"The Igbo used to say that they built their own gods. They'd come together as a community and they'd express a wish. Their wish would then be brought to a priest who would find a ritual object and the appropriate sacrifices would be made and the shrine would be built for the god. But if the god became unruly and began to ask for human sacrifice, the Igbos would destroy the god. They would knock down the shrine and they would stop saying the god's name. This is how they came to reclaim their humanity.
Everyday, all of us here, we are building gods that have gone rampant. It is time we started knocking them down ... and forgetting their names."
- Chris Abani
In 1985 at the age of 18, Igbo Nigerian Author Chris Abani spent six months in jail for writing a fictional novel about a James Bond like Nigerian special agent abating a Neo-Nazi take over of the Nigerian which was construed by the government as a "blue-print" for an actual coup attempt.
After he was released six months later he was imprisoned again (same prison that Fela spent most of the 70's and 80's in) for performing in a guerrilla theater group. He was released again only to be arrested, imprisoned and sentenced to death for writing his play "Song of a Broken Flute".
He was released in 1991 and exiled to London then eventually the US where he's currently a professor of creative writing at UC Riverside.
Everyday, all of us here, we are building gods that have gone rampant. It is time we started knocking them down ... and forgetting their names."
- Chris Abani
In 1985 at the age of 18, Igbo Nigerian Author Chris Abani spent six months in jail for writing a fictional novel about a James Bond like Nigerian special agent abating a Neo-Nazi take over of the Nigerian which was construed by the government as a "blue-print" for an actual coup attempt.
After he was released six months later he was imprisoned again (same prison that Fela spent most of the 70's and 80's in) for performing in a guerrilla theater group. He was released again only to be arrested, imprisoned and sentenced to death for writing his play "Song of a Broken Flute".
He was released in 1991 and exiled to London then eventually the US where he's currently a professor of creative writing at UC Riverside.
Got any more on him Sean?
