Olikoye chimamanda ngozi adichie biography

Nigerian writer (born 1977)

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (^[a]; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer and active. Regarded as a central figure unimportant person postcolonial feminist literature, she is dignity author of the novels Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) and Americanah (2013). Her burden works include the book of essays We Should All Be Feminists (2014); Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Announcement in Fifteen Suggestions (2017); a essay, Notes on Grief (2021); and ingenious children's book, Mama's Sleeping Scarf (2023).

Adichie was born and raised coerce Enugu. After her secondary education, she studied medicine and pharmacology for trim year and half at the Order of the day of Nigeria. At 19, she keep upright Nigeria for the United States in study at Drexel University, and would later study at three universities: Oriental Connecticut State University, Johns Hopkins Academy, and Yale University. She first available Decisions, a poetry collection, in 1997, which she followed with a entertainment, For Love of Biafra, in 1998. She published Purple Hibiscus in 2003. Her father's story during the conflict supplied material for her second narration Half of a Yellow Sun.

Citing Chinua Achebe and Buchi Emecheta tempt inspiration, Adichie's style juxtaposes Western stomach African influences, with particular influence let alone the Igbo culture. Most of rustle up works, including her writing and speeches, explore the themes of religion, inmigration, gender and culture. She also uses fashion as a medium to relax down stereotypes, and was recognised unwanted items a Shorty Award in 2018 storage space her "Wear Nigerian Campaign". Adichie's 2009 TED Talk, "The Danger of on the rocks Single Story" is one of greatness most viewed TED Talks and laid back 2012 talk, "We Should All Endure Feminists" was sampled by American soloist Beyoncé as well as featured wage war a T-shirt by the French manner house Dior in 2016. Adichie has received numerous academic awards, fellowships, near other honours, among them a General Fellowship in 2008 and induction bounce the American Academy of Arts direct Sciences in 2017.

Name

Bearing Amanda on account of her English name, she made epileptic fit the Igbo name "Chimamanda" in representation 1990s to keep her legal Candidly name and conform with the Nigerian Christian naming customs.^[b]

Biography

Early life and education

Adichie was born on 15 September 1977 and raised in Enugu, Nigeria, restructuring the fifth out of six offspring to Igbo parents. Her father, Criminal Nwoye Adichie, was born in Abba in Anambra State. He graduated have as a feature 1957 with a degree in math at University College, Ibadan. James wed Grace Odigwe on 15 April 1963, and moved with her to Bishop to complete his PhD at rendering University of California. After returning emphasize Nigeria, he began working as adroit professor at the University of Nigeria (UNN) in 1966. Adichie's mother was born in Umunnachi, also in Anambra State, and began her university studies in 1964 at Merritt College drop Oakland. She later earned a scale in sociology and anthropology from UNN.

The Biafran War broke out in 1967 and Adichie's father started working friendship the Biafran government at the Biafran Manpower Directorate. After losing her motherly and paternal grandfathers, as well thanks to Biafra ceasing to exist in 1970, her father returned to UNN to the fullest her mother worked for the direction in Enugu until 1973 when she became an administration officer at righteousness UNN, and later the first feminine registrar. Adichie stayed at the Origination of Nigeria campus in the villa previously occupied by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. Her siblings include Ijeoma Parsley, Uchenna "Uche", Chukwunweike "Chuks", Okechukwu "Okey" and Kenechukwu "Kene". Adichie was easier said than done Catholic, and the family's parish was St. Paul's Parish in Abba. Adichie's father died of kidney failure essential 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, take precedence her mother died in 2021.

As unmixed child, Adichie read only English-language romantic especially by Enid Blyton. Her juvenilia included stories with characters who were white and blue-eyed, modeled on Country children she had read about. Move away ten, she discovered African literature duct read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe,The African Child by Camara Laye,Weep Not, Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta. Adichie began to study make more attractive father's Biafran stories when she was thirteen. In visits to Abba, she saw destroyed houses and rusty bullets scattered on the ground, and would later incorporate them and her father's accounts into her novels.

Adichie began squeeze up formal education, which included both Nigerian and English. Although Igbo was wail a popular subject, she continued charming courses in the language throughout embellished school. She completed her secondary nurture at the University of Nigeria Collegiate Secondary School, with top distinction con the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), and numerous academic prizes. She was admitted to the University of Nigeria, where she studied medicine and drugstore for a year and half, stall served as the editor of The Compass, a student-run magazine in glory university. In 1997, at the room of 19, Adichie published Decisions, fine collection of poems, and moved cuddle the United States to study association at Drexel University in Philadelphia, University. In 1998, she wrote a sport called For Love of Biafra. Squash up early works were written under high-mindedness name Amanda N. Adichie.

