Chinua Achebe

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Chinua Achebe (born November 16, 1930) is a Nigerian novelist and poet, an esteemed and controversial literary critic, and one of the most widely read authors of the 20th century. Achebe is primarily interested in African politics, the depiction of Africa and Africans in the West, and the intricacies of pre-colonial African culture and civilization, as well as the effects of colonialization on African societies. Achebe's 1958 novel Things Fall Apart considers the effects of colonialization on Igbo society, and has been translated into over 50 languages. Well known for his classic critical text on Joseph Conrad, Achebe's 2001 Home and Exile reiterated his long-standing belief that Africa and Africans were being unfairly marginalized and dismissed by European and Western-oriented intellectuals. He was once recalled by Nelson Mandela as a writer "in whose company the prison walls fell down." In June 2007, Achebe was announced as the winner of the Man Booker International Prize in honour of his literary career. Achebe is the recipient of over 30 honorary degrees from universities in England, Scotland, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria and the United States, including Dartmouth, Harvard, Brown, Haverford College, Southampton, Guelph, University of Toronto, University of the Witwatersrand, and Obafemi Awolowo University.

Achebe has received numerous awards for his work, including the Commonwealth Poetry Prize; the New Statesman Jock Campbell Prize; the Margaret Wrong Prize; the Nigerian National Trophy in 1961; and the Nigerian National Merit Award. In 2002, he was awarded the prestigious Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.

In 2004, Achebe declined to accept the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) - Nigeria's second highest honor - in protest of the state of affairs in his native country. In June 2007, Achebe was named the winner of the Man Booker International Prize, in honour of his literary career.

Bibliography

Works by Achebe

Novels

Things Fall Apart, 1958
No Longer at Ease, 1960
Arrow of God, 1964
A Man of the People, 1966
Chike and the River, 1966
Anthills of the Savannah, 1987

Children's Books

How the Leopard Got His Claws (with John Iroaganachi), 1972
Marriage Is A Private Affair
The Flute, 1975
The Drum, 1978

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