Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Things Fall Apart and Related Readings | 1959 | Chinua Achebe | Buy |
| 2 | Girls at War and Other Stories | 1972 | Chinua Achebe | Buy |
| 3 | Beware Soul Brother | 1972 | Chinua Achebe | Buy |
| 4 | Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems | 1973 | Chinua Achebe | Buy |
| 5 | Collected Poems | 2004 | Chinua Achebe | Buy |
Chinua Achebe’s collections gather his shorter work in both fiction and poetry. Girls at War and Other Stories (1972) is his primary short story collection, featuring pieces set across several decades of Nigerian life, with several stories drawing directly on the Biafran War of 1967-1970. Beware Soul Brother (1972) collects poems written during that same war, and Christmas in Biafra and Other Poems (1973) continues in a similar vein. The poems deal with loss, displacement, and the absurdity of violence.
Things Fall Apart and Related Readings (1959) pairs the novel with supplementary texts and critical context. Collected Poems (2004) brings together Achebe’s verse from across his career in a single volume. While Achebe is primarily known as a novelist, his poetry and short fiction show the same directness and moral seriousness that characterize his longer work.