Afam4eva:
Why do i have to google him to know him. I know Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. I never said there were no writers before Achebe. I only asked for a writer before Achebe whose works are globally or even nationally of villagely(permit my french)acclaimed. How many writers use Ahmed Baba as a point of reference as much as Achebe?

Can you explain to me why it is so important for one man in this modern era to be named the 'father of African Literature', even when you know African Literature has existed for years?

You folks bring shame to Achebe's legacy...he never had a reputation as a glory hunter, twice rejecting national awards. Why is this craze to bestow a title on him that in life he never put a claim to?

ROSSIKE: Please write about what you know and stop spewing ignorance. You didn't know a thing about him a few minutes ago, yet now you know where his influence reached and didn't reach. Why don't you take the time to study him, and other African writers and their works before typing further trash? Your ignorance and disnterest in their works is a disgrace.

You told me to google him and i did so and told you what i found out about him. Why not tell me anything else about him apart from what i found instead hyperventilating. We're all here to learn.

texazzpete:

Can you explain to me why it is so important for one man in this modern era to be named the 'father of African Literature', even when you know African Literature has existed for years?

You folks bring shame to Achebe's legacy...he never had a reputation as a glory hunter, twice rejecting national awards. Why is this craze to bestow a title on him that in life he never put a claim to?

There's no such award as "Father of Literature". I'm only of the opinion that people should be left to call Achebe what they deem fit. You talked about Micheal Jackson not being called the Father of Pop but the same micheal is tagged "King of Pop" which is another term for Father. Should we also argue why Micheal should be called the King of Pop?

Afam4eva:
Why do i have to google him to know him. I know Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. I never said there were no writers before Achebe. I only asked for a writer before Achebe whose works are globally or even nationally of villagely(permit my french)acclaimed. How many writers use Ahmed Baba as a point of reference as much as Achebe?

Nationally/locally there were many writers but because their work were not written in English so you may not know. For instance Yoruba writers like Dr DO Fagunwa is very popular even till today. There will be similar writers too in Igboland, Hausa land and all across Africa.

Afam4eva:
You told me to google him and i did so and told you what i found out about him. Why not tell me anything else about him apart from what i found instead hyperventilating. We're all here to learn.

You cannot learn about Ahmed Baba on a forum. Did you learn about Achebe on a forum? If you want to learn, go and research his works in-depth. It takes a lot more than a two minute Google stint. SMH

ROSSIKE: You cannot learn about Ahmed Baba on a forum. Did you learn about Achebe on a forum? If you want to learn, go and research his works in-depth.

It's not about his works but how far it has traveled and influenced others. Micheal jackson is called King of Pop for a reason.

funnyx:

Nationally/locally there were many writers but because their work were not written in English so you may not know. For instance Yoruba writers like Dr DO Fagunwa is very popular even till today. There will be similar writers too in Igboland, Hausa land and all across Africa.

So, are you saying Achebe is popular because he wrote in English? Was he the first writer to write in English? Don't forget that in thaat same "things fall apart", a lot of Igbo idioms and proverbs were used.

babyosisi:

That was his opportunity to condemn the book if he is sincere
It is an act of cowardice to say at a Man's death what you didn't have the b.alls to say while he lived
I love Soyinka but I also hate cowards

Wole Soyinka had no desire to tackle his friend on the pages of newspapers. You think he's a shallow as you are? If you weren't blinded by your tribal rage, you'd see that the OP is an excerpt from an interview where he was pressed to provide his views.

How dare you call Wole Soyinka of all people a coward?! You will struggle hard to find a braver man than he in Nigeria.

Africans can not stop to amaze me. Whether confirmed illiterates chose to call Achebe the father and grandfather of African literature or the son and grandson of African literature, how do such personal choices become subjects of intellectual exercise bordering on imbibed jealous and tribal jingoism?

There were wars, including wrestling matches, yet somebody decided to tag a recently concluded war as “mother of all wars”. If such a joke was called mother of all war, what shall we call Kiriji wars, grandfather of all wars?

WS is a man I held in high esteem but he disappointed me in the interview allegedly given by him especially where he referred to CA is a “storyteller”. Anyway, WS is qualified to have an opinion. However, I must say there is great difference between literature and theater arts. I can safely say that WS is a playwright or dramatist not an author.

Prof Corruption:
First, no one sees Achebe as the father of internet Literature. Literature is what's being discussed. Why should it be a big deal too if others who are Nobel Prize winner equally say such thing does not exist. It's not cast in stone and it's not an award available to be clinched.

