iyke649:
All those shouting Wole Soyinka should go for a medical check up

fabre4:




have you read Ngugi wa thiongo (weep not child)

Orikinla:
Please, let Chinua Achebe rest in peace. He was among the best, but not the best in Africa. The first black Nobel Prize winner in Literature, Prof. Wole Soyinka remains the greatest African writer, because he excelled in all the genres; plays in drama, essays, critical studies, translations and novels in prose and poetry. Soyinka translated Greek and Yoruba classic works to modern English. The next great writer from Nigeria after Soyinka is from my generation and he is Ben Okri who won the Booker Prize at 32 and no other Nigerian has achieved that literary feat. And what is left for him to win now is the Nobel Prize for Literature. Okri is awesome. I would have been next, but I lost 7 unpublished novels in transit and those novels were written in circumstances that cannot return again.

fabre4:




have you read Ngugi wa thiongo (weep not child)

Larow:
Oluwole Soyinka naa

Spongia1:
N'gugi wa thiongo. His book, "A grain of wheat" is simply magical

hischoice:
Wole Soyinka says he loathes any such comparison with Chinua.

He's gone further to say he would not even want to compare any of his own works with themselves.

Art and literary appreciation, according to him, is a function of mood at any given point in time.

I so much crave for Chinua's books sometimes, that I find myself reading "Arrow of God"'s publishers' names over and over. The next hour, it's Reuben Abati's archive I'm digging into online and offline. And would trash every Chinua's book that tries to stop me en route. That's mood!

Good readers don't compare authors, especially along ethnic lines. Everyone is useful in his time.

Jaymaxxy:
I prefer Soyinka any day.

nigeriancritic1:

Having replied you; wole soyinka is evidently better being awarded the nobel prize in the field. He is a god regarding literature but he is an elusive writer who created an isolated niche for himself

nigeriancritic1:

Of course, the kikuyus etc. That was nice but not in the class of the two writers

fabre4:


maybe but

What exactly is your standard for judging writers

fabre4:





With all due respect to Soyinka I think the comparisons are unnecessary because it does not
help them improve instead it could lead to animosity between them

chikel2000:
Not sure if there is any, not saying there is none though but Achebe's Things fall apart is one oof the top books written by a man to be interpreted or transcribed to many foreign languages. He s truly a legend

iyke649:
All those shouting Wole Soyinka should go for a medical check up

nigeriancritic1:

Camara Laye (The Radiance of the King and African Child)
But "Things Fall Apart" is one of the top 100 books ever written by Man.

IkennaNweke:
Which African writer wrote better than Chinua Achebe?

CoolAmbience:
In Africa, by my evaluation, none for now. Go back and read works like Arrow of God, Things Fall Apart, No Longer At Ease and the recently written, There Was A Country.

nigeriancritic1:

Acceptability, awards and international recognition, number of languages translated to, etc

showblack:


Things fall apart is a good story no doubt. But I don't like the way it ended

nigeriancritic1:

Achebe was jealous of soyinka's achievements in his lifetime but they were friends initially. Soyinka even plead for Biafra during the civil war

nigeriancritic1:

Acceptability, awards and international recognition, number of languages translated to, etc