Chinua Achebe wins $300,000 Gish prize
By Philip Nwosu
Monday, September 27, 2010


•Chinua Achebe
Photo: Sun News Publishing
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The author of the epic novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, has emerged winner of the United States Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.
The Gish prize, which was established in 1994 by the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize Trust and administered by JPMorgan Chase Bank as trustee, is given annually to “a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.”

The prize is worth $300,000.
The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize is one of the largest awards in the arts. Now in its 16th year, the prize pays tribute to trailblazers who have redefined their art and pushed the boundaries of excellence in their field. Previous recipients have shaped the cultural landscape in drama, music, dance, art, architecture, lighting design, film and literature.

Achebe’s writings examine African politics and chronicle the ways in which African culture and civilization have survived in the post-colonial world. Some of his acclaimed works include A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1988).

Achebe, who is paralyzed from the waist down due to a 1990 car accident, is currently Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Gish Prize, now in its 17th year, recognizes leading artists in such fields as drama, music and dance, as well as literature. Achebe joins past winners including Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller and Robert Redford.
The prize was established by silent film stars Dorothy and Lillian Gish and is one of the largest and most prestigious awards in the arts.

Dorothy and Lillian Gish both followed their mother onto the stage at an early age. The older of the two sisters, Lillian took her first theatrical curtain call in 1902 at the age of eight in the play, In Convict’s Stripes. In 1912, Mary Pickford, a childhood friend, introduced the sisters to filmmaker, D.W. Griffith, launching their film careers. Lillian would become one of America’s best-loved actresses and is considered by many the first lady of the screen. In her 85-year career, she appeared in over 100 films—from D.W. Griffith’s An Unseen Enemy (1912) to Lindsay Anderson’s The Whales of August (1987)—and also took numerous roles in television and on stage. Lillian Gish died on February 27, 1993, at the age of 99.


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Another golden feather in the red cap of Prof. Chinua Achebe.

He deserves every award he has won.

I thank the Almighty God Jehovah for his awesome life.