Chris Abani's has been described as “a writer of mesmerizing powers, embracing warmth, and transcendent compassion,” and the Miami Herald proclaimed that “The genius of Abani's work derives from his intellectual engagement with our world and his unflinching depictions, in the most mesmerizing language imaginable, of its most insidious horrors and its richest beauties….Abani ranks among our most incendiary and emotionally devastating and important writers.” His prose includes Song For Night (Akashic, 2007), The Virgin of Flames (Penguin, 2007), Becoming Abigail (Akashic, 2006), GraceLand (FSG, 2004), and Masters of the Board (Delta, 1985). His poetry collections are Hands Washing Water (Copper Canyon, 2006), Dog Woman (Red Hen, 2004), Daphne's Lot (Red Hen, 2003), and Kalakuta Republic (Saqi, 2001). Abani has appeared as a guest writer and speaker at a number of venues all over the world including TED, The International Literature Festival Berlin, The Brisbane Writers Festival, and the Dodge Poetry Festival. He is a Professor at the University of California, Riverside and the recipient of the PEN USA Freedom-to-Write Award, the Prince Claus Award, a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a California Book Award, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a PEN Beyond the Margins Award & the PEN Hemingway Book Prize. Abani has been described as an evocative speaker whose keynotes -- near musical in their fluidity, heartbreak and joy -- mix the personal and the political. His luminous talks are a vital statement on the redemptive power of art to battle tyranny and to remind us of our common humanity.