On June 13, 2007, Chinua Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International Prize. This was in recognition of his contribution to world literature from the time his 'Things Fall Apart' was first published before Nigeria's independence through to 30 years later his 'Anthills of the Savannah' (1988). The inaugural Man Booker International Prize went to the 70-year-old Albanian novelist and poet Ismail Kadar for his 'General of the Dead Army' (1963), 'The Wedding' (1968), 'The Great Winter' (1977) and 'The Palace of Dreams' (1981). He won the Nobel Prize in 2006 and his latest novel is 'Chronicle in Stone' (2007). A lifetime award was also extended to Salman Rushdie-the 'Booker of Bookers' in its 25th year.
The prestigious Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, awarded to the best full-length novel by a woman of any nationality published in Britain was first given in 1996 to Helen Dunmore for 'A Spell of Winter'. This year it went to the Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, for her 'Half of a Yellow Sun'. Only one writer so far has been awarded the Orange of Oranges, or what is also called The Best of the Best. That is Andrea Levy for her 'Small Island'.
