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On October 27, 2010, dignitaries, artists, and fans gathered at the Hudson Theater in New York to pay tribute to the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, recipient of the 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. The prize, which was endowed after the death of actress Lillian Gish in 1993, is awarded annually to an artist "who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life." previous winners include Bill T. Jones, Frank Gehry, and Pete Seeger among others.

Achebe, author of the seminal work "Things Fall Apart" (1958) was feted by Sonia Sanchez, Jane Alexander, academic colleagues, artists, friends and family. Complementing the remarks was a performance by Baba Ola Jagun & The Ancestral Rythms. Now 79 years old, Achebe has needed the assistance of a wheelchair since a car accident in 1990.