. Partly deals with GraceLand.
- Houle-Eichel, Camille, 'Unseen (Re)creation: Trafficking and Migrant Sex Work in Chris Abani's Becoming Abigail and Chika Unigwe's On Black Sisters' Street, MA dissertation, University of Montréal, Canada, 2021, 77 pp.
- Kumbalonah, Abobo, 'Mobility and the Representation of African Dystopian Spaces in Film and Literature', PhD dissertation, Ohio University, USA, 2015, 242 pp. Includes a chapter on Song for Night.
- Lalhmangaihzauva, Z.D., 'Narrativizing Violence in the Selected Works by Chris Abani', PhD thesis, Mizoram University, India, 2019, 177 pp.
- Mackey, Allison E., 'Apparitions of Planetary Consciousness in Contemporary Coming-of-Age Narratives: Reimagining Knowledge, Responsibility and Belonging', PhD thesis, McMaster University, Canada, 2011, 285 pp. Includes a short discussion of Song for Night (pp. 228-232).
- Okajima, Kei, 'Performing Childhood in Diaspora: Palimpsestic Bodies and Agency in Contemporary Black Diasporic Literature', PhD dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo, USA, 2018, 173 pp. Includes a chapter on Song for Night.
- Ohwovoriole, Benjamin Cyril Oghenekaro, 'Structure and Characterisation as Metaphors for Neurological Disorder in Chris Abani's GraceLand', MA thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2009, 104 pp.
- Ouma, Christopher Ernest Werimo, 'Childhood in Contemporary Nigerian Fiction', PhD thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2011, 340 pp, passim. Contains various sections on GraceLand and The Virgin of Flames.
- Phillips, Delores B., 'In Questionable Taste: Eating Culture, Cooking Culture in Anglophone Postcolonial Texts', PhD dissertation, University of Maryland, College Park, USA, 2009. Contains a chapter entitled 'The Excesses of this World: The Cookbook Form's Unwillingness to Report The News', which partly deals with GraceLand (pp. 108-137).
- Smit, Willem Jacobus, 'Becoming the Third Generation: Negotiating Modern Selves in Nigerian Bildungsromane of the 21st Century', MA thesis, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, 2009, 128 pp. Contains a chapter on GraceLand (pp. 87-116).
- Smith, Caleb, 'The Logic of Capital and the Possibility of Resistance in Chris Abani's GraceLand', MA dissertation, University of Carolina, USA, 2020, 42 pp.
- Thiao, Moussa, 'The Transnational Bildungsroman: New Perspectives on Postcolonial Coming of Age Narratives' PhD thesis, Indiana University,Bloomington, USA, 2016, 231 pp. Includes a chapter entitled 'Education Begins at Home: Extending 'The Contact Zone' in Graceland and Le Ventre de L'Atlantique' (pp. 71-118).
- Vuletic, Snezana, 'From Colonial Disruption to Diasporic Entanglements: Narrations of Igbo Identities in the Novels of Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Chris Abani', PhD thesis, 2018, 188 pp.
- Zamanpour, Ali, 'Deterritorialized Male Subjectivity: Liminality, In-betweenness, and Becoming in Migrant Literary and Cultural Contexts', PhD thesis, University of Montréal, Canada, 2019. Partly deals with GraceLand (pp. 103-132).
Student Essays
Study Guides
- 'Reading Group Guide: GraceLand', Macmillan, undated.
- 'Study questions for GraceLand', Just Buffalo (Babel 2010-2011 booklet), pp. 6-7.
Profiles
- Mudede, Charles Tonderai, 'Way Out of Africa', Poetry Foundation, undated. See also a biography on the same website.
- Taggart, Phil, 'Nigerian Elvis comes to Oxnard', Ventoura County Reporter, 29 June 2006.
- Salafranca, Arja, 'Arja Salafranca on Chris Abani', LitNet, 10 October 2006.
- Akubuiro, Henry, 'Chimamanda opened the door of success for me in US', Daily Sun (Nigeria), 6 May 2007.
- Rabalais, Kevin, 'The clarity of distance', Australian, 30 August 2008, p. 8.
