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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

b. 1977 · Nigerian

About the author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria, and grew up in the university town of Nsukka. She studied medicine and pharmacy at the University of Nigeria before moving to the United States, where she earned degrees in communication, political science, and creative writing. Her debut novel, Purple Hibiscus (2003), won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), a sweeping narrative of the Biafran War, won the Orange Prize for Fiction and established her as a major literary voice. Her third novel, Americanah (2013), won the National Book Critics Circle Award and explores race and identity. Adichie's nonfiction, including We Should All Be Feminists (2014) and Dear Ijeawele (2017), has shaped contemporary feminist discourse. Her work is celebrated for its nuanced portrayal of Nigerian history, postcolonial identity, and the immigrant experience, earning her a MacArthur Fellowship and a place among the most influential writers of her generation.

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