Chinua Achebe awarded Man Booker International Prize

The father of modern African writing wins Man Booker International

24 June 2007

Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, often called the father of modern African literature, was today awarded the Man Booker International Prize at an awards ceremony in Oxford, England. The Man Booker International Prize, worth £60,000, is awarded every two years to an author for a body of work that has contributed significantly to world literature. Achebe is best known for his novel Things Fall Apart, first published in 1958. It went on to sell over 10 million copies and was translated into 50 languages. His novels, which primarily centre on the politics of Africa and the effects of colonisation, also include Arrow of God and Anthills of the Savannah, shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1987.

Achebe was born in 1930 and educated at the Government College in Umuahia and at the University College of Ibadan, Nigeria. In 1954 he joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Company and went on to study broadcasting at the BBC in London. In the late 1960s he served as a diplomat for the Biafran government. Achebe moved to the United States after a car accident left him paralysed from the waist downwards. He has lectured at many universities worldwide and is now Charles P Stevenson Jr Professor of Languages and Literature at Bard College, Annandale, New York State. In 2004, he refused to accept the Commander of the Federal Republic, Nigeria’s second-highest honour, in protest against conditions in his country.

The Man Booker International Prize was awarded at a ceremony at Christ Church, Oxford. Chinua Achebe was unable to make the awards ceremony but his son, Chide Achebe, collected the award on his behalf.

For more information about this year’s Man Booker International Prize winner please visit www.manbookerinternational.com.

The Man Booker Prize Fiction at its finest