- Pohl, R.D., 'Chris Abani: "Terror is a state of complete understanding..."', Buffalo News, 23 April 2009.
- 'Chris Abani', Just Buffalo (Babel 2010-2011 booklet), pp. 2-3.
- Endolyn, Osayi, 'Transcending Worldview with Chris Abani, Connector, 6 March 2011.
- Fulton, Ben, 'Nigerian author: Art makes the difficult easier', Salt Lake Tribune, 5 May 2011.
- Adebisi, Yemi, 'Things Fall Apart, My First Love - Abani', Daily Independent, 16 July 2011.
- Sojico, Jackie, 'Chris Abani Teaches Nebraska To Walk Gracefully And Live Creatively', NET Radio, 13 September 2014. Audio file & transcript.
- Lan, Lin, 'Acclaimed writer reads work at WriterÂs House', Daily Targum, 24 September 2014.
- Hanson, Sherilynne, 'The Gracious Walk', L: Lincoln's Premier Lifestyle Magazine, 12 October 2014.
- Adegun, Aanu, 'Chris Abani: Portrait of Radical Poet, Novelist', Newswatch Times, 17 January 2015.
- Udeze, Edozie, 'I began to write at ten  Chris Abani', Nation, 13 December 2015.
- Wabuke, Hope, 'Chris Abani: "The middle-class view of Africa is a problem", Guardian, 27 July 2016.
Reviews
Fiction
GraceLand
- Publishers Weekly 250.46 (17 November 2003), p. 39. Short review.
- Athitakis, Mark, 'GraceLand shimmers with outrage, redemption', Minneapolis Star Tribune, 7 February 2004.
- Balistreri, Alex, 'Graceland a graceful read', Daily Cardinal (University of Madison-Wisconsin), 30 March 2004.
- Bukiet, Melvin Jules, 'Coming of age amid the horror of Nigeria's urban decay', Boston Globe, 11 April 2004, p. D7.
- Chihara, Michelle, Mother Jones 29.2 (March-April 2004), p. 86.
- Cryer, Dan, 'Coming of age in a troubled country', Chicago Tribune, 29 February 2004.
- Eriksson, Magnus, 'Afrikanska rockdrömmar', SvD, 19 January 2010. In Swedish.
- Griswold, Sheridan, Mmegi, 17 June 2005.
- Harrison, Sophie, 'Jailhouse Rock', New York Times (Books Review), 22 February 2004, p. 8.
- Hawley, John C., 'Oke's Odyssey', America 191.3 (2-9 August 2004), pp. 25-27.
- Lloyd McMichael, Barbara, 'A Nigerian Elvis coming of age in the streets of Lagos', Seattle Times, 27 February 2004.
- Moore, Elaine, Africa Policy Journal 1 (Spring 2006), pp. 114-115. Scroll down to p. 114.
- O'Kelley, Patrick, Seattle Weekly, 25 February 2004.
- Rubin, Merle, 'Graceland is a study in Nigeria's many contrasts', Los Angeles Times, 5 April 2004.
- Tepper, Anderson, 'Squatter Writes', Village Voice, 10 February 2004.
- Wolff, Carlo, 'All shook up', San Francisco Chronicle, 29 February 2004.
Becoming Abigail
- Africultures (March 2010). In French. Short review.
- Publishers Weekly (9 January 2006), pp. 30-31. Short review.
- Athitakis, Mark, Chicago Reader, 30 March 2006. Short review.
- Bryant, Janice K., 'Things Fall Apart', Essence 37.1 (May 2006), p. 85.
- Ehrenreich, Ben, 'Persistence of Memory', Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2006.
- Esehagu, Rosemary, 'Chris Abani's Becoming Abigail: The Mind in Pain', American Chronicle, 4 November 2006.
- Heacox, Daniel, 'The Movement of Time in Chris Abani's Becoming Abigail', Pitkin Review (Spring 2008).
- Helgesson, Stefan, 'Ămsint komik och brutal fasa', Dagens Nyheter, 14 November 2009. In Swedish.
- Ihara, Nathan, 'Poor, Solitary, Nasty, Brutish and Short', LA Weekly, 30 April 2006.