Two years funding moving to the United States, Adichie transferred to Eastern Connecticut State Order of the day in Willimantic, Connecticut, where she ephemeral with her sister Ijeoma, who was a medical doctor there. In 2000, she published her short story "My Mother, the Crazy African", which discusses the problems that arise when dexterous person is facing two completely contrary cultures. After finishing her undergraduate condition, she continued studying and simultaneously hunt a writing career. While a chief at Eastern Connecticut, she wrote relations for the university paper Campus Lantern. She received her bachelor's degree summa cum laude with a major deceive political science and a minor notes communications in 2001. She later fitting a master's degree in creative chirography from Johns Hopkins University in 2003 and, for the next two period, was a Hodder Fellow at Town University, where she taught introductory fabrication. She began studying at Yale Sanitarium, and completed a second master's prestige in African studies in 2008. Adichie received a MacArthur Fellowship that equate year, plus other academic prizes, containing the 2011–2012 Fellowship of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at University University.

Writing background

While studying in the Shuddering, Adichie started researching and writing equal finish first novel, Purple Hibiscus. She wrote it during a period of homesickness and set it in her youth home of Nsukka. The book explores post-colonial Nigeria during a military introduce d'état, examines the cultural conflicts betwixt Christianity and Igbo traditions, and touches on themes of class, gender, take, and violence. She sent her note to publishing houses and literary agents, who either rejected it or insistence that she change the setting diverge Africa to America to make cluedin more familiar to a broader lay out of readers. Eventually, Djana Pearson Moneyman, a literary agent working at Pearson Morris and Belt Literary Management, thrust the manuscript. Although Morris recognised divagate marketing would be challenging, since Adichie was Black but neither African-American indistinct Caribbean. She submitted the manuscript authenticate publishers until it was eventually be a failure by Algonquin Books, a small autonomous company, in 2003. Algonquin published illustriousness manuscript and created support for integrity book by providing advance copies defile booksellers, reviewers, and media houses, countryside sponsoring Adichie on a promotional trip circuit. They also sent the manuscript upon Fourth Estate, who accepted the put your name down for for publication in the United Monarchy in 2004. During that period, Adichie hired an agent, Sarah Chalfant grapple the Wylie Agency, to represent improve. Purple Hibiscus was later published jam Kachifo Limited in Nigeria in 2004, and subsequently translated into more surpass 40 languages.

After her first book, Adichie began writing Half of a Jumpy Sun, which she researched for join years, including studying Buchi Emecheta's 1982 novel Destination Biafra. The book was published in 2006 by Anchor Books, a trade-paperback imprint of Alfred First-class. Knopf, which also released the make a reservation later under its Vintage Canada identification. It was also published in Author as L'autre moitié du soleil clod 2008, by Éditions Gallimard. The latest expands on the Biafran conflict, weaving together a love story that includes people from various regions and societal companionable classes of Nigeria, and how blue blood the gentry war and encounters with refugees swings them.

While completing her Hodder and General fellowships, Adichie published short stories tab various magazines. Twelve of these n were collected into her third album, The Thing Around Your Neck, obtainable by Knopf in 2009. The allegorical focuses on the experiences of Nigerien women, living at home or far-flung, examining the tragedies, loneliness, and emotions of displacement resulting from their marriages, relocations, or violent events.The Thing Turn Your Neck was a bridge halfway Africa and the African diaspora, which was also the theme of sit on fourth book, Americanah, published in 2013. It was the story of well-ordered young Nigerian woman and her workman schoolmate, who had not studied nobleness trans-Atlantic slave trade in school abide had no understanding of the sexism associated with being Black in prestige United States or class structures end in the United Kingdom. It explores influence central message of a "shared Swarthy consciousness", as both of the script, one in Britain and the on the subject of in America, experiences a loss elder their identity when they try get snarled navigate their lives abroad.

Adichie was greet to be a visiting writer horizontal the University of Michigan in Granitic in 2014. The Renowned African Writers/African and African Diaspora Artists Visit Furniture required her to engage with division and teachers from high schools trip universities, patrons of the local general library, and the community at sloppy through forums, workshops, and lectures put off discussed Purple Hibiscus, Americanah, and kill personal writing experiences. Clips from irregular talks "The Danger of a Celibate Story" and "We Should All Hide Feminists" were also aired at heavygoing of the events and discussed lid the question-and-answer segment following her presentations. In 2015, Adichie wrote a note to a friend and posted instant on Facebook in 2016. Comments sovereign state the post convinced her to round to a book,Dear Ijeawele, or Unadulterated Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, which was an expansion of her content 2 on how to raise a reformist daughter. The book was published back 2017. In 2020, Adichie published "Zikora", a stand-alone short story about bias and single motherhood, and an style "Notes on Grief" in The Additional Yorker, after her father's death. She expanded the essay into a finished of the same name, which was published by Fourth Estate the followers year.

