Nigerian literature will not be complete if Chinua Achebe is not mentioned.
Nigerian national awards cannot also be written without the name Chinua Achebe.
Nigerian academia will also be robbed if Achebe is denied a mention.
But what do you know about him?
Chinua Achebe, poet and novelist, is one of the most important living
African writers.
He is also considered one of the most original
literary artists currently writing in English.
Born Albert
Chinualumogo Achebe, Chinua Achebe was raised by Christian evangelical
parents in the large village Ogidi, in Igboland, Eastern Nigeria.
He
received early education in English, but grew up surrounded by the
complex fusion of Igbo traditions and the colonial legacy.
He studied
literature and medicine at the University of Ibadan; after graduating,
he went to work for the Nigerian Broadcasting Company in Lagos.
Things Fall Apart
(1958) was his first novel. It has been translated into at least
forty-five languages, and has sold eight million copies worldwide.
Although Achebe writes in English, he attempts to incorporate Igbo
vocabulary and narratives.
Other novels include: No Longer At Ease
(1960), Arrow of God (1964), and A Man of the People (1966). Achebe has over 80works to his credit/
He
left his career in radio in 1966, during the national unrest and
violence that led to the Biafran War. He narrowly escaped harm at the
hands of soldiers who believed that his novel, A Man of the People,
implicated him in the country's first military coup. He began an
academic career the next year, taking a position as Senior Research
Fellow at the University of Nigeria. That same year, he co-founded a
publishing company with Nigerian poet Christopher Okigbo.
Achebe's recent book THERE WAS A COUNTRY was one of the first books we critiqued here, because Achebe by all standards is a boundless person.
But so much dust has been raised from different quarters especially the 'Awo' followers.
If you havnt read this book, you should. It has been heavily criticised by every reader, so i will like to hear your take. But i must say it offers no easy answers for Nigeria, reason reactions are yet to abate.
It is the story of the 3year long Biafran war and Achebe confronts the bitter truth that since independence, $400billion has been
lost from Nigeria’s treasury through corruption.
Achebe ends the book with a poem: 'After a war.'
"After a war life catches desperately at passing hints of
normality like vines entwining a hollow twig; its famished roots close
on rubble and every piece of broken glass."
wao! on which part of the broken glass do you belong?
One boundless love.
We are set to Improve the Nigerian Child's reading culture, Increase her vocabulary, Alternative knowledge acquisition through fun, writing as a way to engage, Confidence building and improve public Speaking.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Childrens Day Our Way!
Our meeting on Saturday 25th of May 2019 hit so close to our favourite day of the year; Children's Day...Yaay!!!
-
Reviewing Mother's Choice with the senior class was a remarkable experience,Ufuoma says
-
It was another good day for the Abuja Children's Book Club on the 23rd of September 2017, when we reviewed "Like Father, Like Son...
No comments:
Post a Comment