Hear a special 60th anniversary reading of Chinua Achebe’s masterpiece Things Fall Apart, performed by authors and Nollywood artists.
Chinua Achebe’s masterpiece provides a searing examination of a traditional African society fracturing under colonial rule. It has sold over 12 million copies in over 50 languages and inspired generations of authors, artists, and musicians, from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to Kendrick Lamar.
First published in 1958, Things Fall Apart had a revelatory impact, both as a work of vivid literary realism and acute moral insight.
Readers:
- Olu Jacobs – Actor and Nollywood icon
- Adesua Etomi – Award-winning Nollywood star
- Kele Okereke – Solo artist and Bloc Party lead singer
- Lucian Msamati – Film, television and stage actor
- Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi – Ugandan novelist and award-winning short story writer
- Chibundu Onuzo – Award-winning author of two books, The Spider King’s Daughter and Welcome to Lagos
- Ellah Wakatama Allfrey – Editor, critic and broadcaster
- Ben Okri OBE – Man Booker Prize-winning novelist and poet
- Margaret Busby OBE – Publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster
More readers to be announced.
Things Fall Apart has been specially abridged by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey.
With thanks to the estate of Chinua Achebe for their support.
This reading is part of the essential novels of the last 60 years staged to mark the reopening of the much-loved Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre.
Find out more here.