Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( ; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in "The Times Literary Supplement" as "the most prominent" of a "procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors [which] is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature", particularly in her second home, the United States. Adichie, a feminist, has written the novels "Purple Hibiscus" (2003), "Half of a Yellow Sun" (2006), and "Americanah" (2013), the short story collection "The Thing Around Your Neck" (2009), and the book-length essay "We Should  All Be Feminists" (2014). Her most recent books are "Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions" (2017), "Zikora" (2020) and "Notes on Grief" (2021). In 2008, she was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant. She was the recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize in 2018. Early life, family, and education. Adichie was born in the city of Enugu in Nigeria, the fifth of six children in an Igbo family. She was raised in the university town of Nsukka in Enugu State. While she was growing up, her father, James Nwoye Adichie (1932–2020), worked as a professor of statistics at  the University of Nigeria. Her mother, Grace Ifeoma (1942–2021), was the university's first female registrar. The family lost almost everything during the Nigerian Civil War, including both her maternal and paternal grandfathers. Her family's ancestral village is Abba in Anambra State. Adichie completed her secondary education at the University of Nigeria Secondary School, Nsukka, where she received several academic prizes. She studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria for a year and a half. During this period, she edited "The Compass", a magazine run by the university's Catholic medical students. At the age of 19 , Adichie left Nigeria for the United States to study communications and political science at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) to be near her sister Uche, who had a medical practice in Coventry, Connecticut. She received a bachelor's degree from ECSU, "summa cum laude", in 2001. In 2003, Adichie completed a master's degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, she received a Master of Arts degree in African studies from Yale University. Adichie was a Hodder fellow at Princeton University during the 2005–2006 academic year. In 2008, she  was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She was awarded a 2011–2012 fellowship by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. Views. Religion. Adichie is a Catholic and was raised Catholic as a child, though she considers her views, especially those on feminism, to sometimes conflict with her religion. At a 2017 event at Georgetown University, she stated that religion "is not a women-friendly institution" and "has been used to justify oppressions that are based on the idea that women are not equal human beings." She has called for Christian and Muslim leaders in Nigeria to preach messages of peace  and togetherness. Having previously identified as agnostic while raising her daughter Catholic, she has also identified as culturally Catholic, but as a guest in a recent Humboldt Forum she stated that she had returned to her Catholic faith. Race. As a youth in Nigeria, Adichie was not accustomed to being identified by the colour of her skin, which only began to happen when she arrived in the United States for college. As a black African in America, Adichie was confronted with what it meant to be a person of colour in the United States. Race as an idea became something  that she had to navigate and learn. She writes about this in her 2013 novel "Americanah". LGBT rights. Adichie supports LGBT rights in Africa; in 2014, when Nigeria passed an anti-homosexuality bill, she was among the Nigerian writers who objected to the law, calling it unconstitutional and "a strange priority to a country with so many real problems," stating that a crime is a crime for a reason because a crime has victims, and that since consensual homosexual conduct between adults does not constitute a crime, the law is unjust. Adichie was also close friends with Kenyan openly gay  writer Binyavanga Wainaina, and when he died on 21 May 2019 after suffering a stroke in Nairobi, Adichie said in her tribute that she was struggling to stop crying. Since 2017, Adichie has been repeatedly labelled by some as transphobic, initially for saying that "my feeling is trans women are trans women." Adichie later clarified her statement, writing "[p]erhaps I should have said trans women are trans women and cis women are cis women and all are women. Except that 'cis' is not an organic part of my vocabulary. And would probably not be understood by a majority of people . Because saying ‘trans’ and ‘cis’ acknowledges that there is a distinction between women born female and women who transition, without elevating one or the other, which was my point. I have and will continue to