Chinua Achebe (1930-2013): A Tribute

A Virtual Condolence Book Tribute to Chinua Achebe.An ALA eBook Tribute to Chinua Achebe

In these entries, Professor Achebe’s generous spirit shines like a guiding spirit: warm, urging, steadying. This is a tribute to a well-respected teacher, colleague and friend. Here, members of the African Literature Association confirm how Professor Achebe’s life and works inspired and encouraged them personally and professionally to look for and find a new way for Africa and Africans. About Achebe’s enduring influence in African literature, Bernth Lindfors says, “Achebe’s stories have been our escort for more than half a century, and they will continue to guide us to a better understanding of African realities, past and present, in the years to come,” Hilary Chala Kowino, who would like to continue reading Things Fall Apart beyond the grave, requests that a copy of the book be placed in his casket when he dies. We the editors cannot say more than that!

We invite you to join us in this tribute to one of Africa’s greatest novelists, who was also a teacher, a colleague, and a noted and respected elder who knew and understood his times. Once in a millennium, someone of princely bearing comes along to light the way for a people. Chinua Achebe did that for Africa and Africans. – by: Anthonia Kalu (The Ohio State University; Past President – African Literature Association; Simon Lewis – College of Charleston; Ernest Emenyonu – University of Michigan - Flint))