Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian writer known for his work on African issues, including the effects of colonization. His novel Things Fall Apart is widely read and translated. He also wrote critical texts challenging the portrayal of Africa in Western literature. Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize in 2007. He has published several other novels, including Anthills of the Savannah and A Man of the People.
Chinua Achebe, born November 16, 1930, is an esteemed Nigerian writer. Her full name is Albert Chinualumogu Achebe. Achebe is a writer of poetry, fiction, children’s literature and literary criticism. Some of her literary criticisms have produced heated debate among her fellow professionals. Much of her work focuses on African issues; politics on the African continent, the representation of her and other African peoples in Western cultures, the effects of colonization on Africa, and the culture of pre-colonial African peoples.
Achebe was a diplomat of the Biafran government during his brief existence. The Republic of Biafra was a breakaway state in the southern part of Nigeria. He was named for the Bay of Biafra which is a bay along the Atlantic Ocean. The Republic of Biafra existed only from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970.
Achebe is best known for his novel Things Fall Apart, published in 1958. Things Fall Apart has been read worldwide, having been translated into more than 50 languages. The novel recounts the effects of colonization on the Igbo people. Things Fall Apart is often read in university courses on African literature and colonization.
Chinua Achebe is also the author of Home and Exile, a critical text on Joseph Conrad published in 2001. In this text, Achebe challenges Conrad’s literary treatment of Africa and Africans. His essay “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness”, a scathing critique, is considered a vital part of the postcolonial critical movement. The essay was first presented as a lecture at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in February 1975. Responding to counterpoints from other literary critics, Achebe conceded that Conrad’s Heart of Darkness contains artistic merit, but that artistic merit cannot completely overrule the racism and xenophobia evident within the text.
In June 2007, Chinua Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize for his career as an author. The prize is awarded biennially to a living author whose work has been published in English or widely translated into English. The award recognizes an author’s body of work rather than apparent achievements within a single publication.
In addition to Things Fall Apart, Achebe has also published the following novels:
Anthills of the Savannah (1987)
Chike and the River (1966)
A Man of the People (1966)
God’s Arrow (1964)
No Longer at Ease (1960)
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