Things Fall Apart

• “What is postcolonial literature?”

Stanford University Professor Ato Quayson offers this great explainer and reading list on “postcolonial literature,” the genre to which Things Fall Apart belongs.

• “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’”

In a landmark speech, Achebe eviscerates Heart of Darkness author Joseph Conrad, explaining that the inclusion of his work into the Western literary canon has caused enormous damage to Africans and other people of color.

• Decolonising the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature

Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s highly influential 1986 book provides invaluable context to postcolonial literature like Achebe’s, arguing that the process of decolonization lasts long after the last occupying nation leaves one’s country.

• “Chinua Achebe, The Art of Fiction”

At The Paris Review, Jerome Brooks interviews Chinua Achebe about a host of issues, including why he chose to write Things Fall Apart in English.

• “A Wave of New Fiction From Nigeria, as Young Writers Experiment With New Genres”

A The New York Times article on the new wave of Nigerian writers that includes Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Lola Shoneyin.