Sisi_Kill:

"I'm writing about where I care about and I deeply, deeply care about Nigeria," Adichie told The Associated Press. "Nigeria is the country that most infuriates me and it is the country I love the most. I think when you're emotionally invested in a place as a storyteller, it becomes organic."

who else thinks CNA gives the most yawn inducing answers in interviews?
@shymex pls don't come and mis-educate us here, our schools have done enough of that, the Man Booker Prize is not the alternative to the Noble Prize! And you should be wary of any cheesy award bodies that confer any sort of authority on works of art that naturally should stand on their "merit"

shymexx:

Age is nothing when it comes to literature and Ben won the Booker Prize(the alternative to the Nobel Prize) with The Famished Road in 1991... However, the debate is about who the best writer is... and Ben Okri is miles ahead of Adichie...

You don't really get that African realism/spiritualism/"culturism"/traditionalism mixed with modern fiction with Adichie's style... and that's what separates African writers from the rest of the world - the ability to mix Africanism and modernism to tell a story with international appeal...

Chairman, go siddon joor. We get it, you are Ben Okri's ardent fan. U re comparing him to our 35-yr old Chimamanda. Abegi! Age does not really mean your works become better per se; but it matters. Ben Okri is 54 for crying out loud.

But I still can't choose Chiamanda as the best. I mean where do we leave Fetus Iyayi? She is good. But the best of this time, nay

shymexx: The storyline and concept won't win her any awards...

She needs to write about violence/controversies... Boko haram would be a great subject matter IMO... Controversy/violence sells - hence why her "Half of a Yellow Sun" was/is a bestseller...

I agree completely.
She is not on ben okri's level at all.
Her only novel i find mentally stimulating is "half of a yellow sun".
She is good,but not that good.

Adichie raised a very valid point about black women and their apparent dislike of their own hair.
You hardly see an African woman that is hip and sexy wear her own hair, why? Is it an issue of complexes? Like Adichie said, it is only black women that have an exploitative industry dedicated to making sure black women hate their hairs and see it as an option.
Black women, why?

solomon111: I agree completely.
She is not on ben okri's level at all.
Her only novel i find mentally stimulating is "half of a yellow sun".
She is good,but not that good.

Thank you, bruddah... I thought I was crazy!!

Apart from "half of a yellow sun" - most of her books have no soul...

Her books are just plain and they do not exude the spiritualism/traditionalism Africa literature is known for...

Anyway, at least there's someone who understands literature on the thread..

Mynd_44: But I still can't choose Chiamanda as the best. I mean where do we leave Fetus Iyayi? She is good. But the best of this time, nay

Festus Ijayi? has he written any other novel apart from 'Violence'?

Seun: I lost interest in the book when I learnt that it has a lot to do with hair or something. She looks different in this pic. Her eyebrows are messed up.

. some of her fan love it like dat, nd every1 cn't like her

:odis lady sure gets my blood pressure high!isnt she just gorgeous.A true epitome of African beauty.Read some of her books...loved purple hibiscus most especially...kip it up hon.we re all proud of u.

maclatunji: I have never read any of her novels.

you better try cuz you'd realise that she is an outstanding writer

orgasticdance:

who else thinks CNA gives the most yawn inducing answers in interviews?
@shymex pls don't come and mis-educate us here, our schools have done enough of that, the Man Booker Prize is not the alternative to the Noble Prize! And you should be wary of any cheesy award bodies that confer any sort of authority on works of art that naturally should stand on their "merit"

leave that shymexx of a tribalist. So, the whole world should wait for a novel to win politically driven awards before we decipher if its good or not. Lack of insight is bad

Afam4eva:
Lol. Pls what does protective styling mean? I have nothing against anyone using wigs or Somalian hair but let's call it what it is. How come those peripherals never have the Black/African equivalent. They're all made to look like the care carried by White people.

Not all weaves av white peoples look lyk u said. Some are strong textured n curly lyk dat of a typical African woman.

Well I think its not everyone that wears wigs because of inferiority complex. A lot u have to stop generalizing the whole issue. I wear my natural hair most of the time and that's not too good to protect it because its a fragile type of hair, covering it up in a wig once in a while gives a little relief from harsh weather and all the manipulation. Its a personal choice, ask why, don't just judge unfairly

I fell in luv wit her bks purple hibiscus n d tin around ur neck. I was thrilled by d way n manner she delicately xplains d situation in 9jiria. i dnt tink callin her d writer of all time is an over-statement. Cant wait 2get d copy of Americanah.