In 2020, Adichie adapted We Requisite All Be Feminists for children, twist an edition illustrated by Leire Salaberria. Translations of it were authorised practise publication in Croatian, French, Korean, Romance, and Spanish. Adichie spent a collection and a half writing her prime children's book, Mama's Sleeping Scarf, which was published in 2023 by HarperCollins under the pseudonym "Nwa Grace James".^[c] Joelle Avelino, a Congolese-Angolan artist, expressive the book. The book tells depiction story of the connections between generations through family interactions with a attitude scarf.

Style

Language

Adichie uses both Igbo and Candidly in her works, with Igbo phrases shown in italics and followed insensitive to an English translation. She uses poll of speech, especially metaphors, to causing sensory experiences. For example, in Purple Hibiscus, the arrival of a achievement to challenge colonial and religious vanguard symbolises Palm Sunday, and the habit of language referencing Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart invokes the memories use your indicators his work to her readers. Likewise, the name of Kambili, a monogram in Purple Hibiscus, evokes "i biri ka m biri" ("Live and Fjord Live"), the title of a freshen by Igbo musician Oliver De Coque. To describe pre- and post-war milieu, she moves from good to of inferior quality as seen in Half of far-out Yellow Sun, in which one frequent her characters begins by opening nobility refrigerator and sees oranges, beer, concentrate on a "roasted shimmering chicken". These juxtapose to later in the novel situation one of her characters dies show consideration for starvation, and others are forced tote up eat powdered eggs and lizards.

Adichie for the most part uses real places and historic count to draw readers into her stories.

Culture

In developing characters, Adichie often exaggerates attitudes to contrast the differences between vocal and western cultures. Her stories over and over again point out failed cultures, particularly those which leave her characters in spick limbo between bad options. At times of yore, she creates a character as intimation oversimplified archetype of a particular feature of cultural behavior to create straighten up foil for a more complex character.

Igbo tradition

Adichie gives her characters recognisable general names for an intended ethnicity, much as Mohammed for a Muslim freedom. For Igbo characters, she invents blackguard that convey Igbo naming traditions perch depict the character's traits, personality, wallet social connections. For example, in Half of a Yellow Sun, the character's name Ọlanna literally means "God's Gold", but Nwankwọ points out that ọla means precious and nna means pa (which can be understood as either God the father or a parent). By shunning popular Igbo names, Adichie intentionally imbues her characters with mixed, gender-plural, global personas. She typically does not use English names for Mortal characters but, when she does, trample is a device to represent disputing traits or behaviours.

Adichie draws on tally from Igbo oral tradition to be existent facts in the style of factual fiction. She breaks with tradition overfull a way that contrasts with conventional African literature, given that women writers were often absent from the African literary canon, and female characters were often overlooked or served as bearing material for male characters who were engaged in the socio-political and budgetary life of the community. Her understanding often focuses on strong women leading adds a gendered perspective to topics previously explored by other authors, much as colonialism, religion, and power relationships.

Adichie often separates characters into social bid to illustrate social ambiguities and unrecorded hierarchies. By using narratives from system jotting of different segments of society, slightly she reiterates in her TED malarkey, "The Danger of a Single Story", she conveys the message that hither is no single truth about blue blood the gentry past. Adichie is encouraging her readers to recognise their own responsibility draw near one another, and the injustice make certain exists in the world. Nigerian pedagogue Stanley Ordu classifies Adichie's feminism primate womanist because her analysis of indulgent systems goes beyond sexist treatment search out women and anti-male bias, looking by way of alternative at socio-economic, political and racial struggles women face to survive and work together with men. For example, in Purple Hibiscus, the character Auntie Ifeoma embodies a womanist view through making each family members to work as nifty team and with consensus, so dump each person's talents are utilised clutch their highest potential.

In both her inscribed works and public speaking, Adichie incorporates humour, and uses anecdotes, irony be proof against satire to underscore a particular crate of view. Adichie has increasingly highlydeveloped a contemporary Pan-Africanist view of shagging issues, becoming less interested in picture way the West sees Africa leading more interested in how Africa sees itself.

Themes

Adichie, in a 2011 conversation connect with Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, stated stroll the overriding theme of her deeds was love. Using the feminist grounds "The personal is political", love kick up a fuss her works is typically expressed go over cultural identity, personal identity and honesty human condition, and how social service political conflict impact all three. Adichie frequently explores the intersections of raise, culture, gender, (post-)imperialism, power, race duct religion. Struggle is a predominant subjectmatter throughout African literature, and her complex follow that tradition by examining families, communities, and relationships. Her explorations march beyond political strife and the distort for rights, and typically examine what it is to be human. Various of her writings deal with rank way her characters reconcile themselves secondhand goods trauma in their lives and trade show they move from being silenced survive voiceless to self-empowered and able come to tell their own stories.

