Chimamanda Adichie Biography, Chimamanda Adichie Net Worth, Chimamanda Adichie Letter To Biden, Chimamanda Adichie Personal Life, Chimamanda Adichie Controversies, Chimamanda Adichie Education, Chimamanda Adichie Career, Chimamanda Adichie Husband, Chimamanda Adichie Children, and Chimamanda Adichie age can be accessed below.
AprokoVibes reports that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born on 15 September 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria, the fifth of six children to Igbo parents, Grace Ifeoma and James Nwoye Adichie.
While the family’s ancestral hometown is Abba in Anambra State, Chimamanda grew up in Nsukka, in the house formerly occupied by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. Chimamanda’s father, who is now retired, worked at the University of Nigeria, located in Nsukka.
He was Nigeria’s first professor of statistics, and later became Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University. Her mother was the first female registrar at the same institution.
ALSO: Wole Soyinka Biography, Quotes, Books, Poems, Personal Life, Controversy
Chimamanda completed her secondary education at the University’s school, receiving several academic prizes. She went on to study 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 nineteen, Chimamanda left for the United States. She gained a scholarship to study communication at Drexel University in Philadelphia for two years, and she went on to pursue a degree in communication and political science at Eastern Connecticut State University, where she also wrote articles for the university journal, the Campus Lantern. While in Connecticut, she stayed with her sister Ijeoma, who runs a medical practice close to the university.
Chimamanda graduated summa cum laude from Eastern in 2001, and then completed a master’s degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
It is during her senior year at Eastern that she started working on her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, which was released in October 2003. The book has received wide critical acclaim: it was shortlisted for the Orange Fiction Prize (2004) and was awarded the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (2005).
Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun (also the title of one of her short stories), is set before and during the Biafran War. It was published in August 2006 in the United Kingdom and in September 2006 in the United States. Like Purple Hibiscus, it has also been released in Nigeria.
Chimamanda was a Hodder fellow at Princeton University during the 2005-2006 academic year, and earned an MA in African Studies from Yale University in 2008; her thesis was entitled ‘The Myth of “Culture”: Sketching the History of Igbo Women in Precolonial and Colonial Nigeria’.
In 2011-2012, she was awarded a fellowship by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, which allowed her to finalize her third novel, Americanah. The book was released to great critical acclaim in 2013.
Chimamanda is now married and has a daughter. She divides her time between Nigeria, where she regularly teaches writing workshops, and the United States.
Her work has been translated into over thirty languages and has appeared in various publications, including The New Yorker, Granta, The O. Henry Prize Stories, the Financial Times, and Zoetrope. She is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus, which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award; Half of a Yellow Sun, which won the Orange Prize and was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist and a New York Times Notable Book; and Americanah, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of The New York Times Top Ten Best Books of 2013. Ms. Adichie is also the author of the story collection The Thing Around Your Neck.
Ms. Adichie has been invited to speak around the world. Her 2009 TED Talk, The Danger of A Single Story, is now one of the most-viewed TED Talks of all time.
Her 2012 talk We Should All Be Feminists has started a worldwide conversation about feminism, and was published as a book in 2014. Her most recent book, Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, was published in March 2017.
A recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, Ms. Adichie divides her time between the United States and Nigeria.
Chimamanda Adichie Education
Chimamanda had her elementary and secondary education at the University of Nigeria staff school before studying medicine and pharmacy at the university.
Her writing skills came to light when she edited the university magazine called ‘Compass’.
At 19, Ngozi left Nigeria to the United States to study communications and political science at Drexel University, Philadelphia
She later headed to Eastern Connecticut State University to complete her bachelor’s degree where she graduated with a summa cum laude in 2001.
Furthermore, Ngozi proceeded to Johns Hopkins University and Yale University where she bagged master’s degrees in 2003 and 2008 respectively.
Chimamanda also receives an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from Johns Hopkins University and Haverford College.
During her studies at Yale University, she was a fellow at Princeton University for the academic year 2005-06. In 2008, she was conferred with the MacArthur Fellowship and in 2011-12 she was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
Chimamanda Adichie Career
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was 20 years old when she published her first collection of poems, ‘Decisions,’ in 1997.
In 1998, she wrote ‘For Love of Biafra’ a play about the Nigerian Civil War
She recorded her first big recognition when her short story ‘You in America,’ was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African writing.
