Achebe Colloquium on Africa

Convened by famed Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies, the Achebe Colloquium on Africa annually brings together an international group of scholars, officials from African governments, the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and other organizations for two days of intense deliberation and exchange of ideas on the importance of strengthening democracy and peace on the African continent.

Chinua Achebe

For many decades, Professor Achebe has worked to build greater understanding of Africa through his uncompromising political commentary, social critique, and creative writing.

Born in Ogidi, an Igbo village in Nigeria, Chinua Achebe studied at University College (now the University of Ibadan). His first novel, Things Fall Apart, is the most widely read work of African fiction, having sold more than 12 million copies in English alone. It has been translated into 50 languages. His other prominent works include No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God, A Man of the People, and Anthills of the Savannah.

Professor Achebe is the recipient of numerous honors. He was awarded the Man Booker International Prize for outstanding fiction in 2007 and the 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, one of the largest and most prestigious awards in the arts. Among his more than 40 honorary degrees is an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Brown University, where he serves in the Department of Africana Studies as the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and Professor of Africana Studies and oversees the Chinua Achebe Colloquium on Africa, an initiative in keeping with his life’s work to foster greater knowledge of Africa.