Written by: Ashley Goetz
Artwork by: Yanis Caillaud
Perhaps you have heard her powerful voice amid Beyonce’s 2014 smash hit ‘Flawless’, or maybe you have been pulled in by her world-renowned Ted Talks’ ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ or ‘The Danger of a Single Story.’ Whatever way you come across her, you will know when you have experienced the work of the legendary storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (she/her/hers).
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Enugu, Nigeria as the fifth of six children. Her earliest memories were molded by her family’s experiences of the Nigerian Civil War-- during the war, her family lost everything, including both her maternal and paternal grandfathers.
While living through the crisis, Adichie excelled at her studies. She grew up in the same house where the legendary Igbo writer, Chinua Achebe, once lived. At age 10, Adichie read Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, and realized “people who looked like me could live in books.” Achebe became a transformative mentor for Adichie, inspiring her to write unabashedly about the Nigerian experience.
At the age of 19, Adichie left Nigeria for the United States, earning her Bachelor’s degree in communications and political science at Eastern Connecticut State University. As an African in America, Adichie says she was suddenly confronted with what it meant to be a person of color in the United States.
In an interview with NPR, Adichie reflected, “Race is such a strange construct...because you have to learn what it means to be black in America.”
Adichie earned her Master’s in creative writing from John Hopkins University while moving back and forth between Nigeria and the United States. Chimamanda’s first novel, Purple Hibiscus, received widespread critical acclaim, and set the stage for her next two celebrated novels, Half a Yellow Sun and Americanah.
Adichie’s transnational perspective inspires Americanah, the fictional tale of a strong-willed Nigerian woman named Ifemelu, who attends American University and traces her experience across three continents. The New York Times wrote that while Americanah primarily examines Blackness in America, Nigeria, and Britain, the story crystalizes into “a steady-handed dissection of the universal human experience — a platitude made fresh by Adichie’s accurate observations.” Chimamanda’s work as a writer reflects her unique perspective. Like her character Ifemelu, Adichie has navigated the perils of a modern America, hailing from a culture distant from the concept of race, while simultaneously being subject to the rampant racism within America’s stratosphere.
Today, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is celebrated as one of the most influential writers of our generation. Adichie has been listed as part of Time magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People’ and has been nominated for upwards of thirty-six writing awards, sixteen of which she has won. Her voice as a writer is powerful, igniting, unique, and delightfully humorous.
While researching Adichie’s upbringing, I was reminded of the power of stories to change our lives, forever. Adichie saw herself within the novels she read as a child, and from that place of understanding, she blazed a trail to achieve her dreams. I admire her unapologetic voice, determination, and her talent to connect people across time and space through writing. Adichie reminds us that our best work comes from both knowledge and passion, and originates deep within our soul.
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