At Heinemann, working with Chinua Achebe, Currey had spent more than a decade pioneering Heinemann's African Writers Series, the set of volumes that was a crucial factor in expanding the reach of African literature after World War II, particularly in English.
Richard Dowden is author of the book, “Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles” (Portobello Books, 2008), with foreword from the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe.
Till date a host of African writers have featured at the conference including Cyprian Ekwensi, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Chinweizu, Dennis Brutus, Buchi Emecheta, Flora Nwapa, Elechi Amadi, Ken Saro Wiwa, Chukwuemeka Ike, Nurrudin Farah, Syl Cheney Coker, to mention a few.
Achebe is the third child of Professor Christie Chinwe Okoli-Achebe and the late Chinua Achebe- Nigerian politician, diplomat, novelist, poet, critic, and David and Marianna Fisher University professor emeritus at Brown University - widely regarded as the "father of modern African literature" and best known for the trilogy of classic African novels Things Fall Apart (1958); "No Longer at Ease" (1960); and "Arrow of God" (1964).
Eminent Nigerians who attended the same school includeChinua Achebe, Christopher Okigbo, and Ken Saro Wiwa.
As a student he was particularly influenced by Nigerian literary luminaries like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and Cyprian Ekwensi and other African writers like Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
Many have won accolades for their work, including Daniel O. Fagunwa, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Cyprian Ekwensi, Buchi Emecheta, Elechi Amadi and Ben Okri.
He has also done important work on the modern African novel, and two distinguished African novelists: Chinua Achebe and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
In 2010, along with Binyavanga Wainaina, she participated in the Chinua Achebe Center's "Pilgrimages" project and travelled to Kinshasa, and intends to produce a book about her experiences.