I teach literature. That's easy for me. Take someone else's work and talk about it. — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
If someone said, I want to translate your novel into Igbo, I would say, Go ahead. But when I write in the… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
If I write novels in a country in which most citizens are illiterate, who then is my community? — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
If you ask me, Now, is it your best book? I would say, I don't really know. I wouldn't even want to… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
Each of my books is different. Deliberately... I wanted to create my society, my people, in their fullness. — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
There are things the story must have or else look incomplete. And these will almost automatically present themselves. When they don't, you… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
I do not actually see how art, literature can be anything other that being in that domain of trying to tell us,… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
I know that an important message is not a novel. To say that we should all be kind to our neighbors is… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
The women are, of course, the biggest single group of oppressed people in the world and, if we are to believe the… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
I tell my students, it's not difficult to identify with somebody like yourself, somebody next door who looks like you. What's more… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
“Letters are, of course, quite special in my view, for when a reader has been sufficiently moved (or even perturbed) by a… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
The last four or five hundred years of European contact with Africa produced a body of literature that presented Africa in a… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
We live in a sea of general ideas, so that's not a novel, since there are so many general ideas. But the… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
In America there is really very little knowledge of the literature of the rest of the world. Of the literature of Latin… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
Once a novel gets going and I know it is viable, I don't then worry about plot or themes. These things will… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
The Novelist As Teacher”: “I would be quite satisfied if my novels (especially the ones I set in the past) did no… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
There's no lack of writers writing novels in America, about America. Therefore, it seems to me it would be wasteful for me… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
The market literature, which was particularly strong in Igboland, in Onitsha, today it is no longer strong. It is one of the… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
My books have done extremely well, I know. But I don't honestly feel much different from when I began to write. I… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
“What was missing in all of them, he thought, was a recognition of Africans as people with projects—lives they were leading, aspirations… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
It's so easy to get into the same routine. A novel every two years; perhaps, improving technique. But I'm not interested in… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
The story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading. One could almost write a… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
To the question of writing at all we have sometimes been counselled to forget it, or rather the writing of books. What… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
“With Chinelo, I learned that parents must not assume that all they had to do for books was to find the smartest… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
I do not think that there need be the conflict between books and videos, that one would drive out the other. It… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
Literature, whether handed down by word or mouth or in print, gives us a second handle on reality. — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
When I began going to school and learned to read, I encountered stories of other people and other lands. — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
“Equiano, one of the luckiest among them, acquired an education, freed himself, and wrote a book in 1789: The Interesting Narrative of… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
“I would be quite satisfied if my novels (especially the ones I set in the past) did no more than teach my… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
If you were to loose the habit of making the effort to get the book and read the words one by one… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
You don't ever want to say to a young person, You can't, or, You are no good. Some people might be able… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
When I began going to school and learned to read, I encountered stories of other people and other lands. In one of… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
The triumph of the written word is often attained when the writer achieves union and trust with the reader, who then becomes… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
“Most writers who are beginners, if they are honest with themselves, will admit that they are praying for a readership as they… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
“When I began going to school and learned to read, I encountered stories of other people and other lands. In one of… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share Image
“In such a regime, I say you died a good death if your life had inspired someone to come forward and shoot your murdered… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
“Do not despair. I know you will not despair. You have a manly and a proud heart. A proud heart can survive a general… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
My son even if you want to fall, at least fall where your bones can be gathered — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
“And so Mr. Brown came to be respected even by the clan, because he trod softly on its faith.” — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
“I have learned that a man who makes trouble for others is also making it for himself.” — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
In fact, I thought that Christianity was very a good and a very valuable thing for us. But after a while, I began to… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
I find Nigeria very frustrating. I am not alone in this. There are many Nigerians abroad. As you know, the brain drain is just… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
I do not actually see how art, literature can be anything other that being in that domain of trying to tell us, trying to… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
Democracy is not something you put away for ten years, and then in the 11th year you wake up and start practicing again. We… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
When I began going to school and learned to read, I encountered stories of other people and other lands. In one of my essays,… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane. H. P. LOVECRAFT, attributed, Telling It Like It Is Dancing is very important nowadays.… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
“Then listen to me,' he said and cleared his throat. 'It's true that a child belongs to its father. But when a father beats… — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
What you must accept is that your life is not going to be the same while you are writing. — Chinua Achebe Copy Share
