Elechi Amadi is a Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

n author who has written five African novels - The Concubine

The Concubine (novel)

The Concubine is the debut novel by Nigerian writer Elechi Amadi originally published in 1966. Set in a remote village in Eastern Nigeria, an area yet to be affected by European values and where society is orderly and predictable, the story concerns a woman 'of great beauty and dignity' who...

, The Great Ponds, The Slave , Isiburu and Estrangement. Amadi’s novels are generally about African village life, customs, beliefs and religious practices, as they were before contact with the Western world.

Born in 1934, in Aluu in the Ikwerre

Ikwerre

The Ikwerre are one of the many ethnic groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. They are generally considered a subgroup of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria, although a few consider themselves a separate ethnicity. The Ikwerre are said to be descendants of long-distance traders from...

 Local Government Area of Rivers State

Rivers State

Rivers State is one of the 36 states of Nigeria. Its capital is Port Harcourt. It is bounded on the South by the Atlantic Ocean, to the North by Imo, Abia and Anambra States, to the East by Akwa Ibom State and to the West by Bayelsa and Delta states...

, Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, he attended Government College Umuahia

Umuahia

Umuahia is the capital of Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. Umuahia is located along the rail road that lies between Port Harcourt to Umuahia's south and Enugu city to its north. Umuahia has a population of 359,230 according to the 2006 Nigerian census. Umuahia's indigenous ethnic group are the...

 and the University of Ibadan

University of Ibadan

The University of Ibadan is the oldest Nigerian university, and is located five miles from the centre of the major city of Ibadan in Western Nigeria...

 where he obtained a degree in Physics and Mathematics. Amadi had a stint with the Nigerian army and fought on the Nigerian side during the Nigeria-Biafra War. His personal experiences in the war have been recorded in his autobiographical non-fiction, Sunset in Biafra. After the war Amadi left the army to work for the Rivers State government

Rivers State government

The Rivers State government consists of elected representatives and appointed officials responsible for the government of Rivers State, Nigeria....

.

The Concubine, one of his classic novels of modern African literature, has been made into a film. The Concubine was written by Elechi Amadi and directed by the accomplished Nollywood film director Andy Amenechi.

Sources say due to fear of piracy, the movie is to be privately promoted, after which it will be available to the public sometime in 2008. Sources also said over N30 million (i.e. over $250,000) was invested in producing the movie.

Sources

• Amadi, Elechi - The Concubine Ibadan: Heinemann Books 1993 ISBN 0-435-90025-0
• http://www.elechiamadi.org/

External links