What do you mean no one sees Achebe as the Father of Literature yet you're here arguing that some people are ignorant for calling him the Father of Literature. And i never said that it's cast in stone. All i said is that you should allow those who say to continue cos it's their personal opinion just like what you and Soyinka have said are your personal opinions.

Prof Corruption:
In exactly what ways? because you said so, we should simply take it as the gospel? What's the yardstick for measuring this influence?

You keep rehashing this question even after i listed some variables which you ignored them.

Prof Corruption:
Out of these prizes you have mentioned, why is the Nobel the one being rehashed and discussed extensively in dailies? Why is no one talking of Warwick or Chancellor's Gold Medal for poetry? I laughed at these your awards. My dear, there is a reason why the fixation is on Nobel prize and it's simply because of it's preeminence. The rest are just like asking someone who made a first class honours in University to compete in secondary school for medals. Simply laughable.

Out of all the authors that you guys have been listing, why's Achebe being rehashed and discussed extensively in dailies? Now you're talking of pre-eminence which is another term for "Superior". I also put it to you as a question just like you've been asking me: What makes the Nobel prize more superior to others?

Prof Corruption:
That's false. Achebe wrote a counter narrative to what was in vogue being that Africa lacks "history or civilization" before colonization. The sociological narratives in Things Fall Apart which showed how Igbo capitulated to colonialism dispelled such narrative. So it's more of what the book contains than the artistic mastery deployed in the book. It's the political value of the book that's being celebrated so to say and not the literary value. So the question of Father of African literature is a concoction that has no basis in anything apart from pure opinionated gossips.

I don't think it's in your place to appraise the artistry mastery of "Things fall apart" and even if you do, it's your personal opinion.

Prof Corruption:
The argument arose because you said Soyinka lost it be stating what was and still factually correct because quite frankly such a designation does not exist and can not be "officialized".

My point was that Soyinka should allow people tag whoever they want to tag with whatever phrase they deem fit. It's not like it's gonna be added to the Nigerian constitution.

Prof Corruption:
This got me cracking! Why don't you kill his contemporaries to also gauge their influence? I expect a better argument from you. You don't have to be a writer or intensely influential to be to be accorded such recognition. If a personal friend of Jonathan dies today and a burial is fixed for say tomorrow, the probability of GEJ going there is closer to one than zero. after all he attended funeral of fathers of some presidential aides. Presidential presence at burial place is not a good judge of literary accomplishments. It could be done to project political correctness or for something else. These are vague statements that do not support or prove anything. You can't say for instance that "world intelligentsia" if such thing exist do not also hold his contemporaries in high opinion.

If Jonathan's friend dies, Jonathan will most likely be present but Mandela and other world leaders will not comment on the death of Jonathan's friend. So, this jonathan's friend is only influential to Jonathan and those around him. I hope you get the drift.

Prof Corruption:
The real approximation is a simple fact that Achebe was not a father of African literature. What's winnable or has been won can be ascribed like someone being called a Nobel laureate. That's not an approximation but indeed a factual statement that can be independently verified. Can such a bogus title of Father of African literature be verified in such manner? Anyone could lay clam to such.

Let's not go aroung in cricles. We've crossed this line before. Nothing is cast in stone. let's just give people the liberty to people to classify people with whatever they deem fit.

Afam4eva:
So, are you saying Achebe is popular because he wrote in English? Was he the first writer to write in English? Don't forget that in thaat same "things fall apart", a lot of Igbo idioms and proverbs were used.

No! Don't get it twisted, you asked a question and I provided you with an answer!

Afam4eva:
It's not about his works but how far it has traveled and influenced others. Micheal jackson is called King of Pop for a reason.

How far did Shakespeare's work travel in his day? How many Chinese, Indians, and Africans read Shakespeare in his day? Was it not after colonel invasions of territories in the 20th century that his work became popularised outside England? Chances are without the colonial invasions, we wouldn't know a thing about him. So popularisation of your work across the globe can be caused by many factors and is not a barometer of your excellence. It's like saying that because Christianity and Islam are the two most popular religions, then they must be the father of all religions, or the best or only true religions. Meanwhile those two faiths are only popular because of the willingness of their inventors to spread the message through widespread violence, invasions and bloodshed (crusades, jihad etc).

