We all know the impact prolific Nigerian author Chinua Achebe has made in the literature world—and the world itself.

Today's Google Doodle gracefully honors the father of modern African literature on what would've been his 87th birthday.

Achebe, who was the son of an evangelical priest, studied English literature and started writing in the 1950s. Although he wrote in the English language, he weaved the storytelling tradition of the Igbo people into his novels.

From Things Fall Apart (which should be at the top of your book list, if you haven't read it 100 times already), to A Man of the People, we as readers were able to see Nigeria make sense of the intersections of civilization and culture.

As one who brought to life the land and traditions of his people as we read his books, he has been awarded for such, including the Man Booker Prize in 2007.

Happy Birthday, Chinua Achebe!

Read more and check out Google's early concepts of his Doodle here.