SisiKill1:



LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The traffic is there, grinding life to a halt as the middle class pound out messages on BlackBerry mobile phones and worry about Facebook. The heat, the sweat and the daily tragedy of unclaimed bodies lying alongside roadways, passers-by hurrying past for fear of someone else's misfortune becoming entangled in their own.


This is modern life in Nigeria's largest city, Lagos, which becomes almost a character of its own in novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's new book, "Americanah." And within its pages, one catches self-acknowledged glimpses of the writer herself, who shot to fame with her previous love story set during Nigeria's civil war called "Half of a Yellow Sun."

As that book is being made into a movie, more international attention will focus on Adichie, part of a raft of new Nigerian writers finding acclaim after years of military-induced slumber in a nation with a rich literary history. Yet Adichie, like her new book's heroine, finds herself straddled between a life in the United States and one in Nigeria, where even seemingly innocuous comments on hair care and wigs can stir resentment.

"I'm writing about where I care about and I deeply, deeply care about Nigeria," Adichie told The Associated Press. "Nigeria is the country that most infuriates me and it is the country I love the most. I think when you're emotionally invested in a place as a storyteller, it becomes organic."

That sense of place runs throughout "Americanah," — make sure to stress the fourth syllable, says the daughter of a university professor and a university registrar. It's a term people use to describe the accents carried by some of the Nigerians now returning in droves to the country after it embraced an uneasy democracy after years of military rule. While oil and gas money continues to flow and other business opportunities abound, the nation's universities now sit in shambles, graduating more unqualified students than can be offered jobs.

That intellectual dulling has been challenged by a host of new writers, many of whom like Adichie live almost double lives abroad.

"She is part of the pack of novelists who have, after what you might call the two decades of silence, who have helped to tell Nigerian stories to the whole world again," writer Tolu Ogunlesi said. "It was the dictatorships and all that's associated with them. ... The '80s and '90s were dark ages of sorts for Nigeria."

It's that period where "Americanah" finds its beginning. Though dismissing the idea of being a "dutiful daughter of literary conventions," Adichie's new novel takes root in the vagaries and murmured promises of a love story like much of her other work. It also focuses largely on the slim percentage of Nigerians able to afford diesel generators in a country largely without electricity and who look at the poor through the chilled air and tinted-glass windows of luxury SUVs.

Despite that, her writing hits a nerve with Nigerian readers who identify with the descriptions of church worship services focused on getting foreign visas and the nervous wives of rich men in a nation notorious for philandering. Adichie describes herself as looking "at the world through Nigerian eyes," but she doesn't hold back on criticizing its culture that fosters widespread government corruption. Or what she perceives as the excessive, neutered politeness of "political-correct language" in the U.S.

"Nigeria wasn't set up to succeed, but the extent of its failure is ours. It's our responsibility," she said. "This country is full of so many intelligent people, so much energy, so much potential, so why are we here?"


That kind of truth telling isn't exactly welcome, even in a democratic Nigeria. Speaking Saturday night at a book signing, Adichie drew laughter and a few nervous looks from organizers by describing President Goodluck Jonathan as "not a bad guy, he just seems like he's floundering and has no clue."

It also leads to comparisons some make between Adichie and late author Chinua Achebe, who died in March at age 82. Both come from the Igbo people of Nigeria's southeast and Achebe's own praise of Adichie graces the cover of her new novel in Nigeria. Adichie said the rise of new writers served as a testament to the power of Achebe's writings and the works of others.

"I think there's just this wonderful flowering that's happening," she said.

Even more controversial, it seems, have been Adichie's comments on natural hair in Nigeria, where many spend huge sums of money on straight-banged wigs and weaves known as Indian hair. An online commenter on Twitter asserted that Adichie, whose natural hair sits in buns atop her head, said that those wearing weaves were insecure, sparking controversy. Adichie herself ended up responding to the criticism and gave a recent audience advice on finding hair conditioners with no sulfates.

"It's only black women for whom an entire industry exists which is geared toward specifically making sure that the hair that grows on their head looks different," she said. "I want natural black hair to be an equally valid option, not something interesting, not something you do when you're a jazz musician, but something you can do when you're a lawyer in a fancy firm in New York City or if you're a politician in Abuja," Nigeria's capital.

That, however, still remains a challenge. Adichie acknowledged it herself by pausing, and then adding: "My mother doesn't like my hair like that. She is still praying."

SOURCE

Chimamanda Adichie is one writer whose books inspired me to pursue my writing dreams. I'll forever be grateful to her.