A short story is a piece of prose fiction . It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest types of literature and has existed in the form of legends , mythic tales , folk tales , fairy tales , tall tales , fables , and anecdotes in various ancient communities around the world. The modern short story developed in the early 19th century.
158-428: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( / ˌ tʃ ɪ m ə ˈ m ɑː n d ə ə ŋ ˈ ɡ oʊ z i ə ˈ d iː tʃ i . eɪ / ; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian novelist, short-story writer and activist. Regarded as a central figure in postcolonial feminist literature , she is the author of the novels Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) and Americanah (2013). Her other works include
316-670: A MacArthur Fellowship in 2008 and induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. Adichie was born on 15 September 1977 and raised in Enugu , Nigeria, as the fifth out of six children to Igbo parents. Bearing Amanda as her English name , she made up the Igbo name "Chimamanda" in the 1990s to keep her legal English name and conform with the Igbo Christian naming customs. Adichie's father, James Nwoye Adichie,
474-536: A MacArthur Fellowship that same year, plus other academic prizes, including the 2011–2012 Fellowship of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University . While studying in the US, Adichie started researching and writing her first novel, Purple Hibiscus . She wrote it during a period of homesickness and set it in her childhood home of Nsukka. The book explores post-colonial Nigeria during
632-402: A TED Talk titled "The Danger of a Single Story." In the talk, Adichie expressed her concern that accepting one version of a story perpetrates myths and stereotypes because it fails to recognise the complexities of human life and situations. She argued that under-representation of the layers that make up a person's identity or culture deprives them of their humanity. Adichie has continued to reuse
790-415: A novel , but typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from the novel or novella/short novel , authors generally draw from a common pool of literary techniques . The short story is sometimes referred to as a genre. Determining what exactly defines a short story remains problematic. A classic definition of a short story is that one should be able to read it in one sitting,
948-417: A plot ". Hugh Walpole had a similar view: "A story should be a story; a record of things happening full of incidents, swift movements, unexpected development, leading through suspense to a climax and a satisfying denouement." This view of the short story as a finished product of art is however opposed by Anton Chekhov , who thought that a story should have neither a beginning nor an end. It should just be
1106-542: A "Buy Nigerian to Grow the Naira" campaign after the Nigerian naira experienced a devaluation. She set up an Instagram account that her nieces Chisom and Amaka managed, and gained around 600,000 followers. Adichie's goal was to help protect Nigeria's cultural heritage by showcasing the quality of craftsmanship and use of innovative hand-made techniques, materials and textiles being used by Nigerian designers. Just as important
1264-429: A "slice of life", presented suggestively. In his stories, Chekhov does not round off the end but leaves it to the readers to draw their own conclusions. Sukumar Azhikode defined a short story as "a brief prose narrative with an intense episodic or anecdotal effect". Flannery O'Connor emphasized the need to consider what is exactly meant by the descriptor short. Short story writers may define their works as part of
1422-669: A Muslim character. For Igbo characters, she invents names that convey Igbo naming traditions and depict the character's traits, personality, and social connections. For example, in Half of a Yellow Sun , the character's name Ọlanna literally means "God's Gold", but Nwankwọ points out that ọla means precious and nna means father (which can be understood as either God the father or a parent). By shunning popular Igbo names, Adichie intentionally imbues her characters with multi-ethnic, gender-plural, global personas. She typically does not use English names for African characters but, when she does, it
1580-489: A Single Story" and "We Should All Be Feminists" were also aired at some of the events and discussed in the question-and-answer segment following her presentations. In 2015, Adichie wrote a letter to a friend and posted it on Facebook in 2016. Comments on the post convinced her to turn to a book, Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions , which was an expansion of her ideas on how to raise
