# Chinua Achebe: 50th Anniversary of "Things Fall Apart" (Afternoon)

Through his fiction and non-fiction works, Nigerian author Chinua Achebe has sought to repair the damage done to the continent of Africa and its people as a result of European colonization. This is best exemplified in his most famous novel "Things Fall Apart," one of the first African novels written in English to achieve national acclaim. Set in the 1890s, the novel deals with the impact of British colonialism on the traditional Igbo society in Nigeria. Published in 1958 - just two years before the end of a century of British rule in Nigeria - the novel celebrates its 50th anniversary of publication this year. To mark this milestone, the Library's African Section hosted a day-long program titled "Fifty Years of Chinua Achebe's Celebrated Novel 'Things Fall Apart.'" Distinguished guest panelists include R. Victoria Arana, graduate professor of English at Howard University; Mbaye Cham, chair of the department of African Studies at Howard University; Philip Effiong, director of Academic Research and Information at the Africa Society of the National Summit on Africa and adjunct associate of English at the University of Maryland University College; Simon Gikandi, Robert Schirmer Professor of English at Princeton University; Amadou Kone, professor of French and Francophone Studies at Georgetown University; Gwen Mikell, director of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; Renee Poussaint, veteran network journalist and senior fellow at the University…

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2008
- By: Library Of Congress. Center For The Book
- Genres: Education, History
- Archive: [Library of Congress](https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688178/)
- Licence or status: Rights statement at the Library of Congress (as the archive states it)
- Credit: Library of Congress
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/loc/2021688178?play=1)