Facts is there is rivalry between WS and achebe.
They aren't as close as he professes from his use of perhaps if achebe would come to his abeokuta den when he hosted gowon and co to the statement he credited to achebe saying WS isn't the asiwaju of literature just because he won nobel laureate in response to an unrelated political issue.
The man made good points and while I agree achebe is clannish, he may deserve the title of father of african literature. While it may seemingly appear that achebe is superior to WS, he too should take consolation as being the first black to be awarded the nobel laureate. They are both good in their genre so different title should be given to each to appease their ego just like the CAF footballer of the year and BBC equivalent to okocha or the ooni of ife and alaafin of your case.
We don't have to tribalise this and include it with the ojukwu/awolowo argument.

babyosisi:

Doesn't your question sound stupid to you?
Shouldn't you take up your grouse about that title with those who gave it to him?
No it has nothing to do with Yorubas being closer but everything to do with their innate jealousy of everything Igbo
Unfortunately for you,the title has stuck
Try convincing the word otherwise


As you can see there are people regarded as father of American literature
Father of English literature
And now there is also a Father of African Literature
If not Chinua the most prolific African writer ,please name the person that deserves such a title
Wole Soyinka?
Amos Tutuola ?
Ngugi Wathiongo?
Anyone but Chinua?
What a funny bunch

Wow, you are hopeless!

nolongtin:
Question: In interviews as well as in writing, Achebe brushed off the title of “father of African literature.” Yet, on his death, numerous media accounts, in Nigeria as well as elsewhere, described him as the father –even grandfather –of African literature. What do you think of that tag?


Answer: As you yourself have observed, Chinua himself repudiated such a tag –he did study literature after all, bagged a degree in the subject. So, it is a tag of either literary ignorance or “momentary exuberance” –ala [Nadine] Gordimer –to which we are all sometimes prone.

Those who seriously believe or promote this must be asked: have you the sheerest acquaintance with the literatures of other African nations, in both indigenous and adopted colonial languages? What must the francophone, lusophone, Zulu, Xhosa, Ewe etc. etc. literary scholars and consumers think of those who persist in such a historic absurdity? It's as ridiculous as calling WS father of contemporary African drama! Or Mazisi Kunene father of African epic poetry. Or Kofi Awoonor father of African poetry.

Education is lacking in most of those who pontificate. As a short cut to such corrective, I recommend Tunde Okanlawon's scholarly tribute to Chinua in The Sun (Nigeria) of May 4th. After that, I hope those of us in the serious business of literature will be spared further embarrassment.

Let me just add that a number of foreign “African experts” have seized on this silliness with glee. It legitimizes their ignorance, their parlous knowledge, enables them to circumscribe, then adopt a patronizing approach to African literatures and creativity. Backed by centuries of their own recorded literary history, they assume the condescending posture of midwiving an infant entity. It is all rather depressing.

By the way I have come to accept that Africa to Nigerians mean Nigeria. That is painfull realisation.

It also make me wonder why the tittle of the Father of African Literature would be given by Americans just becouse the man happened to work among them. If one takes you discription of what the status af a Father of. . . What about the Sotongas, the Plaatjies who wrote most African most popular anthem? God bless Africa?
And how come none of the initial SA writers are not called fathers as they were the first to be educated and have a black university in Africa ( Uni Forte 1916 vs Uni Ibadan 1948 )

And why were and are still most Africans not aware of Chinua? But are very well aware of Soyinka?
If he is father aint we as African suppose to impose the tittle on him rather than some Americans who get exposed for the first time to a African/Nigerian writer?

Please forcing a crown on this man is more disgraceful and embarassing more than anything. Please let go! He is a father of his children, for goodness sake! Go be a hero and stop looking for heros.

[color=#990000][/color]Wole Soyinka is a great writer and every body knows. However I suggest that the old man should leave his gray hair resting by feeling at home with the accolades being given to the late prof. May be he is afraid he may not get so much of a eulogy as the late prof.when joins his ancestors. Just normal to be envious though,its natural.

afam it's high time you quit this discussion. you getting whopped from all front, looking more of a Barcelona f.c vs nigeria super falcons.

malachytochukwu: [color=#990000][/color]Wole Soyinka is a great writer and every body knows. However I suggest that the old man should leave his gray hair resting by feeling at home with the accolades being given to the late prof. May be he is afraid he may not get so much of a eulogy as the late prof.when joins his ancestors. Just normal to be envious though,its natural.

What a child you are, to think everything is all about 'accolades'.

If Chinua Achebe wanted accolades, why did he twice turn down the GCON award?!

This is the problem with people like you...you see everything in black and white only. What benefit to Soyinka or Achebe are 'accolades' from lesser mortals like State Governors or legislooters?

