Sometimes we say we want an end to hate or racism or sexism. But we all participate in keeping these structures alive. If everyone decided to relinqu…

- Chris Abani

I have not spoken in three years: not since I left boot camp. It has been three years of a senseless war, and though the reasons for it are clear, an…

- Chris Abani

That women are mysterious and unknowable is something every young man grows up believing. Men, on the other hand, never think of themselves as myster…

- Chris Abani

The privilege of being a writer is that you have this opportunity to slow down and to consider things.

- Chris Abani

You know, you can steel your heart against any kind of trouble, any kind of horror. But the simple act of kindness from a complete stranger will unst…

- Chris Abani

Fiction and poetry are my first loves, but the really beautiful lyrical essay can do so much that other forms cannot.

- Chris Abani

What we know about who we are comes from stories. It's the agents of our imagination who really shape who we are.

- Chris Abani

People think that writing is writing, but actually writing is editing. Otherwise, you're just taking notes

- Chris Abani

What I do is create a lens through my work that corrects my readers' cognitive dissonance and says: you will see all of it - not what you want or wha…

- Chris Abani