Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born September 15th, 1977) is a famous Nigerian writer and novelist.

Her work includes novels, short stories, and nonfiction and has been translated into more than thirty languages.

Her stories have been published in premium publications like Zoetrope, The New Yorker, The Financial Times, and Granta, among others.

Real Facts About Chimamanda Ngozi

• Full Name: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Stage Name: Amanda N. Adichie
• Born: September 15th, 1977
• Age: 45 years old (2022)
• Place Of Birth: Enugu State
• State Of Origin: Enugu State
• Nationality: Nigerian/ American
• Spouse: Ivara Esege ​(m. 2009)​
• Children: 1
• Alma mater: Eastern Connecticut State University (BA), Johns Hopkins University (MA), Yale University (MA)
• Occupation: Novelist, short story writer, non-fiction writer
• Net Worth: N/A

Early Life & Education

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born on 15th September 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria into the household of James Nwoye and Grace Ifeoma.

She originated hails from Enugu state, Nigeria and she is Igbo by tribe precisely. She was raised alongside her six siblings and she is the fifth child out of six children.

Her father, James Nwoye Adichie was a professor of Statistics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka while her mother, Grace Ifeoma was the first female registrar of the same university.

During the Nigerian Civil War, Chimamanda’s family lost almost all they had including paternal and maternal grandfathers.

Chimamanda completed her secondary school education at the university of Nigeria secondary school before she proceeded to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where she studied medicine and pharmacy for one year and a half. While at UNN, she edited ‘The Compass’, a magazine run by UNN catholic medical students.

Subsequently, she moved to the United States at age 19 to study Communications and political science at Drexel University in Philadelphia. After some time, she transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University for her Bachelor’s degree so she can be closer to her sister, Uche, who had a medical practice in Coventry, Connecticut.

Meanwhile, Chimamanda had her fair share of racism while in the United States. The experience got to her so much that she penned it down in her novel, ‘Americanah’. Eventually, she graduated with the distinction of ‘summa cum Laude from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2001.

She proceeded to John Hopkins University in 2003 for a master’s degree in creative writing. In addition, she holds a Master of Arts degree in African Studies from Yale University, Connecticut.

During the 2005-2006 academic year, the novelist was a Hodder fellow at Princeton University. As a mark of recognition of her brilliance, she was awarded a MacArthur fellowship in 2008. Also, she was awarded a 2011-2012 fellowship by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.

Career

Ngozi drew her first inspiration from Chinua Achebe’s book, ‘Things Fall Apart’, and ‘Arrow of God at age 10. Afterward, in 1997, she published her first collection of poems, ‘Decisions’, as well as a play, ‘For Love of Biafra’ in 1998.

Adichie wrote her first novel, ‘Purple Hibiscus’ in 2003. The story, which started with a quote from ‘Things Fall Apart’ attracted several prizes and recognition.

In 2006, Ngozi came up with another interesting novel, ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, named after Biafra’s struggle in Nigeria. The novel garnered praise, and several awards and was made into a movie. The movie was released in 2014 with a cast including, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton.

She wrote her third book, ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’ in 2009. The book contains 12 stories on relationships between Africa and United States, men and women, and parents and their children.

In 2013, the talented writer also wrote ‘Americanah’, a tender story of race and identity. The novel, ‘Americanah’ is licensed for publication in 29 languages and got selected by The New York Times as one of the 10 best books of 2013. Apart from that, it also won the ‘One Book, One New York’ program, an initiative that encourages uniform reading in march 2017.

In the same year, she was one of the 228 new members inducted into the 237th class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The honor is considered to be one of the biggest to be conferred on intellectuals in the United States.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in March 2017, published another book, ‘Dear Ijeawale, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions’.

The book which was written as a letter to a friend contains 15 compelling suggestions on how to train a daughter to become a strong, independent woman.

Personal Life

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie married Ivara Esege, a Nigerian doctor in 2009, and their union is blessed with a beautiful daughter, who was born in 2016.

Adichie currently works in both Nigeria and the United States, where she teaches writing workshops.

 Bibliography

Books

• Decisions-1997
• For Love of Biafra-1998
• Purple Hibiscus-2003
• Half of a Yellow Sun-2006
• The Thing Around Your Neck-2009
• Americanah-2013
• We Should All Be Feminists-2014
• Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions-2017
• Sierra Leone, 1997-2019
• Notes on Grief-2021

Short fiction

• Cell One-2007
• The Headstrong Historian-2008
• A Private Experience-2008
• Birdsong-2010
• Checking out-2013
• Olikoye-2015
• Apollo-2015
• The Arrangements: A Work of Fiction-2016
• Notes on Grief-2020
• Zikora-2020