ROSSIKE: How far did Shakespeare's work travel in his day? How many Chinese, Indians, and Africans read Shakespeare in his day? Was it not after colonel invasions of territories in the 20th century that his work became popularised outside England? Chances are without the colonial invasions, we wouldn't know a thing about him. So popularisation of your work across the globe can be caused by many factors and is not a barometer of your excellence. It's like saying that because Christianity and Islam are the two most popular religions, then they must be the father of all religions, or the best or only true religions. Meanwhile those two faiths are only popular because of the willingness of their inventors to spread the message through widespread violence, invasions and bloodshed (crusades, jihad etc).

So, why's Ahmed Baba's works still not popular till date? I know you'll say it's because he's not British of European. My reply to that is: why's Achebe's works known globally, likewise Soyinka's and Chimanda's works?

Afam4eva:
So, why's Ahmed Baba's works still not popular till date? I know you'll say it's because he's not British of European. My reply to that is: why's Achebe's works known globally, likewise Soyinka's and Chimanda's works?

Why will his works be popular when so called educated AFRICANS like you know next to nothing about him? You expect the Europeans to pick him up and make him popular? They won't, since their job is to maintain the illusion that nothing serious occurred in Africa before their arrival. So it is left to Africans to lift up these personalities from their pre-colonial history. Celebrate them, study them, re-publish them and propagate them. THEN the rest of the world will sit up and take notice.

Prof Corruption:

Just read Of Africa and you begin to understand that Soyinka is for the deep. It's only deep thinkers who can understand him.

I was about say he reminds me Former S.A. President Thabo Mbeki, wow that was tasteful. Mmmm! Salute Tata Wale Soyinka!

ROSSIKE: Why will his works be popular when so called educated AFRICANS like you know next to nothing about him? You expect the Europeans to pick him up and make him popular? They won't, since their job is to maintain the illusion that nothing serious occurred in Africa before their arrival. So it is left to Africans to lift up these personalities from their pre-colonial history. Celebrate them, study them, and propagate them. THEN the rest of the world will be forced to take notice.

Did the Europeans pick Achebe, Soyinka and Adichie before they became popular? Soyinka even went ahead to win the Nobel prize. Enough with this victim mentality. People get recognized because of the quality of their body of work.

ROSSIKE: How far did Shakespeare's work travel in his day? How many Chinese, Indians, and Africans read Shakespeare in his day? Was it not after colonel invasions of territories in the 20th century that his work became popularised outside England? Chances are without the colonial invasions, we wouldn't know a thing about him. So popularisation of your work across the globe can be caused by many factors and is not a barometer of your excellence. It's like saying that because Christianity and Islam are the two most popular religions, then they must be the father of all religions, or the best or only true religions. Meanwhile those two faiths are only popular because of the willingness of their inventors to spread the message through widespread violence, invasions and bloodshed (crusades, jihad etc).

Granted the popularization of certain works could be achieved by many factors such as colonial forces, one wonders what engendered such popularity in Achebe’s work besides excellence. Nigeria never colonized anybody and never exuded the qualities endearing to outsiders to attach interest to something Nigerian.

Nonetheless, Achebe’s work grabbed global attention per sheer excellence and erudition. Achebe’s works became larger than a continent that spurred discriminatory tendencies among Nobel committee members in Sweden.

texazzpete:

I thank God I am neither Igbo or Yoruba so I can make this statement without being tagged with a tribal brush.

You, my dear, are an imbecilic dolt!
You are one of the ignoramuses WS so aptly described in this interview. What does it matter if 'others' (who WS rightly calls 'misguided' or 'overcome with exuberance')called Achebe the 'father of African Literature'? The man himself never called himself that...nor did any of the major literary icons in Nigeria label him that. So what is this fascination with foisting such a title on him?





Freudian slip? YOU need to get over your jealousy and pettiness.




Nobody would ever call Elvis the 'Father of Rock and Roll'. Michael Jackson has never been called the 'father of Pop'.

But they are still refered post-humously as the king in their genres..the same way Ali was called the greatest sportsman of the century..we all know sports isn't about boxing alone..but Ali's influence,charisma and SUCCESS cut across all walks of sports to be acclaimed 'the greatest'..same applies to Achebe too..what's the fuss??

Afam4eva:
Did the Europeans pick Achebe, Soyinka and Adichie before they became popular? Soyinka even went ahead to win the Nobel prize. Enough with this victim mentality. People get recognized because of the quality of their body of work.