- Jackson, A. Naomi, Mosaic Literary Magazine 17 (2006), pp. 33-34.
- Karbo, Karen, Entertainment Weekly 871, 7 April 2006. Very short review. [online version: 31 March 2006]
- Lingebrandt, Ann, 'Mörkrets smÀrta', Helsingborgs Dagblad, 14 December 2009. In Swedish.
- Lipsyte Sam, 'Motherless London', New York Times, 19 March 2006, p. G11.
- Messinger, Jonathan, Time Out Chicago, 26 February 2005.
- Von Born, Heidi, 'Att erövra sitt liv', SvD, 17 October 2008. In Swedish.
- Wardyn, Tim, Ink19 (April 2006).
- Weaver, Jason, Spike Magazine (March 2008). Also in Spike Magazine: The Book (2010), pp. 7-11.
Song for Night
- Africultures (March 2011). In French. Short review.
- Publishers Weekly 254.26 (25 June 2007), p. 29. Short review.
- Allan, Hawa, 'Coming of Age in Child Soldier Literature', Brooklyn Rail, July-August 2011.
- Bernard, Louise, 'Silent Warrior', Washington Post, 2 September 2007, p. T4.
- Broberg, Oskar, 'Brutalt och inkÀnnande', Alba 4 (2008). In Swedish.
- Byrne, Peter, 'Death Singing', Swans, 1 December 2008.
- Casey, Maud, 'Broken Boy Soldier', New York Times, 16 September 2007, p. 14.
- Chanda, Tirthankar, 'Chris Abani, l'histoire et l'horreur des enfants-soldats', RFI, 18 March 2011. In French.
- Flakierski, Gregor, 'Visst finns det afrikansk litteratur', Flamman, 10 November 2010. In Swedish.
- Gluckstern, Nicole, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 25 September 2007.
- Hagberg, Stefan, 'En lÀsning lÄngt ifrÄn förströelsens', Alba 4 (2010). In Swedish.
- Josefsson, Erika, 'Abani prövar vÄra grÀnser', SvD, 27 September 2010. In Swedish.
- Knox, Malcolm, 'Haunted by the ghosts in a child soldier's life', Sydney Morning Herald, 8 November 2008, p. 26.
- Krauth, Nigel, ' A hope found in lost words', Australian, 9 August 2008, p. 10.
- Lee, Youyoung, Entertainment Weekly, 31 August 2007.
- Marsh, Molly, 'Building bridges', Sojourners Magazine 37.10, 1 November 2008, p. 52. Very short review.
- Pak Poy, Patricia, Eureka Street 18.16 (15 August 2008).
- Reyn, Irina, 'Boyhood lost', Los Angeles Times, 2 September 2007.
- Saunders, Kate, Times, 11 October 2008, Books p. 13. Very short review.
- Scholl, Peter, Sigma Tau Delta (Fall 2009), p. 5. Scroll down to p. 5 of the pdf, or view this review in html.
- Schottenius, Maria, Dagens Nyheter, 13 January 2011.
- Serafin, Anne, Multicultural Review 17.1 (Spring 2008), p. 45. Short review.
- Torday, Daniel, 'Broken Boy Soldier', Esquire, 3 October 2007.
- Trilling, Daniel, 'You're never too young to kill', Observer (Review), 7 September 2008, p. 23.
- Wood, Liana, 'Armed struggle', New Statesman 137.4894, 28 April 2008, p. 59. Short review.
- Zott, Debra, Transnational Literature 1.1 (1 November 2008).
The Virgin of Flames
- New Yorker 82.46 (22 January 2007), p. 85. Very short review.
- Publishers Weekly 253.44 (6 November 2006), p. 37. Short review.
- Athitakis, Mark, Washington City Paper, 9 February 2007. Scroll down the page. Short review.
- Barrios, Gregg, 'Mistaken Identity', San Antonio Current, 27 February 2007.
- Cheuse, Alan, 'Chris Abani's new novel of art and obsession', Chicago Tribune, 4 February 2007.
- Cheuse, Alan, 'In Los Angeles, an Artist and a Stripper's Story ', All Things Considered, NPR, 6 February 2007. Audio.