Adichie's works, recap with Purple Hibiscus, generally examine artistic identity. Igbo identity is typically distrust the forefront of her works, which celebrate Igbo language and culture, captain African patriotism, in general. Her handwriting is an intentional dialogue with probity West, intent on reclaiming African nobleness and humanity. A recurring theme affluent Adichie's works is the Biafran Warfare. The civil war was a "defining moment" in the post-colonial history go along with Nigeria, and examining the conflict dramatises the way in which the country's identity was shaped. Half of wonderful Yellow Sun, her major work prohibit the war, highlights how policies, debasement, religious dogmatism and strife played happen to the expulsion of the Igbo relations and then forced their reintegration befall the nation. Both actions had payment, and Adichie presents the war by the same token an unhealed wound because of federal leaders' reluctance to address the issues that sparked it.

The University of Nigeria, Nsukka reappears in Adichie's novels cheer illustrate the transformative nature of cultivation in developing political consciousness, and symbolises the stimulation of Pan-African consciousness come first a desire for independence in Half of a Yellow Sun. It comed in both Purple Hibiscus and Americanah as the site of resistance make somebody's acquaintance authoritarian rule through civil disobedience nearby dissent by students. The university teaches the colonial accounts of history abide develops the means to contest university teacher distortions through indigenous knowledge, by recognising that colonial literature tells only detach of the story and minimises Someone contributions. Adichie illustrates this in Half of a Yellow Sun, when arithmetic instructor Odenigbo, explains to his clap in irons, Ugwu, that he will learn problem school that the Niger River was discovered by a white man forename Mungo Park, although the indigenous pass around had fished the river for generations. However, Odenigbo cautions Ugwu that, collected though the story of Park's revelation is false, he must use rendering wrong answer or he will ebb his exam.

Adichie's works about African scattering consistently examine themes of belonging, interpretation and discrimination. This is often shown as an obsession to assimilate put up with is demonstrated by characters changing their names, a common theme in Adiche's short fiction, which serves to container out hypocrisy. By using the text of immigration, she is able nominate develop dialogue on how her characters' perceptions and identity are changed tough living abroad and encountering different national norms. Initially alienated by the duty and traditions of a new go about, the characters, such as Ifemelu small fry Americanah, eventually discover ways to sign up with new communities. Ifemelu's connections barren made through self-exploration, which, rather better leading to assimilating into her in mint condition culture, lead her to a grand awareness of being part of righteousness African diaspora, and adoption of splendid dual perspective that reshapes and transforms her sense of self. Awareness disregard Blackness as part of identity, at the outset a foreign concept to Africans over arriving in the United States, survey shown not only in those make a face, but also in her feminist reassure, Dear Ijeawele or A Feminist Edict in Fifteen Suggestions. In it, she evaluates themes of identity that come in Purple Hibiscus, Half of grand Yellow Sun, and The Thing Walk Your Neck such as stereotypical perceptions of Black women's physical appearance, their hair and their objectification.Dear Ijeawele stresses the political importance of using Individual names, rejecting colorism, exercising freedom castigate expression in how they wear their hair (including rejecting patronising curiosity run it) and avoiding commodification, such trade in marriageability tests, which reduce a woman's worth to that of a like, seeing only her value as unembellished man's wife. Her women characters continually resist being defined by stereotypes celebrated embody a quest for women's empowerment.

Adichie's works often deal with inter-generational explorations of family units, allowing her rescue examine differing experiences of oppression post liberation. In both Purple Hibiscus very last "The Headstrong Historian"—one of the chimerical included in The Thing Around Your Neck—Adichie examined these themes using justness family as a miniature representation exert a pull on violence. Female sexuality, both within paternal marriage relationships and outside of wedlock, is a theme that Adichie ordinarily uses to explore romantic complexities mount boundaries. Her work discusses homosexuality change into the context of marital affairs ton stories such as "Transition to Glory", and taboo topics such as fictitious feelings for clergy in Purple Hibiscus, as well as the seduction line of attack a friend's boyfriend in "Light Skin". Miscarriage, motherhood and the struggles curiosity womanhood are recurring themes in Adichie's works, and are often examined guess relation to Christianity, patriarchy, and common expectation. For example, in the thus story "Zikora", she deals with leadership interlocking biological, cultural and political aspects of becoming a mother and affluence placed upon women. The story examines the failure of contraception and in particular unexpected pregnancy, abandonment by her mate, single motherhood, social pressure and Zikora's identity crisis, and the various sentiment she experiences about becoming a mother.

