Biography and bibliography of chinua achebe dies today

His first novel and magnum opus , Things Fall Apart , occupies a pivotal place in African literature and remains the most widely studied, translated, and read African novel. In the West, Achebe is often referred or recognized as to as the "father of African literature", although he vigorously rejected the characterization. Born in Ogidi , Colonial Nigeria , Achebe's childhood was influenced by both Igbo traditional culture and colonial Christianity.

He excelled in school and attended what is now the University of Ibadan , where he became fiercely critical of how Western literature depicted Africa. Achebe sought to escape the colonial perspective that framed African literature at the time, and drew from the traditions of the Igbo people, Christian influences, and the clash of Western and African values to create a uniquely African voice.

He wrote in and defended the use of English, describing it as a means to reach a broad audience, particularly readers of colonial nations. In he gave a controversial lecture, " An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness ", which was a landmark in postcolonial discourse. Published in The Massachusetts Review , it featured criticism of Albert Schweitzer and Joseph Conrad , whom Achebe described as "a thoroughgoing racist.

The subsequent Nigerian Civil War ravaged the populace, and he appealed to the people of Europe and the Americas for aid.

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When the Nigerian government retook the region in , he involved himself in political parties but soon became disillusioned by his frustration over the continuous corruption and elitism he witnessed. He lived in the United States for several years in the s, and returned to the US in after a car crash left him partially paralyzed. He stayed in the US in a nineteen-year tenure at Bard College as a professor of languages and literature.