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Conjunctions #34

Conjunctions: 37, Twentieth Anniversary Issue

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In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Conjunctions, "arguably the most distinguished journal of prose and poetry in America" (Elle), gathers a virtual Who's Who of innovative contemporary literature. will feature new work by writers as diverse as Don DeLillo, Paul Auster, Chinua Achebe, Rick Moody, Richard Powers, Jorie Graham, William T. Vollmann, Paul West, Carole Maso, Ann Lauterbach, and many surprise contributors. This special issue will also feature an important short story by Vladimir Nabokov, newly translated by Dimitri Nabokov for Conjunctions, which has never before appeared in English. Joyce Carol Oates offers a first look at her haunting new novel in progress, The Falls, and William H. Gass gives us a darkly hilarious tour de force with his novella, Charity. The 20th-anniversary issue will surely be, as the Village Voice has said of Conjunctions, "A must read" for anyone interested in contemporary fiction, poetry, and drama.

400 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

8 people want to read

About the author

Chinua Achebe

169 books4,219 followers
Works, including the novel Things Fall Apart (1958), of Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe describe traditional African life in conflict with colonial rule and westernization.

This poet and critic served as professor at Brown University. People best know and most widely read his first book in modern African literature.

Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria reared Achebe, who excelled at school and won a scholarship for undergraduate studies. World religions and traditional African cultures fascinated him, who began stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian broadcasting service and quickly moved to the metropolis of Lagos. He gained worldwide attention in the late 1950s; his later novels include No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). Achebe defended the use of English, a "language of colonizers," in African literature. In 1975, controversy focused on his lecture An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" for its criticism of Joseph Conrad as "a bloody racist."

When the region of Biafra broke away from Nigeria in 1967, Achebe, a devoted supporter of independence, served as ambassador for the people of the new nation. The war ravaged the populace, and as starvation and violence took its toll, he appealed to the people of Europe and the Americas for aid. When the Nigerian government retook the region in 1970, he involved in political parties but witnessed the corruption and elitism that duly frustration him, who quickly resigned. He lived in the United States for several years in the 1970s, and after a car accident left him partially disabled, he returned to the United States in 1990.

Novels of Achebe focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect of Christian influences, and the clash of values during and after the colonial era. His style relied heavily on the Igbo oral tradition, and combines straightforward narration with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. He also published a number of short stories, children's books, and essay collections. He served as the David and Marianna Fisher university professor of Africana studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

ollowing a brief illness, Achebe died.

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Profile Image for Melanie Page.
Author 4 books90 followers
May 12, 2016
Most of the stories in the book are excerpts, which means the book is a useful tool for looking at how a story is constructed, but not for enjoyment.
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