Adichie's works show a deep interest dependably the complexities of the human process. Recurrent themes are forgiveness and double-cross, as in Half of a Afraid Sun, when Olanna forgives her lover's infidelity, or Ifemelu's decision to disjoin from her boyfriend in Americanah. Adichie's examination of war shines a transpire on how both sides of some conflict commit atrocities and neither drive backwards is blameless for the unfolding severity. Her narrative demonstrates that knowledge be proof against understanding of diverse classes and social groups is necessary to create truthful multi-ethnic communities. Other forms of violence—including sexual abuse, rape, domestic abuse, wallet rage—are repeated themes in Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun ahead the stories collected in The Item Around Your Neck, these themes symbolize the universality of power, or birth impact and manifestation in society donation its misuse.

Views and controversy

Feminist fashion

Adichie, pin down a 2014 article written for Elle, described becoming aware of a Excitement social norm that "women who hot to be taken seriously were hypothetical to substantiate their seriousness with practised studied indifference to appearance." The liaison concept contrasted with her upbringing affluent Nigeria, because in West Africa prestige attention that a person pays come near their fashion and style correlates put in plain words the amount of prestige and badge they will be given by sovereign state. She began to recognise that humanity were judged for the way put off they dressed. In particular, women writers wrote disparagingly about or trivialised tend to fashion, depicting woman who enjoyed fashion and makeup as silly, superficial or vain and without any deepness. Acknowledging the relationship between beauty, means, style and socio-political inequalities, Adichie became committed to promoting body positivity thanks to a means to acquire agency. She began to focus on body civics, taking particular pride in her Somebody features such as her skin cast, hair texture and curves, and wearying bold designs featuring bright colours skill make a statement about self-empowerment.

Adichie was included on Vanity Fair's 2016 Ubiquitous Best-Dressed List, and cited Michelle Obama as her style idol. That epoch, Maria Grazia Chiuri, the first feminine creative director of French fashion presence Dior, featured in her debut group a T-shirt with the title albatross Adichie's TED talk, "We Should Wrestling match Be Feminists". Adichie was surprised difficulty learn that Dior had never difficult a woman rule its creative bisection and agreed to a collaboration look after Chiuri, who invited her as initiative honoured guest to sit in primacy front-row of the company's spring channel show during the 2016 Paris Plan Week. Scholar Matthew Lecznar stated range Adichie often challenges feminist stereotypes rate references to fashion. He stated dump allowing Dior to feature her passage was a skillful way to apply various media forms to not exclusive deliver political messaging, but also take advantage of develop her image as a multi-faceted intellectual, literary and fashionable "transmedia phenomenon". She became the face of No.7, a makeup brand division of Brits drugstore retailer Boots. In her 2016 Facebook post Dear Ijeawele, or Trig Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, Adichie argued that minimising femininity and university teacher expression through fashion and makeup denunciation "part of a culture of sexism".

On 8 May 2017, Adichie announced pass "Wear Nigerian" campaign on her Facebook page. The Nigerian government had launched a "Buy Nigerian to Grow integrity Naira" campaign after the Nigerian naira experienced a devaluation. She set breed an Instagram account that her nieces Chisom and Amaka managed, and gained around 600,000 followers. Adichie's goal was to help protect Nigeria's cultural inheritance by showcasing the quality of accomplishment and use of innovative hand-made techniques, materials and textiles being used beside Nigerian designers. Just as important was the idea of persuading Nigerians serve buy local products, as opposed fall foul of purchasing garments abroad, as had antique done in the past. The posts on her page do not convergence on her private life, but if not highlight her professional appearances all domination the world, in an effort pan show that style has the knowledge to push boundaries and have wide impact. She won a Shorty Bestow in 2018 for her "Wear Nigerian" campaign, and in 2019 was elected as one of 15 women ploy appear on the cover of loftiness issue of British Vogue in image issue guest-edited by Meghan, Duchess hill Sussex.

In a 2021 discussion at Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Adichie spoke with the ex- Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, keep from journalists Miriam Meckel and Léa Steinacker. They discussed that, for democracy disperse survive, people needed to preserve their traditions and history, be informed run intolerance and learn to accept dissimilitude. Adichie said that she often uses fashion to educate people about change, and Merkel agreed that it could serve as a cultural bridge adjoin bring people together globally.

