Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, reffered to as one of the most vital and original novelists of this generation was raised in the environs of University of Nigeria. There, her father was a statistics lecturer and her mother; a registrar. For a long time now, Chimamanda has grown in her career and greatly impacted the globe through her writing and speaking.
She has come so far from being the author of Purple Hibiscus to a record-breaking feminist, fashion icon and is recognised as a Global Force for Change.
The multiple award-winning writer has received nothing less than 14 honorary doctorate degrees from various universities including Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa from Georgetown University, Northwestern and American Universities, Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts at Rhode Island School of Design and her latest honorary Degree from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Her 2009 TED talk, “The Danger of a Single Story” is currently one of the most viewed TED Talks of all time with more than 6.1million views. Her 2012 TEDx Euston talk, “We Should All Be Feminists” has over 5.8 million views and single handedly popularised feminism globally. It was published into a book and had excerpts featured by Beyoncé in her hit single, “Flawless” in 2014. In 2016, “We Should All Be Feminists” was also customized on T-shirts by the first female Creative Director of Christian Dior; Maria Grazia Chiuri. This piece has been worn by a lot of celebrities including Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Jennifer Lawrence and Demi Lovato. She was also featured on the cover of Elle Magazine, India as “The Original Feminist” in September 2018.
Chimamanda was the fourth in Africa Report’s list of ‘The 100 Most Influential Africans’ as well as only woman among the top 5. The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle selected her amongst 15 others as a ‘Force for Change’ in British Vogue’s 2019 September Issue.
As her way of giving back, Chimamanda Adichie organises and hosts annual writing workshops where she grooms upcoming /promising writers mostly from Nigeria and some other parts of Africa. This year’s edition made it the 12th one and took place in her state of origin; Anambra state. She isn’t just an avid reader and excellent writer, she also has good taste in fashion, especially Nigerian fashion. She constantly uses her platform to sell Nigerian fashion and style to the world. Chimamanda launched the ‘Wear Nigerian’ Project to promote Nigerian fashion brands globally, this had her wearing clothes designed mostly by Nigerians to prestigious events. The likes of Fia Factory, Orange Kulture, the Ladymaker, LolaBaej, EmmyKasbit etc can attest to this. In the December of 2019, along with Maria Grazia Chiuri they held a Masterclass exclusively for Nigerian Fashion Designers and hosted the Project ‘Wear Nigerian’ Fashion Show in Lagos.
For a highly respected and revered individual (both home and abroad), who has achieved so much, she is not resting on her oars. Chimamanda is relentless in questioning what society dictates should be and is dogged in promoting her people as the creative, intelligent, resilient people that they are. We have no choice but to stan!