Chinua Achebe, West Africa's Finest Modern Writer! (898 hits)
November 16 Chinua Achebe [ pronounced Chin-new-ah A-chay-bay] was born on this date in 1930. He is an African author and educator. Born in Ogidi, Nigeria, Albert Chinualumogu Achebe is one of six children of Isaiah Okafo, a Christian churchman, and Janet N. Achebe. He attended Government College in Umuahia from 1944 to 1947 and University College in Ibadan from 1948 to 1953. He then received his B. A. from London University in 1953, studied and worked in broadcasting at the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) in London in 1956.
Around this time, Nigeria witnessed a new writing style that drew issues from both traditional oral text and from the (then) present and changing African society. Achebe was one of the founders of this new literature, and many consider him the finest modern Nigerian novelist writing in his native language or in the English language. In 1961, he married Christie Chinwe Okoli; the couple has four children: Chinelo, Ikechukwu, Chidi, and Nwando.
Unlike some African writers, Achebe has been able to avoid imitating the trends in English literature. Achebe has stayed close to the idea at the heart of the African oral tradition, that art always was at the service of people and that African ancestors created their myths and told their stories for a human purpose.
He has written over 21 books which include, "Things Fall Apart" (1958), which is the most widely read book in modern African literature, popular throughout Africa and the rest of the world. Achebe has also won acclaim for "Arrow of God," which is winner of the New Statesman-Jock Campbell Award, "Christmas in Biafra," joint winner of the first Commonwealth Prize, and "Anthills of the Savannah" (1987), a finalist for the prestigious Booker Prize in England.
Achebe's feel for the African context separates his work from others. During the Nigerian countrywide persecution of the Igbo in 1966, Achebe was forced to leave Lagos for eastern Nigeria. He took an active part in the struggle for independence. Achebe became the director of African Studies at the University of Nigeria and edited Okika, a Nigerian literary journal.
He lectured in America from 1971 to 1976 and again from 1987 to 1988. Achebe also has taught at the University of Nigeria, where he headed the English Department until 1981 and served as professor emeritus from 1984. In 1986, he became the pro-chancellor of Anambra State University of Technology. Achebe's last book, "Hopes and Impediments," was published in 1988.
