Fiction is risky for writers also in that the process of making certain books, of shaping certain narratives, leaves scars and marks… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
In this time of the Internet and nonfiction, to be on an actual bookshelf in an actual bookstore is exciting in itself. — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
People think that writing is writing, but actually writing is editing. Otherwise, you're just taking notes — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
The privilege of being a writer is that you have this opportunity to slow down and to consider things. — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
I think a book that is over 400 pages should be split in two. I don't know that there's anything that interesting… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
It takes me forever to actually finish something like a ten-page essay. But, when I do, I usually love what they are.… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
I had amazing intellectual privilege as a kid. My mom taught me to read when I was two or three. When I… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
I think that most writers who are trying to write important and difficult books are in many ways putting their own humanity… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
My mom taught me to read when I was two or three. When I was five I read and wrote well enough… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
My books are often shelved around those of Chinua Achebe and Margaret Atwood, or Chimamanda Adichie and Monica Ali. All of this… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
Fiction is more dangerous than nonfiction because it can seduce better. I think we all know this, know that deeper truths can… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
African narratives in the West, they proliferate. I really don't care anymore. I'm more interested in the stories we tell about ourselves… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
There is no living African writer who has not had to, or will not have to, contend with Achebe's work. We are… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
I have to have three or four books going simultaneously. If I'm not impressed in the first 20 pages, I don't bother… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
I truly believe that writing is a continuum--so the different genres and forms are simply stops along the same continuum. Different ideas… — Chris Abani Copy Share Image
I think it's an aggregation of all of the small acts that are really transformative. I think a group of small acts transform the… — Chris Abani Copy Share
“He too, it seemed, had come to believe that he could somehow escape history. That it was possible, and even desirable, to live in… — Chris Abani Copy Share
My mom taught me to read when I was two or three. When I was five I read and wrote well enough to do… — Chris Abani Copy Share
You know, you can steel your heart against any kind of trouble, any kind of horror. But the simple act of kindness from a… — Chris Abani Copy Share
Fiction is more dangerous than nonfiction because it can seduce better. I think we all know this, know that deeper truths can be approached… — Chris Abani Copy Share
My grand uncle was a traditional priest, and he would always say to me as a kid, 'We stand in our own light,' which… — Chris Abani Copy Share
Unlike other books or TV shows or sometimes life, my narrative worlds are stripped of implicit moral centers. There is only what you bring.… — Chris Abani Copy Share
Nigerians are everywhere. There's an old joke, particularly about the Ibos, that when you finally land on Mars, you're going to find a Nigerian… — Chris Abani Copy Share
“Circuses are about entertainment and juggling and animals and all that shit. Sideshows are about freaks, about people and the limits of acceptability. We… — Chris Abani Copy Share
It takes me forever to actually finish something like a ten-page essay. But, when I do, I usually love what they are. It's a… — Chris Abani Copy Share
I had amazing intellectual privilege as a kid. My mom taught me to read when I was two or three. When I was five,… — Chris Abani Copy Share
If you want to know about Africa, read our literature - and not just 'Things Fall Apart,' because that would be like saying, 'I've… — Chris Abani Copy Share
