Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, critic and academic whose work became foundational to modern African literature. Born in 1930, he wrote fiction that challenged colonial representations of Africa by placing Igbo society, language and historical experience at the centre of the narrative. His first novel, Things Fall Apart, established his international reputation, and he later published four further novels alongside short stories, poetry, essays and children’s books. Achebe taught at Bard College and Brown University and received the Man Booker International Prize for lifetime achievement in 2007. He died in 2013.

Achebe’s most important historical fiction is the African Trilogy: Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God and No Longer at Ease. Things Fall Apart depicts an Igbo community during the arrival of Christian missionaries and British colonial authority in the late nineteenth century, while Arrow of God examines religious authority, political rivalry and colonial administration in the early twentieth century. No Longer at Ease follows a later generation confronting corruption and cultural division as Nigeria approaches independence. Together, the novels trace the transformation of one community across three generations, making Achebe especially important for readers interested in precolonial Igbo society, British rule in Nigeria, missionary activity and the social consequences of colonialism.