Author Spotlight: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Name: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

About Author: Best recognized for her presence in African literature, Adichie was born in Enugu, Nigeria. After completing sometime at a university in Nigeria, she transferred to a university in the United States graduating with her degree in 2001. After obtaining her bachelors degree, Adichie then furthered her education by attending and receiving master's degrees from both Johns Hopkins University and Yale University. She has given several lectures since her rise to a prominent writer including the infamous "We Should All Be Feminists" TEDx Talk. Here's a video of the lecture.

She has been awarded several different awards for her writing including the following: Commonwealth Writers' Prize: Best First Book (Africa), Anisfield-Wolf Book Award,  National Book Critics Circle Award: Fiction category, and many more.

Published Works:

• Purple Hibiscus (2003)
• Half of a Yellow Sun (2006)
• The Thing Around Your Neck (2009)
• Americanah (2013)

My Recommendation:

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is vastly one of the most complex authors I have encountered in my time of reading. I think I truly fell in love with her sheer intelligence when I listened to her "We Should All Be Feminists" lecture on YouTube. However, this year was the first year I was able to read one of her works (Americanah) and it was breathtakingly beautiful. She is capable of truly introducing the world to the meaning and purpose of African literature. If you are looking for a diverse author with a true and beautiful gift for story-telling I would look no further than Ms. Adichie.