Distinguished writer Chinua Achebe was recently named 1999 winner of The Saint Louis Literary Award of the Associates of Saint Louis University Libraries.

Achebe will receive the award next Thursday, Oct. 28 at 5:30 p.m. in Busch Memorial Center. Achebe will also speak at the presentation, which is free and open to the public.

Achebe was born in 1930 and grew up in Ogidi, Eastern Nigeria. He graduated from University College, Ibadan, and after a brief career in broadcasting, he became Senior Research Fellow and later Professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has served as professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the University of Connecticut. Currently, Achebe is in residence at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.

Achebe has published novels, short stories, essays and poems. His 20th century literary classic, Things Fall Apart, has more than eight million copies in print and has been translated into 50 languages. Another novel, Anthills of the Savannah, was a finalist for the 1987 Booker Award. Achebe joined forces with photographer Robert Lyons for Achebe’s book, Another Africa, which takes a glimpse at Africa at the end of the last century.

Achebe has received 11 honorary doctorates from universities in England, Scotland, the United States, Canada and Nigeria. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He received the