stand up for the rights of transgender people." In 2020, Adichie weighed into "all the noise" sparked by J. K. Rowling's article titled, "J.K. Rowling Writes about Her Reasons for Speaking out on Sex and Gender Issues," and called the essay "perfectly reasonable." Adichie again faced accusations of transphobia, some of which came from Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi, who had graduated from Adichie's  writing workshop. In response to the backlash, Adichie criticised cancel culture, saying: "There's a sense in which you aren't allowed to learn and grow. Also forgiveness is out of the question. I find it so lacking in compassion." In a June 2021 essay titled "It Is Obscene", Adichie again criticised cancel culture, discussing her experiences with two unnamed writers who attended her writing workshop and later lambasted her on social media over comments she made about transgender people. She labelled what she called their "passionate performance of virtue that is well executed in the public space of Twitter  but not in the intimate space of friendship" as "obscene". Writing career. Ngozi Adichie's original and initial inspiration came from Chinua Achebe, after reading his 1958 novel "Things Fall Apart" at the age of 10; Adichie was inspired by seeing her own life represented in the pages. She has also named Buchi Emecheta as a Nigerian literary inspiration, upon whose death Adichie said: "Buchi Emecheta. We are able to speak because you first spoke. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your art ." Other books Adichie has cited as having been important in her reading include Camara Laye 's "The African Child" and the 1992 anthology "Daughters of Africa" edited by Margaret Busby. Adichie published a collection of poems in 1997 ("Decisions") and a play ("For Love of Biafra") in 1998, using the name Amanda N. Adichie. Her short story "My Mother, the Crazy African", dating from when Adichie was a college senior living in Connecticut, discusses the problems that arise when a person is facing two cultures that are complete opposites from each other. On one hand, there is a traditional Nigerian culture with clear gender roles, while in America there is more freedom in how genders  act, and less restrictions on younger people. Ralindu, the protagonist, faces this challenge with her parents as she grew up in Philadelphia, while they grew up in Nigeria. Adichie dives deep into gender roles and traditions and what problems can occur because of this. In 2002, she was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story "You in America", and her story "That Harmattan Morning" was selected as a joint winner of the 2002 BBC World Service Short Story Awards. In 2003, she won the David T. Wong International Short Story Prize 2002/2003 (PEN Center Award ). Her stories were also published in "", and "Topic Magazine". Her first novel, "Purple Hibiscus" (2003), received widespread critical acclaim; it was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (2004) and was awarded the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (2005). Her second novel, "Half of a Yellow Sun" (2006), named after the flag of the short-lived nation of Biafra, is set before and during the Nigerian Civil War. Adichie has said of Buchi Emecheta's "Destination Biafra" (1982): " [It] was very important for my research when I was writing Half of a Yellow Sun." "Half of a Yellow  Sun" received the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. "Half of a Yellow Sun" was adapted into a film of the same title directed by Biyi Bandele, starring BAFTA award-winner and Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor and BAFTA winner Thandiwe Newton, and was released in 2014. Adichie's third book, "The Thing Around Your Neck" (2009), is a collection of 12 stories that explore the relationships between men and women, parents and children, Africa and the United States. In 2010 she was listed among the authors of "The New Yorker"s "20 Under 40" Fiction  Issue. Adichie's story "Ceiling" was included in the 2011 edition of "The Best American Short Stories". Her third novel "Americanah" (2013), an exploration of a young Nigerian encountering race in America was selected by "The New York Times" as one of "The 10 Best Books of 2013". In April 2014, she was named as one of 39 writers aged under 40 in the Hay Festival and Rainbow Book Club project Africa39, celebrating Port Harcourt UNESCO World Book Capital 2014. In a 2014 interview, Adichie said on feminism and writing: "I think of myself as a storyteller but I would  not mind at all if someone were to think of me as a feminist writer... I'm very feminist in the way I look at the world, and that world view must somehow be part of my work." In 2015, she was co-curator of the PEN World Voices Festival. In March 2017, "Americanah" was picked as the winner for the "One Book, One New York" program, part of a community reading initiative encouraging all city residents to read the same