She published her debut novel ‘Purple Hibiscus,’ in 2003 which became a huge success.
In 2006, she dropped her next book ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ which recorded an experience of the Nigerian Civil War. The book was adapted into a movie in 2013
Americanah, her third book was released in 2013. The book revolves around a young Nigerian who encountered racism in America
‘The Thing Around Your Neck’ and Dear Ijeawele were also some notable works of the renowned writer.
Adichie published ‘Notes on Grief’ in 2021, a memoir about her father’s death,
Aside from writing, Ngozi has also reached audiences through her oration. She delivered a notable TED lecture in 2019, titled “The Danger of a Single Story”. The talk went viral and amassed about 27 million views on youtube. Making it one of the most viewed TedTalk of all time.
In 2012, she also spoke at the Commonwealth Lecture on ‘Connecting Cultures’.
Later in 2012, she delivered another lecture, “We should all be feminists” at the TEDxEuston. A speech that was published as a book and reportedly sold about 750,000 copies in the U.S.
Part of the speech was also featured in the song ‘Flawless’ by Beyonce and this also made it gain more public attention.
In August 2022, she was a keynote speaker at the Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association.
In her speech, she noted that young citizens are finding it hard to have mentors and heroes. She said “There’s need for resurrection. We cannot avoid self-criticism but criticise the government. We cannot hide our own institutional failure while demanding transparency from the government.”
Furthermore, she charged citizens to be up to the responsibility and stop blaming the government for the rots in the system. In addition, she said “There’s need for resurrection. We cannot avoid self-criticism but criticise the government. We cannot hide our own institutional failure while demanding transparency from the government.”
Chimamanda Adichie Marriage
Chimamanda Ngozi is married to Dr Ivara Esegee, a medical doctor and the couple has a daughter
Chimamanda Adichie Net worth
Chimamanda Adichie’s net worth is reportedly valued to be $500,000.
Chimamanda Adichie Achievements
Chimamanda Adichie Bibliography
- Decisions
- For Love of Biafra
- Purple Hibiscus Half of a Yellow Sun
- The Thing Around Your Neck
- Americanah
- We Should All Be Feminists
- Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions
- Sierra Leone, 1997
- Notes on Grief
- You in America
- That Harmattan Morning
Chimamanda Adichie Awards and Nominations
- BBC Short Story Competition 2002 joint winner, for ‘That Harmattan Morning’
- O. Henry Prize 2003, for ‘The American Embassy’
- David T. Wong International Short Story Prize 2002/2003 (PEN Center Award), Hurston/Wright Legacy Award 2004 (Best Debut Fiction Category)
- Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2005: Best First Book (Africa)
- Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2005: Best First Book (overall)
- Anisfield-Wolf Book Award 2007 (fiction category),
- PEN ‘Beyond Margins’ Award 2007
- Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2007
- 2008 MacArthur Foundation ‘genius’ grant
- 2009 International Nonino Prize
- 2013 Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize (fiction category)
- National Book Critics Circle Award 2013 (fiction category)
- Winner of the ‘Best of the Best’ of the second decade of the Baileys Women’s
- Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize for Fiction)
- Mary McCarthy Award, Bard College
- ‘Le Grand Prix de l’héroïne Madame Figaro’ for the French translation of Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions (Chère Ijeawele, ou un manifeste pour une éducation féministe)
- Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award
- PEN Pinter Prize, 2018
Chimamanda Adichie Awards
- Future… Award (Young Person of the Year category)
- Girls Write Now Awards Groundbreaker honoree
- Silverbird Special Achievement Award
- Harper’s Bazaar’s Women of the Year Award
- Recipient of the Leadership Award during The Women’s Center’s 32nd Annual
- Leadership Conference
- Global Hope Coalition’s Thought Leadership Award
- Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award
- Everett M. Rogers Award
- UN Foundation Global Leadership Award
- Belle van Zuylen Ring Award
Chimamanda Adichie Literary awards nominations
- Shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing
- Runner-up in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition
- Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction
- Longlisted for the Booker Prize
- YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Best Books for Young Adults Award
- John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
- Nominated for the 33rd Annual National Book Critics Circle Prize
- Commonwealth Writers’ Prize; Best Book (Africa)
- British Book Awards 2007, category ‘Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year,
- James Tait Black Memorial prize
- International Impact Dublin Award
- Reader’s Digest Author of the Year Award
- Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award
- John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2009
- Dayton Literary Peace Prize
