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Graceland: The Chris Abani Author TourPress Release
"Extraordinary ... This book works brilliantly in two ways. As a convincing and unpatronizing record of life in a poor Nigerian slum, and as a frighteningly honest insight into a world skewed by casual violence, it's wonderful ... And for all the horrors, there are sweet scenes in Graceland too, and they're a thousand times better for being entirely unsentimental ... Lovely." - The New York Times Book Review The book
The novel describes a multifaceted society that, while saturated with American film and pop culture, is entirely different from America. It is a society that is soaked through with the violence imposed by gender stereotyping and social protocol, neither of which has a clear origin or future. The book offers an unsettling, but unpatronising, view of a people without bearings, and of the ongoing struggle of the cultural intermediate.
Chris will be in South Africa as a key author at the Time of the Writer Festival in Durban.
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Chris
Abani was born in Nigeria. At the age of sixteen he published his first novel,
for which he suffered severe political persecution. He went into exile in 1991
and has since lived in England and the United States. In addition to his works
of fiction, he has written award-winning poetry and has captivated audiences
all over the world with his saxophone. (He is a fabulous saxophone player!)
Together with Walter Mosely he is strongly affiliated with PEN, an international
organisation that campaigns for freedom of expression, extends literacy and
promotes universal literature. He is currently an Associate Professor at the
University of California, Riverside, and also teaches in the MFA Program at
Antioch University, Los Angeles.
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