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Tag: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

  • NBA Conference: Nigeria Lacks Heroes To Inspire Young People, Says Chimamanda

    NBA Conference: Nigeria Lacks Heroes To Inspire Young People, Says Chimamanda

    Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie says the country does not have “heroes” who will inspire its younger population.

    Adiche made the comment on Monday in her keynote address at the Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Lagos State.

      “We are starved of heroes. Our young people do not find people to look up to anymore,” the award-winning writer said during the event.

      According to the author, Nigerians should be open to self-criticism. This, she said, will engender good leadership in the nation.

      “As long as we refuse to untangle the knot of injustice, peace cannot thrive. If we don’t talk about it, we fail to hold leaders accountable and we turn what should be transparent systems into ugly opaque cults,” Chimamanda noted.

      “My experience made me think there’s something dead in us, in our society; a death of self-awareness and ability for self-criticism.

      “There’s a 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.”

      The award-winning writer was one of the several guests at the conference which has the theme ‘Bold Transitions’.
      Some of the personalities who graced the event on Monday include the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart Atiku Abubakar.

      But the All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer Bola Tinubu did not attend. He was instead represented by his running mate Kashim Shettima at the conference which started on August 19 and will end on August 26.

      The NBA had earlier said Tinubu and the presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso did not confirm their availability for the conference.

      Other presidential candidates at the event were that of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Dumebi Kachikwu and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Prince Adewole Adebayo.

  • Chimamanda Adichie wins Women’s Prize for Literature Winner of Winners

    Chimamanda Adichie wins Women’s Prize for Literature Winner of Winners

    Nigerian writer and author of Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been voted winner of Women’s Prize for Literature “Winner of Winners,” according to a statement by the organisers Thursday.

    She was overwhelmingly voted as the winner for her novel Half of a Yellow Sun. Set in Nigeria during the Biafran War, the novel is about the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class, race, and female empowerment – and how love can complicate all of these things. There was no challenge to this vote unlike in alleged ‘advanced democracies.’

    The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the UK’s most prestigious annual book award celebrating and honouring fiction written by women. Founded in 1996, the Prize was set up to celebrate originality, accessibility, and excellence in writing by women and to connect world-class writers with readers everywhere.

    In her reaction to the prize, Chimamanda Adichie said:

    “I am especially moved to be voted ‘Winner of Winners’ because this is the Prize that first brought a wide readership to my work – and has also introduced me to the work of many talented writers.”

    She will be presented with a silver edition of the Prize’s annual statuette, known as the ‘Bessie’, which was originally created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven as part of the gift of an anonymous donor. It will be an online event on December 6, 2020.

    Past winners of the prize included Helen Dunmore (1996), Anne Michaels (1997), Carol Shields (1998), Suzanne Berne (1999), Linda Grant (2000), Kate Grenville (2001), Ann Patchett (2002), Valerie Martin (2003), Andrea Levy (2004), Lionel Shriver (2005), Zadie Smith (2006), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2007), Rose Tremain (2008), Marilynne Robinson (2009), Barbara Kingsolver (2010), Téa Obreht (2011), Madeline Miller (2012), A. M. Homes (2013), Eimear McBride (2014), Ali Smith (2015), Lisa McInerney (2016), Naomi Alderman (2017), Kamila Shamsie (2018), Tayari Jones (2019), and Maggie O’Farrell (2020). From this list of 25, you will note that there have been three Black writers and only one African.

    The team organising the prize announced earlier in the year that they were looking to see the “Winner of Winners,” selected by a popular vote from readers, as part of their 25-anniversary celebrations.