Chinua Achebe

    Albert Chinualumogu Achebe is a highly acclaimed African author. He was born November 16, 1930 in Ogidi, Nigeria. He was the son of Isaiah Okafo, and Janet N. Achebe, a Christian Ibo family that taught him traditional Ibo values. 

Studying in the 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.  He studied broadcasting at the British Broadcasting Corp. in London in 1956, and was later the director of External Broadcasting for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service. During that period he wrote the novel he is most famous for: “Things Fall Apart”.  

  

Achebe's novel introduced serious social and psychological analysis into Nigerian literature. His work is about the impact of western values creating social disorientation using Igbo words and narratives in his English writing. The novel describes what happened to Igbo society in the late 1800s, when European missionaries and colonizers laid claim to Nigeria.

Achebe has received many honors, such as Honorary Fellowship of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, and over 20 honorary doctorates. He also got the Nigerian National Merit Award, for high intellectual achievement that has shaped the culture of Nigeria. 

During the BiAfran war He was Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and also at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. Then he taught at Bard College. 

Today  he lives with his wife Christie Chinwe Okoli and four children:  Chinelo, Ikechukwu, Chidi, and Nwando in Annandale, New York. A car accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. Now he is a faculty member at Brown University.

Some works by Chinua Achebe:

Things Fall Apart, 1958 (Sold more than 12 million copies and been translated into more than 50 languages)
No Longer at Ease, 1960
The Sacrificial Egg and Other Stories, 1962
Arrow of God, 1964
A Man of the People, 1966  (Talks about corruption and got him into trouble, but he managed to escape during the first military coup in his country.)
Chike and the River, 1966
Beware, Soul-Brother, and Other Poems, 1971
How the Leopard Got His Claws 1972  (with John Iroaganachi)
Girls at War, 1973
Christmas at Biafra, and Other Poems, 1973
Morning Yet on Creation Day, 1975
The Flute, 1975
The Drum, 1978
Don't Let Him Die: An Anthology of Memorial Poems for Christofer Okigbo 1978 (Editor with Dubem Okafor)
Aka Weta: An Anthology of Igbo Poetry 1982 (co-editor)
The Trouble With Nigeria, 1984
African Short Stories, 1984
Anthills of the Savannah, 1988  (Booker McConnell Prize)
Hopes and Impediments, 1988

No Longer At Ease, A Man of the People, and Anthills of the Savannah, describe the struggles of Africans to free themselves from European politics. Achebe is also a political activist in Nigeria. His children's book, "How the Leopard Got His Claws" (1972) and the collection of poetry, "Christmas in Biafra" (1973) talk about internal problems in Nigeria.

Citations

BookRags.com (1930) Chinua Achebe Summary. [online] Available at: http://www.bookrags.com/biography/chinua-achebe/ [Accessed: 22 Jan 2013].

Famousauthors.org (1958) Chinua Achebe | Biography, Books and Facts. [online] Available at: http://www.famousauthors.org/chinua-achebe [Accessed: 22 Jan 2013].

Unc.edu (1930) Chinua Achebe's Biography and Style. [online] Available at: http://www.unc.edu/~hhalpin/ThingsFallApart/achebebio.html [Accessed: 22 Jan 2013].