- DeLuca, Dan, 'Poems, a novel with language most luminous', Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 March 2007. Also reviews Hands Washing Water.
- Harmanci, Reyhan, 'Layered L.A. story', San Francisco Chronicle, 22 February 2007, p. G26.
- Heller Amanda, Boston Globe, 17 January 2007, p. D5. Short review.
- Ikheloa, Ikhide R., 'The Virgins Of Flaming Change', AfricanWriter.com, 4 June 2007.
- Lee-Youngren, Tiffany, 'The best things in life are free, but you can give it to the bird...', San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 March 2007, Books p. 7.
- Lloyd McMichael, Barbara, 'Seeking salvation in L.A.'s heart of darkness', Seattle Times, 2 February 2007. Also reviews Hands Washing Water.
- MartĂnez, RubĂ©n, 'Peripheral visions', Los Angeles Times, 28 January 2007.
- Nwakanma, Obi, Vanguard, 7 July 2007.
- Olsson, Karen, 'The Recycled City', New York Times, 28 January 2007, p. 8.
- Pastorek, Whitney, Entertainment Weekly 918-919 (2 February 2007). Very short review. [online version: 26 January 2007]
- Saidullah, Ahmad, Quarterly Conversation 8 (Summer 2007).
- Savage, Megan, Indiana Review 29.2 (Winter 2007).
- Smiley, Jane, ' Our lady of east LA', Guardian (Review), 21 April 2007, p. 17.
- Tierney, Thane, 'Living on the Edge', Bookpage, date unknown.
- Tripney, Natasha, 'Outsider chic', New Statesman 138.4847 (4 June 2007), p. 59. Short review.
The Secret History of Las Vegas
- Habash, Gabe, Publishers Weekly 260.48 (25 November 2013), p. 35. [online version: 3 January 2014]
- Athitakis, Mark, Washington Post, 7 February 2014.
- Farmer, Laura, 'ItÂs no secret this mystery is brilliant', Gazette (Iowa), 2 March 2014.
- Hill, Jack, American Microreviews and Interviews, 2014.
- Krause, M. Scott, 'A Literary Author Gets Criminal in The Secret History of Las Vegas', Vegas Seven, 20 May 2014.
- Sharpe, Christina, 'Coming to Las Vegas', New Inquiry, 6 June 2014.
- Sonksen, Mike, 'L.A. Letters Books of 2014', KCET, 17 December 2014.
- Theroux, Marcel, 'Unreconciled', New York Times (Sunday Book Review), 26 January 2014, p. BR17. [online version: 24 January 2014]
- Wald-Hopkins, Christine, Tucson Weekly, 10 July 2014.
- Weingarten, Marc, 'Lost souls wander Chris Abani's Secret History of Las Vegas, Los Angeles Times, 23 January 2014.
Non-Fiction
The Face: Cartography of the Void
Non-Fiction
The Face: Cartography of the Void
- Gigerenzer, Thalia, 'On Observing the Face', Semiotic Review 7 (September 2019).
- Hagen, Patricia, Star Tribune, 27 February 2016.
- Shreve, Porter, sfgate.com, 22 October 2014.
Poetry
Kalakuta Republic
- Boran, Pat, 'Where hope and innocence survive', Sunday Tribune, 21 January 2001.
- Winder, Robert, 'Prison Literature', New Statesman 130.4538, 21 May 2001, p. 52-53.
Hands Washing Water
- Archibeque, Carlye, poeticdiversity 5.1 (April 2007).
- DeLuca, Dan, 'Poems, a novel with language most luminous', Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 March 2007. Also reviews The Virgin of Flames.
- Lloyd McMichael, Barbara, 'Seeking salvation in L.A.'s heart of darkness', Seattle Times, 2 February 2007. Also reviews The Virgin of Flames.
- Peterson, Katie, 'Verse collections offer variety of voices, images', Chicago Tribune, 11 February 2007. Short review.
Sanctificum
Smoking the Bible
- Bhopla, Rhony, Harvard Review Online, 4 October 2022.