Errr... Yes the Europeans 'picked' Achebe and Soyinka before they became globally popular. Once Achebe completed Things Fall Apart the first thing he did was rush to London to have it published. Soyinka's first plays, The Swamp Dwellers and The Lion and the Jewel were all premiered and published in London. If Ahmed Baba was living in post colonial Nigeria, he would have probably done the same thing, and emerged a globally renowned writer. But his days were different. Apart from the fact that Europe was in its Dark Ages with little to offer anyone, Africa was more self sufficient and self confident and felt no need for international validation. That should not mean her writers were not as excellent, or even more so, than the Achebes and Soyinkas of today.

It's a bit like the old 'who was better, Green Eagles or Super Eagles' debate. Was Segun Odegbami better than Okocha? Was Finidi better than Adokiye? Was Jay Jay more gifted than Haruna Ilerika? Okocha and Finidi are much better known internationally because, like Soyinka and Achebe, they 'strayed' overseas. But there are many who would swear on their lives that neither of them could wipe Odegbami or Ilerika's boots.

Unfortunately, that chance of a last encounter was missed, so I don't really wish to comment on the work at this point. It is however a book I wish he had never written – that is, not in the way it was. There are statements in that work that I wish he had never made.

Bluff is no substitute for bullet.

But – “rivalry for domination,” to quote you – healthy or unhealthy? Now that is something that has been cooked up, ironically, by camp followers.

Before that, I had hosted them in my Abeokuta den on a near full-day visit. Would Achebe, if he had been able, and was in Nigeria, have joined us? Perhaps. But he certainly wouldn’t have been present at the Awolowo Award event. That is a different kettle of fish, a matter between him and Awolowo – which, however, Chinua did let degenerate into tribal charges.

Well then, this prospect that “my 1986 Nobel Prize in literature poisoned my personal relationship with a supposedly resentful Achebe” – I think I shouldn’t dodge that either. Even if that was true – which I do not accept – it surely has dissipated over time. For heaven’s sake, over twenty-five people have taken the prize since then! The problem remains with those vicarious laureates who feel personally deprived, and thus refuse to let go. Chinua’s death was an opportunity to prise open that scab all over again. But they’ve now gone too far with certain posturings and should be firmly called to order, and silenced – in the name of decency.

It is a Nigerian disease. Nigerians need to be purged of a certain kind of arrogance of expectations, of demand, of self-attribution, of a spurious sense and assertion of entitlement. It goes beyond art and literature. It covers all aspects of interaction with others. Wherever you witness a case of ‘It’s MINE, and no other’s’, ‘it’s OURS, not theirs’, at various levels of vicarious ownership, such aggressive voices, ninety percent of the time, are bound to be Nigerians.

Yes, these are the ones who, to co-opt your phrasing, “diminished (and still diminish) Chinua’s image”. In the main, they are, ironically, his assiduous – but basically opportunistic – hagiographers – especially of a clannish, cabalistic temperament.

Chinua is entitled to better than being escorted to his grave with that monotonous, hypocritical aria of deprivation’s lament, orchestrated by those who, as we say in my part of the world, “dye their mourning weeds a deeper indigo than those of the bereaved”. He deserves his peace. Me too! And right now, not posthumously.


It is not all bleakness and aggravation however – I have probably given that impression, but the stridency of cluelessness, sometimes willful, has reached the heights of impiety. Vicarious appropriation is undignified, and it runs counter to the national pride it ostensibly promotes. Other voices are being drowned, or placed in a false position, who value and express the sensibilities between, respect the subtle threads that sustain, writers, even in their different orbits. My parting tribute to Chinua will therefore take the form of the long poem I wrote to him when he turned seventy, after my participation in the celebrations at Bard College. I plan for it to be published on the day of his funeral – my way of taunting death, by pursuing that cultural, creative, even political communion that unites all writers with a decided vision of the possible – and even beyond the grave.

Was it the Nobel that spurred a young writer, stung by Eurocentric portrayal of African reality, to put pen to paper and produce Things Fall Apart?

For those who could not realize the level at which they've so much descended into in playing tribal games and displaying crass puerility with this text. refusing to behold the deserving respect these literary icon have for each other and removing facts from emotions and fictions. Then what could I say let them ( thrse jingoists) continue to wallow in their KNOWLEDABILITY and continue to spill out their trash we are amusingly reading. Its a case of BONE OR NO BONE QUESTIONS I MUST ANSWER BONE.

