Chinua Achebe wins Dorothy and Lillian Gish prize for ‘impact on literature’

PROVIDENCE – Chinua Achebe, author of “Things Fall Apart,” has been selected to receive the 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize for his “unprecedented impact in literature.”

Achebe, professor of Africana studies at Brown University, has written more than 20 books, often using his writing to forge a better understanding of modern-day Africa, said Brown on Friday.

The 80-year-old author has founded a number of magazines for African art, fiction and poetry. As editor of Heinemann Publishing’s “African Writers Series,” Achebe has worked to bring post-colonial African works to a larger audience.

“When I was a boy growing up in Nigeria, becoming a novelist was a far-away dream,” said Achebe. “Now it is a reality for many African writers, not just myself.”

The Gish prize will award Achebe approximately $300,000 and a silver medallion for his “outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.” Other Gish prize winners include Pete Seeger, Robert Redford and Bob Dylan.

Achebe will be honored on Oct. 27 at the Hudson Theater in New York City.