Toward a Living Archive of African Poetry: Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani on the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook Series
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Akashic Books, Ltd.
Toward a Living Archive of African Poetry: Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani on the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook Series
$17.95
Sale price
$17.95
Regular price
$22.95
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TOWARD A LIVING ARCHIVE OF AFRICAN POETRY collects Kwame Dawes's and Chris Abani's introductory essays for the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook Box Set Series. These essays are conversations that celebrate the work of emerging African poets and build--meticulously and with principled care--a vision of a pluralistic literary community in which poets may thrive. Over more than ten years, Dawes and Abani have offered readers a glimpse into their editorial labor and philosophy, which are guided by generosity and curiosity and trust in the work of African poets. Dawes's and Abani's editorial labor is a gift, an expansive curation that honors the past, present, and future of African literature.
In 2024, the APBF celebrates the publication of the tenth edition of the New-Generation African Poets Chapbooks Box Sets. Each of the box sets, edited by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani, feature a selection of chapbooks by emerging African authors who have not yet published a full-length collection of poetry.
Many thought-provoking threads related to African poetics appear across the essays. They advance a transnational vision of and for African poetry, one arising from their literary leadership to imagine and create a landscape in which the work of as many poets as possible can thrive, receive recognition, and be preserved for future generations. For, as they mention in their introduction to NANE, "the idea of a poetic community enacts the promise of being seen."
Book Details
- ISBN:
- 9781636142555
- Binding:
- Paperback
- Pages:
- 160
- Authors:
- Kwame Dawes, Chris Abani
- Publisher:
- Akashic Books, Ltd.
- Published Date:
- 2025-08-05
- Language:
- English
About the poet
Chris Abani is a novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. Originally from Afikpo, Nigeria, Albani earned a BA in English from Imo State University, Nigeria; an MA in English, Gender and Culture from Birkbeck College, University of London; and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern California. He is the author of several books of poetry, including Sanctificum (2010) and works of fiction such as The Secret History of Las Vegas (2014). As a writer in Nigeria's military dictatorship, Abani was imprisoned multiple times. Albani's perspective and resilience is revealing. "The art is never about what you write about. The art is about how you write about what you write about. I was a writer before I was in prison."
See more in this collection »
About the poet
Chris Abani is a novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. Originally from Afikpo, Nigeria, Albani earned a BA in English from Imo State University, Nigeria; an MA in English, Gender and Culture from Birkbeck College, University of London; and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern California. He is the author of several books of poetry, including Sanctificum (2010) and works of fiction such as The Secret History of Las Vegas (2014). As a writer in Nigeria's military dictatorship, Abani was imprisoned multiple times. Albani's perspective and resilience is revealing. "The art is never about what you write about. The art is about how you write about what you write about. I was a writer before I was in prison."
See more in this collection »