In November 2012, Chimamanda Adichie reflected on Chinua Achebe’s literary legacy, his gifts to her as a new writer, and his contributions to Nigeria’s rendering of its complex and traumatic recent history. Our forerunners cast a long shadow and their stories have such power.
Achebe died today in Boston aged 82. Nigeria’s Senate has called Achebe “a fearless man who told the truth as he saw it” and his death “a great loss to Nigeria and Africa.”