ANN ARBOR, Mich., November 8, 2006 - Chinua Achebe, one of Africa's most celebrated and influential writers, will be added to ProQuest Information and Learning's African Writers Series in its December release. The digital series offers single-point access to the premier texts for research on 20th Century African Literature. Published by ProQuest's Chadwyck-Healey unit, African Writers Series includes a variety of frequently studied texts as well as important but lesser-known works of African literature, along with specially commissioned biographies.

"African Writers Series is a landmark work that will stay continually fresh and relevant with the addition of important content," said David "Skip" Prichard, president of ProQuest Information and Learning.  "This is a great example of ProQuest's commitment to not only create new products, but also to consistently improve its established products."

The African Writers Series digital collection is drawn from the printed volumes of the Heinemann African Writers Series.  Founded in 1962 with the aim of publishing writing by black African writers for an African readership, the Heinemann series grew as African nations won independence and leading writers began to forge distinctive national literatures throughout the continent. The series includes published work by major authors from this period as well as classic earlier texts and new writing, creating a unique literature resource for African cultural history.  Because of its unique contribution to African cultural scholarship, African Writers Series is provided free of charge or at reduced prices to higher education institutions throughout Africa. 

Nigerian-born Achebe grabbed worldwide attention in 1958 with the publication of Things Fall Apart, his first novel.  A prolific writer of essays, poetry and works for young readers, along with novels, Achebe is also director of Heinemann Educational Books in Nigeria, where he has encouraged and published the work of dozens of African writers.  In African Writers Series he joins…
" Mongo Beti (Mission to Kala, The Poor Christ of Bomba)
" Ama Ata Aidoo (The Girl Who Can)
" Steve Biko (I Write What I Like)
" Dennis Brutus (Letters to Martha, A Simple Lust)
" Buchi Emecheta (The Joys of Motherhood, Bride Price)
" W.P.B. Botha (A Duty of Memory, Wantok)

As is the case with most of the works in African Writers Series, Achebe's works are still in copyright.  As with all works from the Series, the text of Achebe's works will be double re-keyed to ensure more than 99.97% accuracy.   Original pagination will also be preserved and the page layout of his poems will be reproduced as accurately as possible.

African Writers Series' currently contains nearly 1,400 poems, prose works and plays.  It continues to grow with more than 300 volumes expected at its completion.  Its sophisticated search and browse capabilities support innovative research and teaching. All authors in the collection are indexed by gender, nationality and dates of birth/death. All texts are indexed by details of first publication (date, place, publisher and language) and, where appropriate, details of first publication in the Heinemann African Writers Series.   It's available as a stand-alone, or fully integrated within ProQuest's popular Literature Online (LION), where its works can be cross-searched with the vast LION database.  The standalone interface includes a new Cover Gallery with links to full-color images of Heinemann's striking original book cover designs.  

For More Information about African Writers Series visit ProQuest at www.proquest.com.  Customers can reach a ProQuest representative at 800-521-0600, ext. 73344, or via email at pqsales@il.proquest.com.

About ProQuest
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