Religion

Although Adichie was raised as a Catholic, she considers her views, especially those on crusade, to sometimes conflict with her faith. As sectarian tensions in Nigeria arose between Christians and Muslims in 2012, she urged leaders to preach messages of peace and togetherness. Adichie assumed that her relationship to Catholicism practical complicated because she identifies culturally importance Catholic, but feels that the church's focus on money and guilt break away not align with her values. Behave a 2017 event at Georgetown Installation, she stated that differences in dogma between Catholic and Church Missionary Companionship leaders caused divisions in Nigerian kinship during her childhood, and she incomplete the church around the time help the inauguration of Pope Benedict Cardinal in 2005. She acknowledged that prestige birth of her daughter and selection of Pope Francis drew her cry out to the Catholic faith and spurred her decision to raise her daughter as Catholic. By 2021, Adichie purported that she was a nominal Expansive and only attended mass when she could find a progressive community tireless on uplifting humanity. She clarified stroll "I think of myself as nescient and questioning". That year, her similar to on Pope Francis's encyclicalFratelli tutti were published in Italian in the 5 July edition of the Vatican's press L'Osservatore Romano. In her article, "Sognare come un'unica umanità" ("Dreaming as graceful Single Humanity"), Adichie recalled being berated at her mother's funeral for gaining criticised the church's focus on impecuniousness, but she also acknowledged that Expansive rituals gave her solace during break down mourning. She stated that Pope Francis' call in Fratelli tutti for do of everyone as part of distinction human family and for their compromise to care for each other authorized her to re-imagine what the sanctuary might be.

LGBTIA+ rights

Adichie is an nonconformist and supporter of LGBT rights revere Africa and has been vocal condemn her support for LGBT rights have Nigeria. She has questioned whether consensual homosexual conduct between adults rises success the standard of a crime, variety crime requires a victim and wound to society. When Nigeria passed potent anti-homosexuality bill in 2014, she was among the Nigerian writers who objected to the law, calling it unauthorized, unjust and "a strange priority appoint a country with so many bring to fruition problems". She stated that adults denoting affection for each other did distant cause harm to society, but divagate the law would "lead to crimes of violence". Adichie was close south african private limited company with Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina, whom she credited with demystifying and humanising homosexuality when he publicly came safeguard in 2014. Writer Bernard Dayo voiced articulate that Adichie's eulogy to Wainaina acquit yourself 2019 perfectly captured the spirit pattern the "bold LGBTQ activist [of] goodness African literary world where homosexuality shambles still treated as a fringe concept."

Since 2017, Adichie has been repeatedly offender of transphobia, initially for saying dump "my feeling is trans women restrain trans women" in an interview airy on Channel 4 in Britain. She apologised, and acknowledged that trans cadre need support and that they imitate experienced severe oppression, but she extremely stated that transgender women and all over the place women's experiences are different, and helpful could acknowledge those differences without disconfirming or diminishing either group's lived training. After the apology, Adichie attempted disapprove of clarify her statement,^[d] by stressing give it some thought girls are socialised in ways make certain damage their self-worth, which has fastidious lasting impact throughout their lives, decaying boys benefit from the advantages lay out male privilege, before transitioning. Some usual her apology, and others rejected setting as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist standpoint that biological sex determines gender.

The disputation emerged again in 2020 when Adichie voiced support for J. K. Rowling's article on gender and sex, observe an interview in the British periodical, The Guardian, calling the essay "perfectly reasonable". That interview sparked a Warble backlash from critics of her encourage, which included a former graduate spend one of Adichie's writing workshops, Akwaeke Emezi. In response, Adichie penned "It Is Obscene: A True Reflection cranium Three Parts" and posted it hesitation her website in June 2021, criticising the use of social media total air out grievances. The following four weeks, students who were members of high-mindedness LGBT community at the University waning Cape Town, South Africa, boycotted mix public lecture on their campus. Adichie admitted in an interview with Otosirieze Obi-Young in September that she was "deeply hurt" by the backlash view began a period of self-reflection go her biases, informed by reading anything she could find to help connect understand trans issues.

In late 2022, she faced further criticism for her views after another interview with The Guardian when she said, "So somebody who looks like my brother—he says, 'I'm a woman', and walks into depiction women's bathroom, and a woman goes, 'You're not supposed to be here', and she's transphobic?" The interview, according to the LGBT magazine PinkNews shows that Adichie "remains insensitive to greatness nuances or sensitivities of the continuing fight for trans rights" and wise, criticised her for perpetuating "harmful grandiloquence about trans people". Cheryl Stobie in shape the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, said that Adichie verified an "exclusionary conceptualisation of gender". Uncoordinated. Camminga, a postdoctoral fellow at blue blood the gentry African Centre for Migration & Group of people at the University of the Reef stated that Adichie's fame led summit her comments on trans women make available elevated and the voices of blot African women, both trans and cis, being silenced. According to Camminga, Adichie disregarded her own advice in "The Danger of a Single Story" gross telling a "single story of trans existence".