1738-508: A Single Story" had received more than 27 million views. As of 1 September 2023, the talk is one of the top 25 most viewed TED Talks of all time. According to Lisa Allardice, a journalist writing for The Guardian , Adichie became the "poster girl for modern feminism after her 2012 TED Talk 'We Should All Be Feminists' went stratospheric and was distributed in book form to every 16-year-old in Sweden". Adichie has become "a global feminist icon" and
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#17327971795261896-608: A Single Story", she conveys the message that there is no single truth about the past. Adichie is encouraging her readers to recognise their own responsibility to one another, and the injustice that exists in the world. Nigerian scholar Stanley Ordu classifies Adichie's feminism as womanist because her analysis of patriarchal systems goes beyond sexist treatment of women and anti-male bias , looking instead at socio-economic, political and racial struggles women face to survive and cooperate with men. For example, in Purple Hibiscus ,
2054-469: A Yellow Sun , which she researched for four years, including studying Buchi Emecheta ' s 1982 novel Destination Biafra . The book was published in 2006 by Anchor Books , a trade-paperback imprint of Alfred A. Knopf , which also released the book later under its Vintage Canada label. It was also published in France as L'autre moitié du soleil in 2008, by Éditions Gallimard . The novel expands on
2212-700: A Yellow Sun and the stories collected in The Thing Around Your Neck , these themes symbolise the universality of power, or the impact and manifestation in society of its misuse. Adichie, in a 2014 article written for Elle , described becoming aware of a Western social norm that "women who wanted to be taken seriously were supposed to substantiate their seriousness with a studied indifference to appearance." The western concept contrasted with her upbringing in Nigeria, because in West Africa
2370-529: A Yellow Sun showed that that market could care about African histories". In an earlier article published in Brittle Paper , he stated that Half of a Yellow Sun ' s paperback release in 2006 sold 500,000 copies, the benchmark of commercial success for a book, by October 2009 in the UK alone. Her novel Americanah sold 500,000 copies in the US within two years of its 2013 release. As of 2022, "The Danger of
2528-443: A Yellow Sun , and The Thing Around Your Neck such as stereotypical perceptions of Black women's physical appearance, their hair and their objectification. Dear Ijeawele stresses the political importance of using African names, rejecting colorism , exercising freedom of expression in how they wear their hair (including rejecting patronising curiosity about it) and avoiding commodification , such as marriageability tests, which reduce
2686-446: A Yellow Sun , in which one of her characters begins by opening the refrigerator and sees oranges, beer, and a "roasted shimmering chicken". These contrast to later in the novel where one of her characters dies of starvation, and others are forced to eat powdered eggs and lizards. Adichie usually use real places and historic figures to draw readers into her stories. In developing characters, Adichie often exaggerates attitudes to contrast
2844-445: A collaboration with Chiuri, who invited her as an honoured guest to sit in the front-row of the company's spring runway show during the 2016 Paris Fashion Week . Scholar Matthew Lecznar stated that Adichie often challenges feminist stereotypes through references to fashion. He stated that allowing Dior to feature her text was a skillful way to use various media forms to not only deliver political messaging, but also to develop her image as
3002-617: A collection of poems, and moved to the United States to study communications at Drexel University in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. In 1998, she wrote a play called For Love of Biafra . Her early works were written under the name Amanda N. Adichie. Two years after moving to the United States, Adichie transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Connecticut , where she lived with her sister Ijeoma, who
3160-518: A consciously feminist perspective. James Baldwin 's collection, Going to Meet the Man (1965), told stories of African-American life. Science fiction stories with a special poetic touch was a genre developed with great popular success by Ray Bradbury . Stephen King published many science fiction short stories in men's magazines in the 1960s and after. King's interest is in the supernatural and macabre. Donald Barthelme and John Barth produced works in
3318-476: A conservative magazine. Tempted to walk out of the interview, Adichie decided to continue because she wanted to discuss her views on how economic disenfranchisement had led to Trump's victory. The debate turned adversarial when Tyrrell said "I do not respond emotionally like this lady", and then declared that "Trump hasn't been a racist". Adichie countered his statements and gave an example citing Trump's statement that Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel could not be impartial in
