Chinua Achebe Dies at 82

We’re saddened to report that China Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, has died at the age of 82.

Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930. Things Fall Apart, unquestionably the world’s most widely read African novel, was published in 1958. The book tells two intertwining stories, both centering on Okonkwo, a “strong man” of an Ibo village in Nigeria. Noted Kwame Anthony Appiah, “Things Fall Apart may well be Africa’s best-loved novel…. For so many readers around the world, it is Chinua Achebe who opened up the magic casements of African fiction.”

Achebe’s other books include No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God, A Man of the People, Anthills of the Savannah, Girls at War, Hopes and Impediments, Home and Exile, The Education of a British-Protected Child, Chike and the River, and Collected Poems.