Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer her works include novels, short stories and non-fiction. She is popular as a feminist who stands for the equal rights of both male and female genders.
Early life and education
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Enugu, Nigeria on 15 September 1977. She is the fifth of six children born to Mr James Nwoye Adichie and Madam Grace Ifeoma Adichie. She and her family lived in Nsukka while she was growing up. Her dad worked as a Professor of statistics at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, while her mother was the first-ever female registrar.
She completed her secondary education at the University of Nigeria secondary school and won several prizes for her brilliance in her academics. She began her university education at the University of Nigeria, where she studied Medicine and Pharmacy for a year and a half.
During her stay at the university, she edited The Compass, a magazine run by Catholic Medical Students.
At 19, she left for school in the United States. She gained a scholarship to study communication at Drexel University. She studied there for two years before transferring to Eastern Connecticut State University, studying communication and political science. During her stay at the university, she wrote many articles for the university journal called the Campus Lantern.
She got a bachelor’s degree from the university. summa cum laude in 2001 and has two master’s degrees in creative writing from John Hopkins University and Masters in African history from Yale University.
She has several fellowship awards from prestigious universities such as Princeton and Harvard. Chimamanda received an honorary doctorate from her alma mater East Connecticut State University, John Hopkins University, Duke University, Yale University and several others.
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Career
Chimamanda began writing while in university in Nigeria. Her inspirations came from the late writers Chinua Achebe and Buchi Emecheta. At the death of Buchi Emecheta, Chimamanda stated that “We are able to speak because you first spoke. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for your art Nodu na ndokwa.”
She published a collection of her poems in 1997 titled Decisions. Chimamanda also released a play in 1998 which was titled Love for Biafra. She writes all her works under the name Amanda N. Adichie.
She continued writing short stories and slowly began to gain people’s attention. In 2003, she released her first novel called Purple Hibiscus. The book is set in post-colonial Nigeria, a country going through political instability and economic difficulties and is about Kambili Achike and her family. It spoke on religious bigotry, domestic violence and the need for freedom from tyranny. The book won many awards, one of which was the Writers’ Prize for Best First Book.
In 2006, she wrote her second novel titled Half of a Yellow Sun, themed around the Nigerian civil war. The story was about three people and their experiences during the war. She received the Orange Prize for fiction in 2007 and the Anisfield-Wolf Book award. Biyi Bandelette directed the movie adapted from the book. It was released in 2014. BAFTA Award nominee, Chiwetel Ejiofor starred in it.
In 2009, the author released a series of short stories titled The Thing around your Neck. It was a collection of 12 stories that explored the relationships between men, women and children in Africa and the United States.
She released her third novel, Americannah, in 2013, a book that dwelled on the encounters of a young Nigerian in America.
In 2017, she wrote her next book titled ‘Dear Ijeawele’ or ‘A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions’. She initially wrote it as a letter to a friend, advice on how to raise her daughter as a feminist.
In 2021, she published a memoir titled, ‘Notes on Grief’.
She has also given many Ted talks, some of which are The Danger of a Single Story in 2009, which became one of the most viewed Ted talks of all time with more than 27 million. She also gave other lectures on Connecting Cultures and Feminism in 2012.
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Awards and recognitions
Chimamanda has won several awards. Some of which are the David T. Wong International short story prize (2002), Commonwealth writers prize (the best first novel in Africa and overall) in 2005, Orange prize for fiction in 2007, Future Award Nigeria: Young Person of the Year category in 2008 and many other awards.
She was also among The New Yorker’s 20 under 40 in 2010. In 2013, Americanah was listed among The New York Times Ten Books. She was also one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2015.
Chimamanda Adichie and feminism
The author is a strong feminist, and in fact, her lectures encourage us to become feminists. She stands for the rights of females, especially in Africa, who she believes are posed with the challenges of unemployment, insecurity, and poverty. She also stands to correct the type of feminism practised in Africa, which revolves around their urgent quest for marriage, job and security. The writer believes that parents should discourage girls from having the mentality that they only belong in the kitchen making meals for their husbands who pursue a career for themselves. The writer advocates girls should have equal rights as boys and be allowed to pursue careers just like men.
Chimamanda said girls are taught to underestimate themselves, to make them believe that they can dream but not too big so that they do not threaten the man. We teach girls to aspire to only marriage and nothing else. We teach girls to see marriage as sacred and essential in their lives. Meanwhile, they do not teach boys to aspire to marriage which is disheartening. We also raise girls to see each other as competition, not for jobs or accomplishments, which would have been a good thing, but for the attention of men.
Chimamanda Adichie’s husband
Chimamanda married Ibarra Esege, a medical doctor, in 2009. They have a daughter who was born in 2016.
Chimamanda Adichie networth
She is one of the most successful writers in Africa. She has an estimated net worth of $1-5million. Her salary is also estimated at $500,000-$800,000 by 2022. She earns from her work as a novelist, feminist, lectures and awards.
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