The life of the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) was celebrated on May 6 at Bard College, New York, where Achebe taught for many years. There were spoken tributes from Nigerian author and art historian Teju Cole, from historian Myra Armstead, and from anthropologists Yuka Suzuki and John Ryle. The Somali writer Nuruddin Farah participated via video, as did Binyavanga Wainaina, formerly Director of the Chinua Achebe Center for Writers and Artists at Bard. The tributes were followed by Igbo songs and other West Africa musical performances by Beatrice Ajaero and the Senegalese band, Jamrek. The event was arranged by the Rift Valley Institute and Bard Africana Studies.
