Chris Abani was born on 27 December 1966 in Afikpo, Nigeria, the fourth of five children to an English mother, Daphne, and a Nigerian Igbo father, Michael. In 1968, after the family had spent a year in refugee camps, young Chris, his mother and siblings fled Nigeria to escape the Biafran War (1967-1970). They lived in England for three years, and subsequently returned to their home country, where Michael had stayed behind to work as a Red Cross official. Chris Abani would later record this important episode of his family history in
Daphne’s Lot(2003), an epic poem retracing his mother’s life and also evoking, among other things, his troubled relationship with his violent father.
Abani started writing short stories when he was six, and authored his first novel, a thriller entitled
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Citation: Tunca, Daria. "Christopher Abani". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 November 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12276, accessed 21 November 2024.]
