The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Achebe, Chinua
(chn´wä äch´b) (KEY) , 1930–, Nigerian writer, b. Albert Chinualumogu Achebe. A graduate of University College at Ibadan (1953), Achebe, an Igbo who writes in English, is one of Africa’s most acclaimed authors and considered by some to be the father of modern African literature. His early novels, including the groundbreaking Things Fall Apart (1958)—probably the most widely read book by a black African writer—and No Longer at Ease (1960), describe poignantly the effects of European colonialism on Igbo society, Nigeria, and newly independent African nations; A Man of the People (1966) foreshadows Nigeria’s 1966 coups. He served as a diplomat (1966–68) for Biafra during the Nigerian civil war and later wrote two volumes of poetry, Beware, Soul Brother (1971) and Christmas in Biafra (1973), and one of literary essays, Morning Yet on Creation Day (1975), about the war. He taught at the Univ. of Nigeria, Nsukka (1976–81), and was founding editor (1971) of the influential journal Okike. Achebe returned to the novel form with Anthills of the Savannah (1987). He has also written numerous short stories, children’s books, and a book of essays, Home and Exile (2000), reflecting on his and his nation’s coming of age. A paraplegic as a result of a 1990 automobile accident, Achebe has lived in the United States since, teaching at Bard College. In 2007 he was awarded the Man Booker International Prize (see Booker Prize).
See biography by Ezenwa-Obaeto (1997); B. Lindfors, ed., Conversations with Chinua Achebe (1997); studies by R. Wren (1980), B. C. Njoku (1984), C. L. Innes (1990), S. Gikandi (1991), K. H. Petersen and A. Rutherford, ed. (1991), R. O. Muoneke (1994), A. Gera (2001), E. N. Emenyonu, ed. (2003), and M. Pandurang, ed. (2006).
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