- Baileys Women’s Book Prize for Fiction
- Forbes Africa ‘Person of the Year’ Award
- YNaija! Person of the Year Award
Chimamanda Adichie Nominations for Other Awards
- ThisDay Awards, ‘New Champions for an Enduring Culture’ category
- MTV Africa Music Awards, ‘Personality of the Year’ category
- Forbes Africa Person of the Year Awards
- New African Woman Awards, Woman of the Year
Chimamanda Adichie Other Distinctions
- New Yorker’s ’20 Under 40′, 2010
- Ten Best Books of 2013′, New York Times Book Review, for Americanah
- Top Ten Books of 2013′, BBC, for Americanah
- 100 Most Influential Africans
- 100 Most Influential People by Time Magazine
- 100 Dynamic Women’ by Arise Magazine,
- Vanity Fair’s International Best Dressed List
- ‘One Book, One New York Programme’, for Americanah
- Fortune Magazine’s List of 50 World Leaders,
- ‘One Maryland, One Book’ Programme, for Purple Hibiscus,
- Contributor to Genius: 100 Visions of the Future
- Best books of 2017 by NPR Books and Audible, for Dear Ijeawele
- ‘One Maryland, One Book’, for Purple Hibiscus,
- PBS’s ‘The Great American Read’, for Americanah,
- Barack Obama’s recommended summer reading list, for Americanah, 2018
- New York Times “15 remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century”, for Americanah
Chimamanda Adichie Honorary Degrees and other academic distinctions
- Honorary doctorate, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, Connecticut, USA, May 2015
- Barnard Medal of Distinction, New York, USA, May 2016
- Honorary doctorate, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, May 2016
- Elected as a Foreign Honorary Member into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, April 2017
- Honorary degree, Haverford College, Pennsylvania, USA, May 2017
- Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 28 2017
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree, Duke University, North Carolina, USA, May 2018
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree, Amherst College, Massachusetts, USA, May 2018
- Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree, Bowdoin College, Maine, USA, May 2018
- Honorary Doctor of Literature (DLit) degree, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK, July 2018
- Honorary Degree, American University in Washington DC, USA, May 2019
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA, May 2019
- Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree, Rhode Island School of Design, USA, June 2019
- Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa, Yale University, USA, June 2019
- Honorary Degree, Northwestern University, USA, June 2019
- Honorary Degree, University of Pennsylvania, May 2020
Chimamanda Adichie Letter To Biden
Celebrated writer Chimamanda Adichie has told US President Joe Biden that he must not congratulate Nigeria’s President-elect because the process leading to his victory was tainted by very deliberate electoral manipulation.
In a letter on Thursday addressed to Biden, Adichie said the election was not just hit by technical malfunctioning but by well-orchestrated manipulation that should mean that the outcome of the February 25 presidential election in Nigeria was untenable.
She outlined a series of well documented cases of discrepancies and irregularities which the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC) failed to countenance.
According to her, “since the end of military rule in 1999, Nigerians have had little confidence in elections. To vote in a presidential election was to brace yourself for the inevitable aftermath: fraud.”
Adichie added, “elections would be rigged because elections were always rigged; the question was how badly. Sometimes voting felt like an inconsequential gesture as predetermined “winners” were announced.
“A law passed last year, the 2022 Electoral Act, changed everything. It gave legal backing to the electronic accreditation of voters and the electronic transmission of results, in a process determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The chair of the commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, assured Nigerians that votes would be counted in the presence of voters and recorded in a result sheet, and that a photo of the signed sheet would immediately be uploaded to a secure server.
“When rumors circulated about the commission not keeping its word, Yakubu firmly rebutted them. In a speech at Chatham House in London (a favorite influence-burnishing haunt of Nigerian politicians), he reiterated that the public would be able to view “polling-unit results as soon as they are finalized on election day”.
“Nigerians applauded him. If results were uploaded right after voting was concluded, then the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), which has been in power since 2015, would have no opportunity for manipulation. Technology would redeem Nigerian democracy. Results would no longer feature more votes than voters.
“Nigerians would no longer have their leaders chosen for them. Elections would, finally, capture the true voice of the people. And so trust and hope were born.
“By the evening of February 25, 2023, that trust had dissipated. Election workers had arrived hours late, or without basic election materials.