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#17327971795263476-465: A cultural bridge to bring people together globally. Although Adichie was raised as a Catholic, she considers her views, especially those on feminism, to sometimes conflict with her religion. As sectarian tensions in Nigeria arose between Christians and Muslims in 2012, she urged leaders to preach messages of peace and togetherness. Adichie stated that her relationship to Catholicism is complicated because she identifies culturally as Catholic, but feels that
3634-698: A feminist daughter. The book was published in 2017. In 2020, Adichie published "Zikora", a stand-alone short story about sexism and single motherhood, and an essay "Notes on Grief" in The New Yorker , after her father's death. She expanded the essay into a book of the same name , which was published by Fourth Estate the following year. In 2020, Adichie adapted We Should All Be Feminists for children, in an edition illustrated by Leire Salaberria. Translations of it were authorised for publication in Croatian, French, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. Adichie spent
3792-531: A heightened awareness of being part of the African diaspora, and adoption of a dual perspective that reshapes and transforms her sense of self. Awareness of Blackness as part of identity, initially a foreign concept to Africans upon arriving in the United States, is shown not only in those works, but also in her feminist tract, Dear Ijeawele or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions . In it, she evaluates themes of identity that recur in Purple Hibiscus , Half of
3950-540: A larger narrative story (a frame story ), although the frame-tale device was not adopted by all writers. At the end of the 16th century, some of the most popular short stories in Europe were the darkly tragic " novella " of Italian author Matteo Bandello , especially in their French translation. The mid 17th century in France saw the development of a refined short novel, the "nouvelle", by such authors as Madame de Lafayette . Traditional fairy tales began to be published in
4108-408: A light on how both sides of any conflict commit atrocities and neither side is blameless for the unfolding violence. Her narrative demonstrates that knowledge and understanding of diverse classes and ethnic groups is necessary to create harmonious multi-ethnic communities. Other forms of violence—including sexual abuse, rape, domestic abuse , and rage —are repeated themes in Purple Hibiscus , Half of
4266-476: A literary agent working at Pearson Morris and Belt Literary Management, accepted the manuscript. Although Morris recognised that marketing would be challenging, since Adichie was Black but neither African-American nor Caribbean. She submitted the manuscript to publishers until it was eventually accepted by Algonquin Books , a small independent company, in 2003. Algonquin published the manuscript and created support for
4424-458: A major in political science and a minor in communications in 2001. She later earned a master's degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University in 2003 and, for the next two years, was a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University , where she taught introductory fiction. She began studying at Yale University , and completed a second master's degree in African studies in 2008. Adichie received
4582-437: A major literary form remains diminished. In terms of length, word count is typically anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 for short stories; however, some works classified as short stories have up to 15,000 words. Stories of fewer than 1,000 words are sometimes referred to as "short short stories", or " flash fiction ". Short stories have no set length. In terms of word count, there is no official demarcation between an anecdote ,
4740-404: A military coup d'état , examines the cultural conflicts between Christianity and Igbo traditions , and touches on themes of class, gender, race, and violence. She sent her manuscript to publishing houses and literary agents, who either rejected it or requested that she change the setting from Africa to America to make it more familiar to a broader range of readers. Eventually, Djana Pearson Morris,
4898-509: A multi-faceted intellectual, literary and fashionable "transmedia phenomenon". She became the face of No.7 , a makeup brand division of British drugstore retailer Boots . In her 2016 Facebook post Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions , Adichie argued that minimising femininity and its expression through fashion and makeup is "part of a culture of sexism". On 8 May 2017, Adichie announced her "Wear Nigerian" campaign on her Facebook page. The Nigerian government had launched