book. Her next book, "Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions", published in March 2017, had its  origins in a letter Adichie wrote to a friend who had asked for advice about how to raise her daughter as a feminist. In April 2017, it was announced that Adichie had been elected into the 237th class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the highest honours for intellectuals in the United States, as one of 228 new members to be inducted on 7 October 2017. In 2020, Adichie published "Zikora", a stand-alone short story about sexism and single motherhood. In November 2020, "Half of a Yellow Sun" was voted by the public to be  the best book to have won the Women's Prize for Fiction in its 25-year history. In May 2021, Adichie released a memoir based on her father's death titled "Notes on Grief", based on an essay of the same title published in "The New Yorker" in September 2020. As described by the reviewer for "The Independent", "Her words put a welcome, authentic voice to this most universal of emotions, which is also one of the most universally avoided." Lectures. Adichie delivered a talk titled "The Danger of a Single Story" for TED in 2009. It has become one  of the most-viewed TED Talks of all time, having amassed over 27 million views. On 15 March 2012, she delivered the "Connecting Cultures" Commonwealth Lecture at the Guildhall, London. Adichie also spoke on being a feminist for TEDxEuston in December 2012, with her speech "We should all be feminists". It initiated a worldwide conversation on feminism and was published as a book in 2014, which has reportedly sold 750,000 copies in the U.S. alone. It was sampled for the 2013 song "***Flawless" by American performer Beyoncé, where it attracted further attention. Section::::"The Danger of a Single Story". Section::::"Post Colonial  Literary Theory". According to post-colonial literary theory, understanding two key words “orientalism” and “subaltern” is of utmost importance. “Orientalism”, according to Edward Said, can be best described by the notion of how the stories of certain tribes could be told through others. An important point emphasizing the way colonizers behave, would be tackling the issue of choosing what aspect of the invaded people’s story to tell, how to tell it, and manipulating the knowledge about that particular invaded country. Hence, the “single story” told would most likely include stereotypes. Moreover, another aspect of grasping a clearer definition of  the post-colonial literary theory would be defining the word “subaltern”. According to “Can the Subaltern Speak?" by Spivak, understanding the notion of how to address the “other” is vital. The subaltern is a person in a subordinate position (marginalized) who may lack freedom of expression and hence influence on others and their surroundings. Adichie spoke in a TED talk entitled "The Danger of a Single Story", posted in July 2009, in which she expressed her concern for under-representation of various cultures. She explained that as a young child, she had often read American and British stories where the  characters were primarily of Caucasian origin, this in particular, left a huge impact on herself, highlighting how vulnerable children are in the face of a story. At the lecture, she said that the under-representation of cultural differences could be dangerous.  Adichie claimed that it is of utmost importance to tackle power structures since it constitutes the root of the problem of creating a single story. She mentioned that knowing who is telling the story and how they are telling it makes a huge difference. Additionally, according to her, with power more stories could be circulated, thus allowing the different  representations of a particular nation to be visible rather than a single one. This point in particular was also proven in one of her other works, entitled ‘Olikoye’, that got published only when funded by an American Association (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).Moreover, the subaltern’s voice, especially, African subaltern women, face various challenges according to Adichie. In the article entitled “The Indigenous Structures of Narrative in Half of a Yellow Sun”, she emphasized on the extent to which women’s voices were silenced due to the male dominated patriarchal system and how their stories were removed from history and distorted  from archives. Adichie concluded the lecture by noting the significance of different stories in various cultures and the representation that they deserve. She advocated for a greater understanding of stories because people are complex, saying that by understanding only a single story, one misinterprets people, their backgrounds, and their histories.  