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Verse Like Water, the visiting poet program at Central Lakes College, presents acclaimed novelist, poet, playwright, essayist and screenwriter Chris Abani at noon Nov. 16 in the Brainerd campus’s Chalberg Theatre.
A book signing and craft talk will follow Abani’s presentation.
Born in Nigeria to an Igbo father and an English mother, Abani received a B.A. in English from Imo State University, Nigeria; an M.A. in English, gender and culture from Birkbeck College, University of London; and a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing from the University of Southern California. He has resided in the U.S. since 2001.
Abani’s books of fiction include “The Secret History of Las Vegas,” “Song for Night,” “The Virgin of Flames,” “Becoming Abigail,” “Graceland” and “Masters of the Board.”
His poetry collections are “Smoking the Bible,” “Sanctificum,” “There Are No Names for Red,” “Feed Me the Sun: Collected Long Poems,” “Hands Washing Water,” “Dog Woman,” “Daphne’s Lot” and “Kalakuta Republic.”
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He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a PEN/Hemingway Award, a PEN Beyond the Margins award, a Hurston Wright award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship and other honors. His work has been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish, Romanian, Hebrew, Macedonian, Ukrainian, Portuguese, Dutch, Bosnian and Serbian.
