About The Writer
The son of devout Christian parents, Chinua Achebe was born and raised in Ogidi, a town in eastern Nigeria. Achebe is considered one of the founding fathers of African literature and is the winner of countless honours and awards. Achebe is the author of dozens of acclaimed essays and books, including the groundbreaking novel Things Fall Apart (1958). Achebe left Nigeria to teach when the country was put under military rule. While working as a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Achebe gave a contentious chancellor's lecture titled “Racism in Conrad's ‘Heart of Darkness’”, which was later published in his collection of essays Hopes and Impediments (1988). Achebe says he began thinking about becoming a writer after reading “some appalling novels about Africa” written by Europeans. These led him decide, “that the story we had to tell could not be told for us by anyone else no matter how gifted or well-intentioned.”
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“Criticism is often not a science; it is a craft, requiring more good health than wit, more hard work than talent, more habit than native genius. In the hands of a man who has read widely but lacks judgment, applied to certain subjects it can corrupt both its readers and the writer himself.”
—Jean De La Bruyère (1645–1696)