If words are involved, Chris Abani does it exceptionally well—the Nigerian-born thinker is a lauded novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter, and playwright. (Abani published his first book at 16, and was jailed three times, tortured, and even sentenced to death in Nigeria for his political writings.) Just in time for National Poetry Month, Abani will head to Seattle for a discussion on his latest work, Smoking the Bible, a poetry collection that "mines individual, cultural and geographic losses, creating a collection that is emotional and linguistically expansive" (Chicago Review of Books).