Chinua Achebe’s all time classic novel  ‘Things Fall Apart’ first published in 1958 has sold over 10 million copies so far.

Achebe was only 28 when he wrote this historical fiction.

And it has been translated into more than 50 languages. Impressive feat, that was adjudged the best African novel of the 20th century.

Will there be another Achebe or Mariama Ba of today's generation?

There will be. Its great to know a Nigerian has achieved it. With this we'll all set our sights higher and by the grace of God it will happen again and sooner than later

Our generation is already surpassing the generation of Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka.
Because I know that the youngest Booker Prize winner Ben Okri is going to win the Nobel Prize one fine day if Jesus Chirst continues to tarry and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Helon Habila, Seffi Atta, Chris Abani and fellow geniuses will win more literary laurels. I see two to three Nobel Prize winners coming from our generation.

A Nigerian novel is going to sell over 20 million copies very soon and we don't have to wait for 48 years to sell 10 million copies.

We shall see, God willing. Honestly, I prefer the older generation to our current crop of writers.

And Achebe's work, Things Fall Apart, accounting for sales of more than 10 million is actually an impressive feat. Considering the fact that it is an African novel that has stood the test of time, (for 48 years and counting), Achebe deserves the accolade. Divide 10 million copies by 48 years and the tally would be more than two hundred thousand copies a year. I don't know of any other African novel that come close to that figure.

In Francophone African country, "So Long a Letter" by Mariama Ba and "The African Child" are the 2 best selling novels. And these two novelists died a year apart in Dakar, Senegal.

Ndipe,
Actually, Camara Laye the author of the African Child was a major influence in my writings and two to three of my yet to be published novels show evidence of his influence and one of them was set in Cote D'Voire and France before and during World War 2 and I am going to dedicate it to his loving memory.

I like Camara Laye. Sad that his life in exile was marred by tragedies. You can read this link

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=10200.msg279917#msg279917

Overall, Francophone African writers are as good as their Anglophone counterpart, if not better in certain aspects. While Nigeria can stake a claim on Achebe as the best writer from Africa, (and overall the NY Times accorded him with that title), gender wise, I would say that Senegal has produced the best female writers in West Africa. Check out Mariama Ba. No other female Africa writer has wielded as much clout as she did with her first novel, "So Long a letter". Her style of writing is the best that I have read from any novel before. To me, she was the best writer from Africa, period. Laye was also good, he and Ba are my inspiration in African literature. Another notable writer from Senegal is Sembene Ousmane of Senegal, whose influence in the cinema world is unchallenged in Africa. Aminata Sow fall is also good. I have not read Buchi Emechata, but I read Efuru by Flora Nwapa. It was ok in my opinion.

just stay tuned.

nwadinma:

just stay tuned.

We are doing our best and as Bishop Ajayi Crowther said, "Only the best is good enough for us."

Nwadinma,
I have just started work on my Nigerian Times International that will become the New York Times of Nigeria to boost the global awareness of new writers in Africa.