In 1975, his lecture An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" featured a famous criticism of Joseph Conrad as "a thoroughgoing racist" it was later published in The Massachusetts Review amid some controversy.
Achebe wrote his novels in English and defended the use of English, a "language of colonisers", in African literature. He gained worldwide attention for Things Fall Apart in the late 1950s his later novels include No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service (NBS) and soon moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He became fascinated with world religions and traditional African cultures, and began writing stories as a university student. Raised by his parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in South-Eastern Nigeria, Achebe excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies.
His first novel Things Fall Apart (1958) was considered his magnum opus, and is the most widely read book in modern African literature. Achebe states that his two later novels A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987), while not featuring Okonkwo's descendants, are spiritual successors to the previous novels in chronicling African history.Chinua Achebe (/ˈtʃɪnwɑː əˈtʃɛbɛ/, born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic.
Things Fall Apart was followed by a sequel, No Longer at Ease (1960), originally written as the second part of a larger work along with Arrow of God (1964). The work is split into three parts, with the first describing his family, personal history, and the customs and society of the Igbo, and the second and third sections introducing the influence of European colonialism and Christian missionaries on Okonkwo, his family, and the wider Igbo community. The novel follows the life of Okonkwo, an Igbo ("Ibo" in the novel) man and local wrestling champion in the fictional Nigerian clan of Umuofia. The novel was first published in the UK in 1962 by William Heinemann Ltd, and became the first work published in Heinemann's African Writers Series. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. It is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and one of the first to receive global critical acclaim. It depicts pre-colonial life in the southeastern part of Nigeria and the arrival of Europeans during the late 19th century. Things Fall Apart is the debut novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, first published in 1958.
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