Renowned Nigerian author and public speaker Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has once again captivated the literary world, this time with a deeply personal essay in the March 2025 issue of Vogue. The celebrated writer, known for her eloquence and piercing insight into love, identity, and memory, reflects on her first love. This story subtly ties into the themes of her upcoming novel, Dream Count, set for release in March 2025.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – A Journey Back to Nsukka
In the beautifully woven essay, Adichie takes readers back to her childhood in Nsukka, Nigeria, where she grew up in a university campus’s quiet, book-filled world. With her signature evocative storytelling, she recalls the moment she first encountered Echezona—a boy so different from the academic environment she knew, yet someone who would become a defining part of her youth. Their relationship was one of contrasts: an ambitious, book-loving girl and a rebellious, carefree boy who stole her heart most suddenly.
The Intensity of First Love
Adichie’s words breathe life into the intensity of first love—its tender hesitations, its dizzying exhilaration, and the eventual ache of separation. She writes of Echezona’s gestures of affection, the cautious but undeniable connection they shared, and how their youthful romance unfolded against the backdrop of secondary school in Nigeria. But just as Dream Count delves into the haunting idea of “what could have been,” so too does her real-life love story carry an air of tragic finality. Years after they lost touch, she learned of Echezona’s untimely death—a moment that would forever alter her perception of love and longing.
A Love Lost, A Story Found
“For months I carried this news without looking at it,” Adichie writes, describing the shock of seeing a newspaper photograph of her first love’s fate. It is this sense of unfinished possibility, of a love forever frozen in memory, that has influenced her new novel. Dream Count is set to explore the lingering presence of lost love, the dreams that never fully materialise, and the way the past shapes our future selves.
Anticipation for Dream Count
With Dream Count, Adichie again demonstrates why she remains one of the most compelling voices in contemporary literature. As anticipation builds for the book’s release, her Vogue feature offers readers a deeply personal glimpse into the inspiration behind the novel—one that is as heart-wrenching as it is beautiful.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Dream Count will be published on March 4, 2025.
Read her full story HERE
Credits: VOGUE. Photography by Annie Leibovitz; hair by Lacy Redway; makeup by Miguel Ramos; tailoring by Christopher Ivory. Produced by AL Studio with set design by Mary Howard and production coordination by Boom Productions Inc.