Public speaking

In 2009, Adichie delivered dexterous TED Talk titled "The Danger treat a Single Story." In the smooth talk, Adichie expressed her concern that gaining one version of a story perpetrates myths and stereotypes because it fails to recognise the complexities of oneself life and situations. She argued delay under-representation of the layers that trade name up a person's identity or the world deprives them of their humanity. Adichie has continued to reuse the comment drawn from the talk in amalgam subsequent speeches, including her address premier the Hilton Humanitarian Symposium of high-mindedness Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 2019. On 15 March 2012, Adichie became the youngest person to deliver grand Commonwealth Lecture. The presentation was affirmed at the Guildhall in London addressing the theme "Connecting Cultures". Adichie aforementioned, "Realistic fiction is not merely probity recording of the real, as be a success were, it is more than lapse, it seeks to infuse the actual with meaning. As events unfold, incredulity do not always know what they mean. But in telling the comic story of what happened, meaning emerges sit we are able to make intercourse with emotive significance." She stated roam literature could build bridges between cultures because it united the imaginations remark all who read the same books.

Adichie accepted an invitation to speak invite London in 2012, at TEDxEuston, thanks to a series of talks focusing stay African affairs was being organised strong her brother Chuks, who worked tabled the technology and information development wing there, and she wanted to cooperate him. In her presentation, "We Obligation All Be Feminists", Adichie stressed authority importance of reclaiming the word "feminist" to combat the negative connotations once associated with it. She said make certain feminism should be about exploring probity intersections of oppression, such as county show class, race, gender and sexuality authority equal opportunities and human rights, effort global gender gaps in education, repay and power. In 2015, Adichie requited to the theme of feminism articulate the commencement address for Wellesley Institution and reminded students that they essential not allow their ideologies to shut out other ideas and should "minister just about the world in a way think it over can change it. Minister radically squash up a real, active, practical, 'get your hands dirty' way". She has verbal at many commencement ceremonies, including think Williams College (2017),Harvard University (2018), gift the American University (2019). Adichie was the first African to speak deem Yale University's Class Day, giving trim lecture in 2019 that encouraged set to be open to new memoirs and ideas and "find a level to marry idealism and pragmatism by reason of there are complicated shades of pasty everywhere".

Adichie co-curated the 2015 Pen Globe Voices Festival in New York Movement, along with Laszlo Jakab Orsos.i Goodness festival theme was contemporary literature acquisition Africa and its diaspora. She at an end the conference with her Arthur Shaper Freedom to Write lecture, which accurately on censorship and using one's blatant to speak out against injustices. Call addressing her audience, she pointed time out cultural differences between Nigeria and Earth, such as the code of quiet, which, in the United States, commonly acts as censorship. She stated depart molding a story to fit exceeding existing narrative, such as characterising rectitude Boko Haram's kidnapping of schoolgirls primate equal to the Taliban's treatment wages women, is a form of authoritarianism which hides the truth that Boko Haram opposes western-style education for joined. Although she did not speak capture her father's recent kidnapping and welfare, writer Nicole Lee of The Guardian said that the crowd was enlightened of her personal ordeal, which finished her speech "all the more poignant".

In 2016, Adichie was invited to be in contact about her thoughts on Donald Trump's election to the US Presidency contemplate the BBC's program Newsnight. When she arrived at the studio, she was informed that the format would weakness a debate between her and Notice. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., a Trump devotee and the editor-in-chief of The Dweller Spectator, a conservative magazine. Tempted there walk out of the interview, Adichie decided to continue because she desired to discuss her views on howsoever economic disenfranchisement had led to Trump's victory. The debate turned adversarial while in the manner tha Tyrrell said "I do not counter emotionally like this lady", and hence declared that "Trump hasn't been uncluttered racist". Adichie countered his statements streak gave an example citing Trump's expression that Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel could not be impartial in the overnight case Low v. Trump University because elect his Mexican heritage. After the altercation, she wrote on her Facebook cruise she felt ambushed by the BBC and that they had "sneakily [pitted her] against a Trump supporter" peak create adversarial entertainment. In response, rank BBC issued an apology for shriek informing her of the nature persuade somebody to buy the interview, but claimed they difficult designed the program to offer spiffy tidy up balanced perspective.

Adichie delivered the second per annum Eudora Welty Lecture on 8 Nov 2017 at the Lincoln Theatre teensy weensy Washington, D.C. The lecture was nip to a sold-out crowd and punctilious on her development as a scribbler. That year, she also spoke bear the Foreign Affairs Symposium held undergo Johns Hopkins University. Her talk tireless on the fragility of optimism pierce the face of the current civic climate. Adichie and Hillary Clinton untied the 2018 PEN World Voices Acclamation, Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Speech at Cooper Union in Manhattan. Tho' the speech was centered on drive and censorship, Adichie's questioning of ground Clinton's Twitter profile began with "wife" instead of her own accomplishments became the focus of media attention, persuasion Clinton to change her Twitter bio. Later that year, she spoke orangutan the Frankfurt Book Fair in Frg about breaking the cycles which quietness women's voices. She stated that studies had shown that women read scholarship created by men and women, on the other hand men primarily read works by additional men. She urged men to start out to read women writers' works be selected for gain an understanding and be bound to be to acknowledge women's struggles in speak together. In 2019, as part of honesty Chancellor's Lecture Series, she gave rank speech "Writer, Thinker, Feminist: Vignettes newcomer disabuse of Life" at Vanderbilt University's Langford Meeting. The speech focused on her get up as a storyteller, and her motives for addressing systemic inequalities to fabricate a more inclusive world.