Since 2009, she revisited the topic when speaking to audiences such as the Hilton Humanitarian Symposium of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 2019. Moreover, according to her, the subaltern may have access to fewer opportunities compared to that of the more advantaged party mainly due to prevalent and inherent  stereotypes. In the article entitled “The Indigenous Structures of Narrative in Half of a Yellow Sun”, Adichie stated that, according to various publications, Nigerians were thought to have “marvelous energy but very little sense of hygiene”. These stereotypes hinder the subaltern’s voice from being heard and portray a false vision of what authentic Africans should look like. Similarly, in a poem entitled ‘Caged Bird’ written by Maya Angelou, it was highlighted how the free bird which represents privileged people (European colonizers), tend to have various tools and means to become free (various opportunities) unlike the subaltern. Section::::“Literary Hope Theory ”. By acknowledging the plenty of reasons for anger and despair, the need to challenge these circumstances and a sense of hope can be replenished in any individual. As Kristeva mentioned “It is only by traversing our grief that there can be any possibility of hope.” The concept of Literary Hope was highlighted by Adichie during the TED Talk of 2009, whereby she mentioned that it is only by acknowledging the difficulty of getting more than a single story out and by feeling the guilt and humility of such an act, a sense of hope and a light in the end  of the tunnel will be present. This is how a "kind of paradise could be regained" and the subaltern’s voice could be heard. The portray of literary hope was also evident in “Olikoye”, whereby she talked about the difference that can be made when two traditionally voiceless people meet, despite the social inequities related to various tribes and divisions. Section::::"We should all be feminists". In 2012, Adichie gave a TEDx talk entitled: "We should all be feminists", delivered at TedXEuston in London, which has been viewed more than five million times. She shared her experiences of being an African  feminist, and her views on gender construction and sexuality. Adichie said that the problem with gender is that it shapes who we are. She also said: "I am angry. Gender as it functions today is a grave injustice. We should all be angry. Anger has a long history of bringing about positive change, but in addition to being angry, I'm also hopeful because I believe deeply in the ability of human beings to make and remake themselves for the better." On 8 December 2021, Adichie was interviewed by BBC News about her feeling of the responsibility of being a  feminist icon; she stated that she don't want another person to define her responsibility she rather defined her responsibility for herself but will not mind using her platform to speak up for someone else. She also spoke about the right of women to be angry because anger propels action. Section::::"Flawless" song. Parts of Adichie's TEDx talk were sampled in Beyoncé's song "Flawless" in December 2013. Fourth Estate published an essay based on the speech as a stand-alone volume, "We Should All Be Feminists", in 2014. Adichie later said in an NPR interview that "anything that gets  young people talking about feminism is a very good thing". She later qualified the statement in an interview with the Dutch newspaper "De Volkskrant": "Another thing I hated was that I read everywhere: now people finally know her, thanks to Beyoncé, or: she must be very grateful. I found that disappointing. I thought: I am a writer and I have been for some time and I refuse to perform in this charade that is now apparently expected of me: 'Thanks to Beyoncé, my life will never be the same again.' That's why I didn't speak about it much ." Adichie has clarified that her particular feminism differs from Beyoncé's, particularly in their disagreements about the role occupied by men in women's lives, saying: "Her style is not my style but I do find it interesting that she takes a stand in political and social issues since a few years. She portrays a woman who is in charge of her own destiny, who does her own thing, and she has girl power. I am very taken with that." Nevertheless, Adichie has been outspoken against critics who question the singer's credentials as a feminist, and has said: "Whoever  says they're feminist is bloody feminist." Personal life. In 2009, Adichie married Ivara Esege, a Nigerian doctor. Together they have one daughter, who was born in 2016. Adichie divides her time between the United States and Nigeria, where she teaches writing workshops. Awards and nominations. In 2016, she was conferred an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane letters, "honoris causa", by Johns Hopkins University. In 2017, she was conferred honorary degrees, Doctor of Humane letters, "honoris causa", by Haverford College and The University of Edinburgh. In 2018, she received an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Amherst College. She  received an honorary degree, doctor "honoris causa", from the Université de Fribourg, Switzerland, in 2019. On 20 May 2019, Ngozi Adichie received an honorary degree from Yale University.