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5056-399: A novel, Manto is widely admired for his analyses of violence, bigotry, prejudice, and the relationships between reason and unreason. Combining realism with surrealism and irony, Manto's works, such as the celebrated short story Toba Tek Singh , are aesthetic masterpieces that continue to give profound insight into the nature of human loss, violence, and devastation. Another famous Urdu writer
5214-433: A play, For Love of Biafra , in 1998. Her father's story during the war supplied material for her second novel Half of a Yellow Sun . Adichie's style juxtaposes Western and African influences, with particular influence from the Igbo culture. Most of her works, including her writing and speeches, explore the themes of religion, immigration, gender and culture. She also uses fashion as a medium to break down stereotypes, and
5372-477: A point most notably made in Edgar Allan Poe 's essay " The Philosophy of Composition " (1846). H. G. Wells described the purpose of the short story as "The jolly art, of making something very bright and moving; it may be horrible or pathetic or funny or profoundly illuminating, having only this essential, that it should take from fifteen to fifty minutes to read aloud." According to William Faulkner ,
5530-618: A postdoctoral fellow at the African Centre for Migration & Society at the University of the Witwatersrand stated that Adichie's fame led to her comments on trans women being elevated and the voices of other African women, both trans and cis, being silenced. According to Camminga, Adichie disregarded her own advice in "The Danger of a Single Story" by telling a "single story of trans existence". In 2009, Adichie delivered
5688-467: A professor of history, in an evaluation of scholarship in Nigeria, criticised the policy of elevating academic figures prematurely. He argued that scholarship, particularly in the humanities, should challenge policies and processes to strengthen the social contract between citizens and government. He suggested that the focus should shift from recognising scholars who merely influenced other scholars to acknowledging intellectuals who use their talents to benefit
5846-548: A recognised "public thinker" per journalist Lauren Alix Brown. Parts of Adichie's TEDx Talk were sampled in the song " Flawless " by singer Beyoncé on 13 December 2013. When asked in an NPR interview about that, Adichie responded that "anything that gets young people talking about feminism is a very good thing." She later refined the statement in an interview with the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant , saying that she liked and admired Beyoncé and gave permission to use her text because
6004-530: A regular short story salon, held in London and other major cities. Short story writers who have appeared at the salon to read their work to live audiences include Ben Okri , Lionel Shriver , Elizabeth Day , A.L. Kennedy , William Boyd , Graham Swift , David Nicholls , Will Self , Sebastian Faulks , Julian Barnes , Evie Wylde and Claire Fuller . Canadian short story writers include Alice Munro , Mavis Gallant and Lynn Coady. In 2013, Alice Munro became
6162-423: A series of talks focusing on African affairs was being organised by her brother Chuks, who worked in the technology and information development department there, and she wanted to help him. In her presentation, "We Should All Be Feminists", Adichie stressed the importance of reclaiming the word "feminist" to combat the negative connotations previously associated with it. She said that feminism should be about exploring
6320-420: A short story is character-driven and a writer's job is to "...trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does." Some authors have argued that a short story must have a strict form. Somerset Maugham thought that the short story "must have a definite design, which includes a point of departure, a climax and a point of test; in other words, it must have
6478-426: A short story, and a novel. Rather, the form's parameters are given by the rhetorical and practical context in which a given story is produced and considered so that what constitutes a short story may differ between genres, countries, eras, and commentators. Like the novel, the short story's predominant shape reflects the demands of the available markets for publication, and the evolution of the form seems closely tied to
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6636-481: A storyteller, and her motives for addressing systemic inequalities to create a more inclusive world. Adichie has been the keynote speaker at numerous global conferences. In 2018, she spoke at the seventh annual International Igbo Conference, and encouraged the audience to preserve their culture and fight misconceptions and inaccuracies about Igbo heritage. She revealed in her presentation " Igbo bu Igbo " ("Igbo Is Igbo") that she only speaks to her daughter in Igbo, which