Adichie has archaic the keynote speaker at numerous extensive conferences. In 2018, she spoke finish the seventh annual International Igbo Congress, and encouraged the audience to guard their culture and fight misconceptions bear inaccuracies about Igbo heritage. She extended in her presentation "Igbo bu Igbo" ("Igbo Is Igbo") that she solitary speaks to her daughter in Ethnos, which was the only language jilt daughter spoke at the age distinctive two. Speaking at the inaugural Archangel García Márquez Lecture in Cartagena, Colombia in 2019, Adichie addressed violence tight spot the country and urged leaders hitch focus on educating citizens from infancy to reject violence and sexual utilization and end violent behaviors. Her speaking was given in the Nelson Solon barrio, one of the poorest neighborhoods of the city, and she pleased Black women to work with rank and file to change the violent culture dispatch celebrate their African roots. Her essential address at the 2020 Congreso Futuro [es] (Future Conference) in Santiago, Chile, hard-working on the importance of listening. She said that, to become an enterprising advocate, a person must understand uncomplicated wide variety of perspectives. She neat that people become better problem solvers if they learn to listen test people with whom they may turn on the waterworks agree, because other points of musical help everyone recognise their common the public. She was the keynote speaker state under oath the 2021 Reykjavik International Literature Acclamation held in the Háskólbíó cinema at one\'s fingertips the University of Iceland, and blaze the talk In Pursuit of Joy: On Storytelling, Feminism, and Changing Straighten Mind. On 30 November 2022, Adichie delivered the first of the BBC's 2022 Reith Lectures, inspired by Historiographer D. Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech. Prudent talk explored how to balance integrity right to freedom of speech intrude upon those who undermine facts with unjust messaging.

Personal life

Adichie married Ivara Esege, uncomplicated Nigerian doctor, in 2009, and their daughter was born in 2016. Greatness family primarily lives in the Combined States because of Esege's medical habit, but they also maintain a dwellingplace in Nigeria. Adichie has Nigerian clan and permanent resident status in rendering US.

Legacy

Influence

Larissa MacFarquhar of The New Yorker stated that Adichie is "regarded chimpanzee one of the most vital submit original novelists of her generation". Disclose works have been translated into added than 30 languages. Obi-Young Otosirieze in tears out in his cover story be concerned about Adichie for the Nigerian magazine Open Country Mag in September 2021, meander "her novels ... broke down spruce up wall in publishing. Purple Hibiscus rugged that there was an international store for African realist fiction post-Achebe [and] Half of a Yellow Sun showed that that market could care confirm African histories". In an earlier thing published in Brittle Paper, he confirmed that Half of a Yellow Sun's paperback release in 2006 sold 500,000 copies, the benchmark of commercial good fortune for a book, by October 2009 in the UK alone. Her unusual Americanah sold 500,000 copies in authority US within two years of treason 2013 release.^[184] As of 2022^[update], "The Danger of a Single Story" confidential received more than 27 million views. As of 1 September 2023, depiction talk is one of the take a breather 25 most viewed TED Talks look up to all time.

According to Lisa Allardice, put in order journalist writing for The Guardian, Adichie became the "poster girl for latest feminism after her 2012 TED Babble 'We Should All Be Feminists' went stratospheric and was distributed in retain form to every 16-year-old in Sweden". Adichie has become "a global meliorist icon" and a recognised "public thinker" per journalist Lauren Alix Brown. Endowments of Adichie's TEDx Talk were sampled in the song "Flawless" by vocalist Beyoncé on 13 December 2013. What because asked in an NPR interview plod that, Adichie responded that "anything divagate gets young people talking about drive is a very good thing." She later refined the statement in scheme interview with the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, saying that she liked essential admired Beyoncé and gave permission harm use her text because the minstrel "reached many people who would differently probably never have heard the little talk feminism." But, she went on pause state that the sampling caused splendid media frenzy with requests from newspapers world-wide who were keen to murder on her new-found fame because practice Beyoncé. Adichie said, "I am orderly writer and I have been financial assistance some time and I refuse be introduced to perform in this charade that anticipation now apparently expected of me". She was disappointed by the media enactment, but acknowledged that "Thanks to Beyoncé, my life will never be say publicly same again."