“Forty-three years ago, at the first anniversary of Nigeria”
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Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel and magnum opus, Things Fall Apart (1958), occupies a pivotal place in African literature and remains the most widely studied, translated, and read African novel. Along with Things Fall Apart, his No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964) complete the "Af…
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culture · Nigerian author and literary critic (1930–2013) · novelist · poet · literary critic · essayist · writer · philosopher · university teacher · journalist · screenwriter · satirical novelist · also Chinua Achebe, Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, Achebe
Born 16 November 1930 · Died 21 March 2013 · Q155845
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2026· 9 entries
“seized me, and almost wrote me. I”
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“frighten my readers. I wanted to scare the hell out of those politicians who were misbehaving so badly”
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“A story that only someone who went through it could be trusted to give. It was insisting to be told by the owner of the story, not by others, no matter how well meaning or competent.”
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“But when I began I had no idea what this was going to be. I just knew that there was something inside me that wanted me to tell who I was, and that would have come out even if I didn”
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“the Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility and to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership.”
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“something short, intense more in keeping with my mood [...] All this is creating in the context of our struggle.”
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“Chinua, I know you are a prophet. Everything in this book has happened except a military coup!”
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The New York Times: Chinua Achebe
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2019· 1 entry
2,000 film stills by Stephen Goldblatt, production documents, correspondence and more from the film production Things Fall Apart were found in Berlin
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2017· 3 entries
Smithsonian Magazine: Beyond Chinua Achebe: Five Great African Authors You Should Read Right Now
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The Mirror: Who was Chinua Achebe? Everything you need to know about the inspirational Nigerian author celebrated with today's Google Doodle
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Time: Why Google Is Celebrating Chinua Achebe With a Doodle
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2016· 2 entries
The Guardian: No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe - review
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Young writers in Anambra State began the Chinua Achebe Literary Festival
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2015· 1 entry
Vanguard: Abam in Chinua Achebe’s novels
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2013· 4 entries
NPR: Nigeria Mourns The Loss Of Chinua Achebe
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Forbes: Nigerian Literary Legend Chinua Achebe Is Dead
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The Guardian: Chinua Achebe death: 'a mind able to penetrate the mystery of being human'
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Died 2013-03-21.
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2012· 1 entry
Achebe published There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra
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2011· 1 entry
Achebe was again offered the Commander of the Federal Republic, but he declined it asserting "the reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed let alone solved
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2010· 2 entries
Achebe was awarded The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for $300,000, one of the richest prizes for the arts
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“believe[d] Nigeria is once again on the brink of a precipice”
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2007· 1 entry
Awarded International Booker Prize (2007).
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2005· 1 entry
To "create dynamic projects for the most talented of a new generation of writers and artists of African origin
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2004· 1 entry
“There is no security of life. Parts of the country are alienated. Religious conflicts spring up now and again. The country is not working.”
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2002· 2 entries
Awarded Peace Prize of the German Publishers' and Booksellers' Association (2002).
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Awarded Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2002).
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2000· 1 entry
Achebe published Home and Exile, a semi-biographical collection of both his thoughts on life away from Nigeria, as well as discussion of the emerging school of Native American literature
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1999· 1 entry
Awarded St. Louis Literary Award (1999).
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1996· 1 entry
“Belief in either radicalism or orthodoxy is too simplified a way of viewing things ... Evil is never all evil; goodness on the other hand is often tainted with selfishness.”
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1994· 1 entry
Awarded International Nonino Prize (1994).
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1992· 1 entry
Became the first living writer to be represented in the Everyman's Library collection (reprints of classic literature) published by Alfred A
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1990· 1 entry
After a car crash left him partially paralyzed
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1989· 1 entry
Awarded honorary doctorate presented by The Open University (1989).
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1988· 1 entry
Achebe was asked by a reporter for Quality Weekly how he felt about never winning a Nobel Prize; he replied: "My position is that the Nobel Prize is important
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1987· 1 entry
Achebe released his fifth novel, Anthills of the Savannah, about a military coup in the fictional West African nation of Kangan
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1986· 1 entry
Was elected president-general of the Ogidi Town Union; he reluctantly accepted and began a three-year term
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1983· 2 entries
Awarded Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (1983).
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Became the party's deputy national vice-president
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1979· 2 entries
Awarded Nigerian National Order of Merit Award (1979).
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I received two further honours—the Nigerian National Order of Merit and the Order of the Federal Republic—and in 1999 the first National Creativity Award
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1976· 1 entry
Where he held a chair in English until his retirement in 1981
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1975· 3 entries
Awarded Lotus Prize for Literature (1975).
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“Equiano was an Igbo, I believe, from the village of Iseke in the Orlu division of Nigeria”
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Gave a controversial lecture, "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness", which was a landmark in postcolonial discourse
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1974· 1 entry
To correct what Achebe called "certain structural weaknesses"
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1972· 3 entries
Awarded Commonwealth Poetry Prize (1972).
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Said: "I never will take the stand that the Old must win or that the New must win
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“I never will take the stand that the Old must win or that the New must win. The point is that no single truth satisfied me—and this is well founded in the Igbo worldview. No single man can be correct all the time, no single idea can be totally correct.”
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1971· 1 entry
Wrote "Dirge for Okigbo", originally in the Igbo language but later translated to English
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1970· 2 entries
“world policy is absolutely ruthless and unfeeling”
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Involved himself in political parties but soon became disillusioned by his frustration over the continuous corruption and elitism he witnessed
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1969· 1 entry
The group completed a document entitled The Principles of the Biafran Revolution, later released as The Ahiara Declaration
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1968· 2 entries
Achebe said: "I find the Nigerian situation untenable
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“I find the Nigerian situation untenable. If I had been a Nigerian, I think I would have been in the same situation as Wole Soyinka is—in prison.”
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1967· 1 entry
Achebe supported Biafran independence and acted as ambassador for the people of the movement
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1966· 2 entries
Achebe published his first children's book, Chike and the River, to address some of these concerns
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In 1966, Achebe published his first children's book, Chike and the River, to address some of these concerns.
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1961· 2 entries
Achebe was promoted at the NBS to the position of Director of External Broadcasting
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Achebe and Christie married on 10 September 1961, holding the ceremony in the Chapel of Resurrection on the campus of the University of Ibadan.
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1960· 1 entry
Achebe published No Longer at Ease, a novel about a civil servant named Obi, grandson of Things Fall Apart's main character, who is embroiled in the corruption of Lagos
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1959· 1 entry
When Achebe heard the story of a chief priest being imprisoned by a district officer
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1958· 1 entry
Achebe was promoted at the NBS and put in charge of the network's Eastern region coverage
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1957· 1 entry
Sent his only copy of his handwritten manuscript (along with the £22 fee) to a London manuscript typing service he had seen an advertisement for in The Spectator
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1956· 2 entries
Highlighted issues of colonialism and politics, and was a significant moment for Achebe
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Achebe was selected to attend the staff training school for the BBC
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1954· 1 entry
And moved to Lagos to work for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS), a radio network started in 1933 by the colonial government
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1950· 1 entry
When he wrote a piece for the University Herald, the university's magazine, entitled "Polar Undergraduate"
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1948· 1 entry
Nigeria's first university opened in preparation for the country's independence
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1936· 1 entry
Achebe entered St Philips' Central School in the Akpakaogwe region of Ogidi for his primary education
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1930· 1 entry
Born 1930-11-16.
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