Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (b. 1977) has received numerous awards for her literary work. Recognized internationally for her talent, she is also known for her committed speech "We should all be feminists" . In 2017, you voted for her for the Nob'Elle prize for literature!
Studies in Nigeria and the United States
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born on University of Nigeria at Nsukka and James Nwoye Adichie who will be professor of statistics there, she is the fifth of six children.
While studying medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria, Chimamanda edited a college magazine. At the age of 19, she changed field of study at the same time as country. Leaving Nigeria for the United States, she studied communication and political science in Philadelphia and then in Connecticut. In 2003, she obtained a master's degree in creative writing at Johns-Hopkins University. Later, she will also graduate in Arts, African Studies, at Yale.
Purple Hibiscus
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes and publishes upon his arrival in the United States. She tries several genres and publishes the collection of poems Decisions in 1997, the piece For Love of Biafra (For the love of Biafra ) the next year. She writes short stories, published in magazines, several of which are successful and have earned her the approach of literary awards or to receive them, such as the BBC World Service Short Story Awards in 2002.
In 2003, after having suffered several refusals, Chimamanda managed to publish his first novel:The Purple Hibiscus . Through the eyes of a Nigerian teenager, she describes life in post-colonial Nigeria.
"I was prepared to experience indifference, she testifies in the World. Agents [literary] had been so many to explain to me, rejecting the manuscript [from The Purple Hibiscus, his first novel], that Nigeria did not interest anyone…”
The book is critically acclaimed, shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and hailed a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for best first book.
Americanah
His second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun (The Other Half of the Sun) has the context of the Biafran War in Nigeria; its title refers to the flag of the then secessionist republic of Biafra, between 1967 and 1970. In turn, the work was hailed by critics and rewarded with literary prizes, before being adapted into a film in 2013. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stands out as a major author of English literature.
Her third novel, Americanah, follows a young Nigerian living in the United States to study in Philadelphia, like Chimamanda. She tries to make a place for herself there and keeps a successful blog on the situation of blacks in the United States. The New York Times included the work in his ten best books of 2013. Increasingly recognized internationally, Chimamanda accumulated awards.
“We should all be feminists”
Committed and feminist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie made several interventions with strong repercussions at TED conferences. In 2009, she explored the danger of under-representation of diverse cultures in her speech "The Danger of a Single Story" (The danger of a single story ). She underlines the lack of diversity in the majority popular culture, creating a risk of not being represented there or of having prejudices. The speech is viewed five million times.
In December 2012, Chimamanda speaks out against sexism and poses as a committed feminist during her speech "We Should all be feminists" (translated into French as We are all feminists ). His position had such an impact that parts of his speech were taken up the following year in the song Flawless by Beyoncé. The speech will later be published in an essay of the same name.
A major writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been translated into more than thirty languages. His novel Americanah, of which a film adaptation is forthcoming, has sold more than 500,000 copies.
Useful links
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Wikipedia page
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Wikipedia page in English (more complete)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie official website
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