Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930. The name his parents gave him was Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, which reveals how much they had been influenced by British colonialism, since the “Albert” bit was in honour of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. Achebe’s father was a teacher in a missionary school, which probably helped Chinua’s later career as a writer. Despite the influence of colonialism however, both Chinua’s parents made sure that he identified with their Igbo culture. It was while studying at University College in Ibadan, where Wole Soyinka was also taught, that he gave up his British name and adopted “Chinua”. He went onto study broadcasting at the BBC, and became the first Director of External Broadcasting at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961. During the Nigerian civil war, he was an ambassador for the Biafran government.
Chinua’s first novel, “Things
Fall Apart”, was published in 1958 and has gone on to sell over 10 million
copies. It’s sequel, “No Longer
at Ease”, was published in 1960. Both novels took their titles from
European poetry (Yeats and Eliot). Chinua Achebe is considered to have been the
first Nigerian writer to adapt the European novel to African storytelling, and
he has won a reputation as being one of the best authors writing in English
internationally. Other prominent Achebe novels have been “Arrow of
God” (1964), “A Man of
the People” (1966), and “Anthills
of the Savannah” in 1988. Chinua Achebe was the founding editor of the
Heinemann “Africa Writers Series”, which published many other African writers.
He also encouraged African writing with the journals “Okike” and “Uwa ndi
Igbo”, with the latter being a bilingual magazine. He has also taught as a
professor of literature.
Chinua Achebe had a collection of short stories published in
1962, called “The Sacrificial Egg and other Stories”. He has also had several
volumes of poetry published: “Beware,
Soul-Brother” in 1971, “Christmas at Biafra, and other poems” in 1973, and
2004 saw the publication of his “Collected Poems”. Chinua Achebe is also an
accomplished and outspoken essayist, who has often criticised his country.
Chinua Achebe’s non-fiction has been published as “Morning
yet on Creation Day” (1975), “The
Trouble with Nigeria” (1983), and “Hopes and
Impediments” (1988). Other Chinua Achebe titles have been: “Chike and
the River” (1966), “How the
Leopard got his claws” (1972), “Girls at
War” (1973), “The Flute”
(1975), “The
Drum” (1978), “Another
Africa” (1998), and “Home and
Exile” in 2000.
Agostinho Neto
– a
poem by Chinua Achebe
An
Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” – Chinua Achebe’s
famous talk
Linguistic power: encounter with Chinua Achebe – an
article with Susan VanZanten
Speaking
Truth to Power: an interview with Chinua Achebe – Roger Bowen’s interview
from 2005
Chinua
Achebe: no longer at ease in exile – Amy Otchet’s interview from 2001
Chinua Achebe:
a Storyteller far from home – Somini Sengupta’s interview from 2000, a pdf
file
The Failure
Interview – Jason Zasky’s interview with Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe, an
interview – Bradford Morrow’s interview from 1991, read Part II also
Colonial and Post-Colonial books contrasted:
“Mister Johnson” by Joyce Cary, “She” by Rider Haggard, and the works of Chinua
Achebe – Kevin Patrick Mahoney’s essay
Principle
and practice: The logic of cultural violence in Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”
– David Hoegberg’s essay
Chinua Achebe and
the Language of the Colonizer – Katharine Slattery’s essay
Chinua Achebe: “Anthills of the
Savannah” – Petri Raivio’s essay
Balance
and Belief in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” – Chima Anyadike’s essay
in pdf format
Nobel Lords and
Afro-Literary Activists: The Case of Chinua Achebe – Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye’s
essay
Obiechina, Emmanuel N. 1933-
"Poetry as Therapy: Reflections on Achebe's Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems"
Callaloo - Volume 25, Number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 527-558
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Arana,
R. Victoria "Introduction: The Chinua Achebe Special Section"
Callaloo - Volume 25, Number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 497-501
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Emenyonu,
Ernest 1939- "Selection and Validation of Oral Materials for Children's
Literature: Artistic Resources in Chinua Achebe's Fiction for Children"
Callaloo - Volume 25, Number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 584-596
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Achebe,
Chinua "The Epic Imagination: A Conversation with Chinua Achebe at
Annandale-on-Hudson, October 31, 1998"
Callaloo - Volume 25, Number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 505-526
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Williams,
Adebayo "The Autumn of the Literary Patriarch: Chinua Achebe and the
Politics of Remembering"
Research in African Literatures - Volume 32, Number 3, Fall 2001, pp. 8-21
Indiana University Press
Osei-Nyame,
Godwin Kwadwo 1967- "Chinua Achebe Writing Culture: Representations of
Gender and Tradition in Things Fall Apart"
Research in African Literatures - Volume 30, Number 2, Summer 1999, pp. 148-164
Indiana University Press
Nwabueze,
Emeka "Theoretical Construction and Constructive Theorizing on the
Execution of Ikemefuna in Achebe's Things Fall Apart: A Study in Critical
Dualism"
Research in African Literatures - Volume 31, Number 2, Summer 2000, pp. 163-173
Indiana University Press
Mathuray,
Mark "Realizing the Sacred: Power and Meaning in Chinua Achebe's Arrow of
God"
Research in African Literatures - Volume 34, Number 3, Fall 2003, pp. 46-65
Indiana University Press
Rehm,
Diane "The Diane Rehm Show, May 21, 1999, 11 A.M.-12 Noon: A Discussion of
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart"
Callaloo - Volume 25, Number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 597-611
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Gikandi,
Simon "Chinua Achebe and the Invention of African Culture"
Research in African Literatures - Volume 32, Number 3, Fall 2001, pp. 3-8
Indiana University Press
Wise,
Christopher 1961- "Excavating the New Republic: Post-colonial Subjectivity
in Achebe's Things Fall Apart"
Callaloo - Volume 22, Number 4, Fall 1999, pp. 1054-1070
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Okpala,
Jude Chudi "Igbo Metaphysics in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart"
Callaloo - Volume 25, Number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 559-566
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Okechukwu,
Chinwe "Oratory and Social Responsibility: Chinua Achebe's Arrow of
God"
Callaloo - Volume 25, Number 2, Spring 2002, pp. 567-583
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Olaniyan,
Tejumola "Chinua Achebe and an Archaeology of the Postcolonial African
State"
Research in African Literatures - Volume 32, Number 3, Fall 2001, pp. 22-29
Indiana University Press