- Chaffa, Mandana, Chicago Review of Books, 25 April 2022.
- Niño, RaĂșl, Booklist, 1 March 2022.
- Woo, David, Poetry Foundation, n.d. (2022).
Edited Works
New-Generation African Poets
Lagos Noir
- Huchu, Tendai, Brittle Paper, 15 May 2018.
- Omotoso, Kole, 'The Noirer The Letters', Guardian (Nigeria), 7 November 2021.
- van Heerden, Neil, Tydskrif vir Letterkunde 57.1 (2020), pp. 153-155.
Miscellaneous
- Pride, Felicia, 'Akashic Takes Black Goat', Publishers Weekly 254.36 (10 September 2007), p. 11. [online version: 7 September 2007]
- Ndukwe, Johnson, 'Nigeria's Chris Abani wins American prize', Vanguard, 8 July 2008.
- Nelson, Davia & Nikka Silva, 'A Woman's Mission: To Teach Birth Control In Nigeria', All Things Considered, NPR, 6 May 2010. Audio & transcript. On Chris Abani's mother, Daphne Mae Hunt; includes comments by Abani. Transcript also published as 'How I and my white mother taught Igbo women birth control', Nation, 23 May 2010.
- Kellogg, Carolyn, 'Writers chronicle Africa in sync with World Cup', Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2010.
- Kellogg, Carolyn, 'Chris Abani's Graceland removed from Florida reading list', Los Angeles Times, 9 August 2010.
- Pohl, R.D., 'BABEL series author Abani's Graceland removed from high school', Buffalo News, 15 August 2010.
- Rosenblum, Gail, 'A persistent student books a world-class storyteller', Minneapolis Star Tribune, 6 April 2011.
- 'Chris Abani on Writing, Ethics, and Human Identity', LoomisChaffee Campus News, 19 April 2011.
- Ranzenberger, Katherine, 'Chris Abani talks art, loss and experience', Central Michigan Life, 20 February 2014. A different version was published as 'Award-winning author shares experiences for Black History Month', Midland Daily News, 25 February 2014.
- Elliot, Jacob, 'Writer Chris Abani opens E.N. Thompson Forum lectures', Daily Nebraskan, 11 September 2014.
- 'NU English professor recongized [sic] as top artist', Northwestern University, 29 October 2014.. Also published as 'NU English prof recognized as top artist', Evanston Now, 3 November 2014.
- Page, Marissa, 'Writer, English Prof Chris Abani receives national arts fellowship', Daily Northwestern, 9 November 2014.
- 'Keynote Speaker at Hamilton College', WFXV 33, 27 February 2015.
- Burgess, Katherine, 'Empathy makes good writers', Jackson Sun, 24 April 2015. About Chris Abani's speech at the 'Friends of the Library' Literary Symposium.
- Baumgartner, Corey, 'Award winning novelist humanitarian speaks at SUU', Iron County Today, 22 September 2015.
- Herold, Kiana, 'Author Chris Abani Speaks on Race and the Human Face', Amherst Student, 1 March 2016.
- Lee, Zachary, 'The Poetry of Monotony: Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary with Chris Abani', Cornell Daily Sun, 9 November 2016. About a poetry reading by Chris Abani at Cornell.
- Hascall, Andre, 'Writer Chris Abani visits HSU', The Lumberjack, 5 April 2017.
- 'World Without Walls, An Open Letter From 1.478 Poets', Kabul Press, 18 April 2019.
- 'George Floyd: African Authors Sans Frontieres in Solidarity with African-Americans', Africa Report, 2 June 2021.
- McDonnell, Katherine, 'English Prof. Chris Abani talks about identity and language in his memoir The Face', Daily Northwestern, 1 November 2021.
- 'Poet Chris Abani Visits CLC for "Verse Like Water" Series', YouTube, uploaded by Lakeland PBS, 17 November 2022. Includes an interview with Chris Abani.
© 2011-2022 Daria Tunca. Please do not reproduce without permission.
If you use this bibliography for the purpose of academic research,
please kindly cite this website among your sources.
If you use this bibliography for the purpose of academic research,
please kindly cite this website among your sources.
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