CHINUA ACHEBE

This is the first biography of Chinua Achebe. His novels span the African experience of colonialism, independence and of civilian and military corruption. His short stories in particular reflect his involvement in the Biafran civil war in Nigeria. His poetry, both in English and Igbo, reveals a sensitive talent. His children's stories introduced the young and their parents to the excitement of books. Chinua Achebe had an active and generous role in encouraging other African writers by starting the literary journal Okike, by founding a publishing house in war-torn Nigeria and by introducing, in his role as the Founding Editor of the African Writers Series, new writers to a worldwide audience. Through his teaching in universities in Africa and America he showed the importance of Africa's own literature in the re-establishment of its cultural independence.