Chinua Achebe: A Writer, An Influence, A Story-teller By: Victoria Prisby, Tyler Smith, Jacob Croley, Alex McClure (Space-Pope), and Kristina McFarland

Early Life Born Albert Chinualamogu Achebe in Eastern Nigeria (no set city) on November 16, 1930 When 5, he and his family moved to Ogidi His first school was a church school in Ogidi that taught in Ibo (or Igbo) He first learned English at age 8 Went to Government College for secondary school at age 14 Went to University College in Ibadan (now called University of Ibadan)

Originally went for medicine, had a good scholarship Later transferred to literature and lost scholarship Published his first publication at college called “Polar Undergraduate” It was a satire about students and their behavior Later became editor of University Herald, the newspaper of the college

His career starts off: Joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Company (NBC) in 1953 In 1958, wrote Things Fall Apart and received the Margaret Wrong Memorial Prize for it 1960, wrote No Longer at Ease and won the Nigerian National Trophy for Literature In 1961, married Christie Chinwe Okoli & had 4 kids

In 1961, became Director of External Broadcasting at NBC In 1962, became founding editor of Heinemann's African Writers Series (Heinemann is a publishing company) In 1964, wrote Arrow of God & received the Jack Campbell New Statesman Award Became a spokesperson for Biafran secession (Biafra was a section of Nigeria that tried to break away but surrendered) Became spokesperson for the Ibo culture Edited Okike: An African Journal of New Writing In 1972, wrote Girls at War and Other Stories (released in US as Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems in 1973) ’72-’76, taught English at the University of Massachusetts and University of Connecticut

In 1976, he returned to teach English at the University of Nigeria In 1982, edited Aka Weta (an anthology) with Obiora Udechukwu In 1983, wrote The Trouble with Nigeria, his ideas for helping Nigeria politically Edited Uwa ndi lgbo: a Journal of Igbo Life and Culture In 1987, Anthills of the Savannah (1st novel in 20 years) Went back to teaching at the University of Massachusetts Also took up teaching at City College of New York and Bard College He taught at Bard for 15 years In the 1990’s, he was in a car accident that paralyzed him from the waist down

Closer to his death: After the car accident and being paralyzed, he was confined to a wheelchair In 2007, received the Man Booker International Prize In 2009, started teaching at Brown University & David and Marianna Fisher University as a Professor of African Studies In 2010, received Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Has received honorary degrees from 30+ universities Died March 21, 2013 in Boston at the age of 82 from an illness while in the hospital It is not said what illness it was Is seen as “the father of African literature”

Some of his publications: Beware Soul Brother (1971) (a collection of poems) Girls at War and Other Stories (1972) (a collection of poems) Aka Weta (1982) (an anthology) The Trouble with Nigeria (1983) (a set of political ideas) Anthills of the Savannah (1987) (a novel) (Kangan, a fictional country, must deal with a dictatorship and the corruption that comes) Hopes and Impediments: Selected Essays, 1965- 87 (1988) (a collection of essays) Polar Undergraduate (a satire about students) Things Fall Apart (1958) (a novel) No Longer at Ease (1960) (a novel) (a man named Obi Onkonkwo struggles to adapt to Western culture) Arrow of God (1964) (a novel) (a chief priest of Ibo villages must face colonial spread) A Man of the People (1966) (a novel) (a satire of the changing times, a younger man has different opinions than his teacher; is seen as prophetic, as many of the events occurred in real life later on) His writing seems to be based on trying to counter previous writings of African people as savages and trying to spread truth through fiction. The titles of Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease are based on Irish and American poems.

Some of his awards: Margaret Wrong Memorial Prize (for Things Fall Apart) Nigerian National Trophy for Literature (for No Longer at Ease) Jack Campbell New Statesman Award (for Arrow of God) Commonwealth Poetry Prize (for Beware Soul Brother) Nigerian National Merit Award Order of the Federal Republic Man Booker International Prize Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Various Honorary degrees

URLs https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1720/chinua-achebe-the-art-of-fiction-no-139-chinua-achebe http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/05/26/after-empire https://web.archive.org/web/20161027000745/http://faculty.atu.edu/cbrucker/Achebe.html https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/mar/22/novelist-chinua-achebe-dies http://www.biography.com/people/chinua-achebe-20617665 https://citelighter-cards.s3.amazonaws.com/p17mklchkp15ji1kk2okqpa3h60_26057.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/65/ThingsFallApart.jpg https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/styles/732_width/public/nodeimage/Nigeria%20TN%20thumb %20%281%29.png?itok=SxX3v2IZ https://i.onthe.io/vllkytqack6ngcps.baf2a620.jpg https://literary-arts.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Achebe.jpg https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/chinua-achebe