“There were reports of violence, of a shooting at a polling unit, and of political operatives stealing or destroying ballot boxes. Some law-enforcement officers seemed to have colluded in voter intimidation; in Lagos, a policeman stood idly by as an APC spokesperson threatened members of a particular ethnic group who he believed would vote.”
Of Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC chairman, Adichie said despite promising a free and credible election, hastily announced a winner without investigating reports of irregularities recorded during the polls.
According to her, the elections were not only rigged but also insulted the intelligence of Nigerians as there was no legal action to issues of evident manipulations reported.
“Most egregious of all,” the globally renowned writer alleged that, “the electoral commission reneged on its assurance to Nigerians. The presidential results were not uploaded in real-time.
“Voters, understandably suspicious, reacted; videos from polling stations show voters shouting that results be uploaded right away. Many took cellphone photos of the result sheets. Curiously, many polling units were able to upload the results of the house and senate elections, but not the presidential election.
“No one was surprised when, by the morning of the 26th, social media became flooded with evidence of irregularities. Result sheets were now slowly being uploaded on the INEC portal, and could be viewed by the public. Voters compared their cellphone photos with the uploaded photos and saw alterations: numbers crossed out and rewritten; some originally written in black ink had been rewritten in blue, some blunderingly whited-out with Tipp-Ex. The election had been not only rigged but done in such a shoddy, shabby manner that it insulted the intelligence of Nigerians.
“As vote counting began at INEC, representatives of different political parties—except for the APC—protested. The results being counted, they said, did not reflect what they had documented at the polling units. There were too many discrepancies,” she added.
“It seemed truly perplexing that, in the context of a closely contested election in a low-trust society, the electoral commission would ignore so many glaring red flags in its rush to announce a winner. (It had the power to pause vote counting, to investigate irregularities—as it would do in the governorship elections two weeks later.”
Adichie described as unacceptable the fact that the US state department congratulated Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s president-elect.
“American intelligence surely cannot be so inept. A little homework and they would know what is manifestly obvious to me and so many others: The process was imperiled not by technical shortcomings but by deliberate manipulation,” she said.
The Nigerian novelist asked Biden to uphold his stance on the need for a true democracy, adding that congratulating Tinibu will be endorsing the illegitimate process that produced him as president.
“I hope, President Biden, that you do not personally share this cordial condescension. You have spoken of the importance of a “global community for democracy,” and the need to stand up for “justice and the rule of law.” A global community for democracy cannot thrive in the face of apathy from its most powerful member,” she added.
“Why would the United States, which prioritizes the rule of law, endorse a president-elect who has emerged from an unlawful process?
“This Nigerian election was supposed to be different, and the U.S. response cannot—must not—be business as usual.
“Congratulating its outcome, President Biden tarnishes America’s self-proclaimed commitment to democracy. Please do not give the sheen of legitimacy to an illegitimate process. The United States should be what it says it is.”
Chimamanda Adichie Controversy
In 2018, Adichie was faced with criticism when she question Hilary Clinton’s Twitter Bio. Clinton had included “Wife”.
Some netizens went for Adichie accusing her of taking feminism too far.
In reaction to the criticism, Chimamanda said “who read a headline and, without bothering to get details and context, jump on the outrage bandwagon and form lazy, shallow opinions.”
In 2020, Adichie commented on J. K. Rowling’s article “J.K. Rowling Writes About Her Reasons for Speaking Out on Sex and Gender Issues,” referring to it as “perfectly reasonable.”
Her comment was faced with backlashes from netizens who accused her of being transphobic, In addition, Akwaeke Emezi, who had graduated from Adichie’s writing workshop added her voice to the criticism.
Chimamanda in a clap back to Emezi said “There’s a sense in which you’re not allowed to learn and grow.” Forgiveness is also out of the question. It is so lacking in compassion, in my opinion.
In 2021, Adichie revealed that an international magazine declined using her picture for its cover because it looks too glamorous.
Revealing this on an Instagram post, she said; “It was a cover shoot for an international magazine. Or it was supposed to be. The magazine rejected the photos.
“They didn’t want me ‘looking too glamorous,’ they said. And so the cover didn’t happen.
“What does one do with rejected photos but show them anyway, primarily for the vanity-boosting benefits of such an act, but also to celebrate and thank these talented people in Lagos”.