Our favourite human and writer, Chimamanda Adichie, was recently featured in i-D Magazine, where she talked at length about a lot of things ranging from her career as a writer, to feminism and personal matters. Here is a rundown of the interview:
Chimamanda studied medicine and pharmacy for a year and half before changing majors. She said:
I think as most sensible Nigerian parents do, mine expected me to study something that would enable me to earn a living…
She began her writing career with poetry, then short stories, then her first novel, Purple Hibiscus. Being a writer is probably the best decision she has ever made.
It’s the thing that gives meaning to my life, really… I have the good fortune to be published widely, to be read, but if I didn’t have that good fortune, I would still be writing, because it matters so deeply.
When asked to pick a favourite amongst her works, she replied,
It’s like asking a woman who has four children!… My mother has six children, and I often tease her about my brother being her favourite, and she says, “No no no, I love all my children equally”. So I’m going to do what my mother does and say I love all my books equally. And then I’m going to say in a smaller voice that Half of a Yellow Sun has the most emotional significance for me.
When asked about her fashion style, she said:
I decided to use fashion as a kind of political statement; which is to say that I made the choice to wear mostly Nigerian designers to public events, because obviously I want to support an industry that’s full of talent, but also to make a case for how fashion can tell a story. Fashion and culture are intertwined in very interesting ways.
Chimamanda reveals that her latest published work, Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, began as a letter to a friend who asked how she could raise her daughter a feminist, and which turned into an open Facebook post. It’s now published as a standalone small handbook and will be available on OkadaBooks in a few days, along with all of her works; yes, EVERYTHING!
So, open your eyeballs and watch out!
Leave a Reply