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Chris Abani

@chrisabani

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Register at our Linktree. The Pacific MFA Writing in Color student-led group is hosting a book talk with writer, teacher, and critic Helen Beyta Rubenstein to discuss her new craft collection FEELS LIKE TROUBLE.

Of her work, Helen says, “I’m interested in subverting conventions of narrative, staging divergent voices in conversation, and using the personal as a prism for investigating questions of social and political consequence.”

Helen will be joined in conversation by writer Rana Tahir, a member of Writing in Color and an alum of the Pacific MFA in Writing.

This is the first public event hosted by the Writing in Color group. All are welcome! Registration is required.

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Drum rolls! 🥁

My chapbook "Negotiating Salvation" was selected by Prof. @kwame.dawes & @chrisabani for inclusion in the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook Boxset (Kumi Na Mbili, 2027). Set to be published: @africanpoetrybookfund ! @akashicbooks

Special thanks to @jakkybee5, @michael_imossan, @zaynab_iliyasu_bobi, @thepoeticswans, and other beautiful people who are part of the project called "Ridwan Fasasi". I love you all so so much!

Glory. Glory. Glory. 🥳🥳

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REGISTER at our Linktree.

On the final Friday of our January residency, for the first time we’re hosting a collaborative Mapmakers Alumni Institute, featuring Jenny Linn Loveland and Owólabi Aboyade, both 2025 graduates in nonfiction. Their conversation, which has emerged over years of friendship, will take up the topic of crafting the surreal in nonfiction writing.

Brought together by the MFA Alumni Council’s Pacific Basin committee, the event is free and open to the public, and will be hosted on Zoom January 15, 2027, beginning at 9:00am Pacific Time. Join us.

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Register in our bio or our Linktree.
We welcome back June 2025 graduate Carol Young for the first Kwame Dawes Mapmakers Alumni Institute event of 2027. Carol will be joined in conversation by Victoria Chang, whose most recent book of poems, TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, was long listed for the National Book Award. Carol was directly concerned with Victoria Chang’s poetry—especially its ekphrastic vision—in the critical essay portion of her thesis, “A Kind of Praying.” The reading and conversation will consider Carol’s interest in understanding Victoria Chang’s habits of mind.

Brought together by the MFA Alumni Council’s Pacific Basin committee, the event is free and open to the public, and will be hosted on Zoom February 16, 2027, beginning at 5:30pm Pacific Time. Join us for this fascinating conversation.

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We welcome back June 2026 residency emcee Donna Denizé (MFA ‘25) for the next in our Kwame Dawes Mapmakers Alumni Institute series, joined in conversation with faculty poet Safia Elhillo. Donna’s lines of inquiry will engage with what Safia has called the “Poetics of the Third Space.”

Brought together by the MFA Alumni Council’s Pacific Basin committee, the event is free and open to the public, and will be hosted on Zoom November 17 beginning at 5:30pm Pacific Time. Join us for this fascinating conversation. Register at our Linktree (in bio).

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Through the fall, program director Scott Korb and assistant director Jennifer Scanlon will be hosting a series of online information session to discuss the MFA program and our Residency Writers Conference. We’re eager to see you! Please find calendar invitations at our linktree, in our bio. A Pacific Northwest sunrise with text saying Pacific MFA fall 2026 information sessions. Register now.

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Register at our linktree (in bio).
POEM FIRE: A conversation with Frank X. Gaspar and Ellen Bass

Join for this thrilling conversation between Pacific MFA faculty poets Frank X. Gaspar and Ellen Bass on the occasion of the release of Gaspar’s POEM FIRE: NEW AND SELECTED.

“Frank is a master poet—the surprise and exactitude of his diction, the acute vision of his images, his insight into the human condition and his stunning expression of it, as in this line: it’s never the aboutness of anything but the wailing underneath it. The poems, as Whitman wrote, contain multitudes.”
—Ellen Bass, from the introduction

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Currently Reading: Lagos Noir edited by Chris Abani
@chrisabani

Thirteen stories take us through a darker Lagos, where crime, corruption, family secrets, ambition, and survival collide. Each story offers a different glimpse of the city, from its streets and waterways to its homes and hidden corners.

Just started this and I love that Lagos itself feels like part of the story. It’s giving gritty, atmospheric, unsettling, and very much Lagos beyond the postcard.

Do you enjoy short-story collections where every story gives you a completely different perspective? What are you currently reading?

#currentlyreading📖 #whatareyoucurrentlyreading #lagosnoir #bookstagramnigeria #bookcommunity

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Sealey Challenge, Activate! If you’re looking for more poetry to read for your Sealey Challenge, here are a few suggestions! And while yes, it’s great to get new works, it’s also good to read ones you’ve already been through—like a visit back to old haunts with new eyes. And don’t forget to use your local libraries! Especially in this economy. Fight the good fight y’all. Black don’t crack cuz we exist in every lifetime, in every dimension. Period. Swipe for my recs. Bonus Recs: Franny Choi’s and Carolyn Forché’s works😱😱😱Xx

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Chris Abani is a Nigerian writer, poet, and scholar whose works explore trauma, survival, and human dignity. Drawing on experiences of political oppression and social inequality, he creates memorable child and adolescent characters confronting abuse, neglect, violence, and emotional hardship while seeking identity and hope in difficult environments.
Relevant work: GraceLand

#ALS #Literary #Authoroftheweek #monday

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What authors are we currently reading? I’m reading Stefan Zweig at the moment, I’ve never read any of his work before but I’m enjoying it so far!

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See you on campus next week! Summer residency 2026!

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