Afam4eva: I think Soyinka lost it by making this assertion himself instead of allowing it to come from Achebe's mouth. It will be misconstrued to paint him as jealous. It's very possible that Achebe frowned upon being called the father of internet not because he doesn't think he's qualified. The "Father of Internet" tag is not an award but a recognition of one's immense contribution to literature in Africa. it doesn't necessarily make his works the best but the most influential and we can argue from now till next year, Achebe is the arguably the most influential African writer until his death hence the need for the title. This is not about genre of anything. Tell me an African writer of any genre whose book has more influence than those of Achebe. Let's not stretch it, whether Achebe wants to be called that or not, if anybody deserves that title it's no other than person than "Chinua
Achebe".

Most influential African writer! How? To whom?

Why do i get this Feeling that all those against Achebe in dis Thread are Yoruba People? I gues u pple r unhapy it was nt ur Sole Woyinka dat is being labelled as "Father of African Literature" right? I dnt blame u pple anyway...OTher Writers r nt Crying Foul abt it,So why ir Wole Soyinka beggin 4 atention?i wil tel u dis Wole nd ur Yoruba suporters,u guys Suck...kip cryin like Kids 4 all i care...CHINUA ACHEBE'S "THINGS FALL APART" is stil d greatest novel 4rm Africa,nd is even publishd in Ova 15languages worldwide....can u beat that til u die @WOLE SOYINKA?

sarutobie:
But they are still refered post-humously as the king in their genres..the same way Ali was called the greatest sportsman of the century..we all know sports isn't about boxing alone..but Ali's influence,charisma and SUCCESS cut across all walks of sports to be acclaimed 'the greatest'..same applies to Achebe too..what's the fuss??

But is Muhammad Ali even the greatest boxer of the last century? Sugar Ray Robinson was far greater than Ali(and I'm the biggest Muhammad Ali fan). Some of these titles are just plain stupid and dumb.

That was the same way Nelson Mandela was named the "Greatest African" and "Father of Africa." Like seriously, what did he do for Africa?

It's high time we all started educating ourselves about African history. Africa didn't start during the colonial era. There were so many greats/legends from that continent before the modern era. And there's absolutely no father of anything in Africa!

sweetcheecks:
Most influential African writer! How? To whom?

To people who think so.

I quite can't understand why anybody can begrudge Achebe the title of "Father of African
Literature". Apart from his own published works, Achebe was one of the brains behind the
African Writers Series. For those who do not know, Achebe was the editor of that series for
about 10 years. During that period, many of the classical works in African literature were
published.

So if you read any of the books below in school or for pleasure (which many of us did),
thank Achebe and the African Writers Series:

1. Mine Boy by Peter Abrahams - 1963
2. Weep Not Child by Ngugi Wa Thiongo - 1964
3. One Man, One Matchet by T.M Aluko - 1964
4. Mission to Kala by Mongo Beti - 1964
5. The Only Son by John Munonye - 1966
6. The Concubine by Elechi Amadi - 1966
7. Efuru by Flora Nwapa - 1966
8. The Narrow Path by Francis Serlomey - 1966
9. A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi Wa Thiongo - 1967
10. The Old Man and the Medal by Ferdinand Oyono - 1967
11. The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah - 1969
12. America: Their America by JP Clark - 1968
13. Labyrinths. With Path of Thunder by Christopher Okigbo - 1971
14. God's Bits of Wood by Sembene Ousmane - 1970
15. Danda by Nkem Nwankwo - 1970
16. Chief, The Honourable Minister by T.M Aluko - 1970
17. The Interpreters by Wole Soyinka - 1970 ***
18. The Poor Christ of Bomba by Mongo Beti - 1971
19. Oil Man of Obange by John Munonye - 1971
20. Not Yet Uhuru by Oginga Odinga - 1967

The important thing to note here is that these classics of African literature were published
between 1962 and 1972 when Achebe was the editor of African Writers Series. This means that
without him, we may never have known writers such as Ngugi Wa Thiong, T.M Aluko or John
Munonye.

P.S: Most of Achebe's work were published around this period. But I have deliberately
omitted them from the list.

P.S: In the interview we read today, Soyinka said he never allowed his books to be
published under the African Writers Series. According to him, "The Interpreters" was
published by Achebe and the AWS while he was in prison without his permission.

For the record, I have read 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 13, 17, 18 and 19. Which ones have you read?

wow, the kinda write-ups I always want... So many things to learn from this ish, *saved page*