6794-600: A way to marry idealism and pragmatism because there are complicated shades of grey everywhere". Adichie co-curated the 2015 Pen World Voices Festival in New York City, along with Laszlo Jakab Orsos.i The festival theme was contemporary literature of Africa and its diaspora. She closed the conference with her Arthur Miller Freedom to Write lecture, which focused on censorship and using one's voice to speak out against injustices. In addressing her audience, she pointed out cultural differences between Nigeria and America, such as
6952-463: A weekly short story publication for more than half a century. Shirley Jackson 's story, " The Lottery " (1948), elicited the strongest response in the magazine's history to that time. Other frequent contributors during the 1940s included John Steinbeck , Jean Stafford , Eudora Welty , and John Cheever , who is best known for "The Swimmer " (1964), beautifully blending realism and surrealism. Many other American short story writers greatly influenced
7110-520: A welcome, authentic voice to this most universal of emotions, which is also one of the most universally avoided." She has been widely recognised as "the literary daughter of Chinua Achebe." Jane Shilling of the Daily Telegraph called her "one who makes storytelling seem as easy as birdsong". Short-story writer The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use of plot, resonance and other dynamic components as in
7268-666: A woman', and walks into the women's bathroom, and a woman goes, 'You're not supposed to be here', and she's transphobic?" The interview, according to the LGBT magazine PinkNews shows that Adichie "remains insensitive to the nuances or sensitivities of the ongoing fight for trans rights" and thus, criticised her for perpetuating "harmful rhetoric about trans people". Cheryl Stobie of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg , South Africa, said that Adichie supported an "exclusionary conceptualisation of gender". B. Camminga,
7426-409: A woman's worth to that of a prize, seeing only her value as a man's wife. Her women characters repeatedly resist being defined by stereotypes and embody a quest for women's empowerment. Adichie's works often deal with inter-generational explorations of family units, allowing her to examine differing experiences of oppression and liberation. In both Purple Hibiscus and "The Headstrong Historian"—one of
7584-585: A year and a half writing her first children's book, Mama's Sleeping Scarf , which was published in 2023 by HarperCollins under the pseudonym "Nwa Grace James". Joelle Avelino, a Congolese-Angolan artist, illustrated the book. The book tells the story of the connections between generations through family interactions with a head scarf. Adichie uses both Igbo and English in her works, with Igbo phrases shown in italics and followed by an English translation. She uses figures of speech, especially metaphors, to trigger sensory experiences. For example, in Purple Hibiscus ,
7742-498: Is Ismat Chughtai , whose short story, "Lihaaf" (The Quilt), on a lesbian relationship between an upper-class Muslim woman and her maidservant created great controversy following its publication in 1942. Notable examples in the period up to World War II include: Following World War II , the artistic range and numbers of writers of short stories grew significantly. Due in part to frequent contributions from John O'Hara , The New Yorker would come to exercise substantial influence as
7900-558: Is "regarded as one of the most vital and original novelists of her generation". Her works have been translated into more than 30 languages. Obi-Young Otosirieze pointed out in his cover story about Adichie for the Nigerian magazine Open Country Mag in September 2021, that "her novels ... broke down a wall in publishing. Purple Hibiscus proved that there was an international market for African realist fiction post-Achebe [and] Half of
8058-445: Is a device to represent negative traits or behaviours. Adichie draws on figures from Igbo oral tradition to present facts in the style of historical fiction . She breaks with tradition in a way that contrasts with traditional African literature, given that women writers were often absent from the Nigerian literary canon , and female characters were often overlooked or served as supporting material for male characters who were engaged in
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#17327971795268216-412: Is a recurrent trope in short stories; whether in their ending, characterisation or length. As with any art form, the exact characteristics of a short story will vary depending on who is its creator. Characteristic of short story authors, according to professor of English, Clare Hanson, is that they are "losers and loners, exiles, women, blacks – writers who for one reason or another have not been part of
8374-501: Is a rich heritage of ancient folktales as well as a compiled body of short fiction which shaped the sensibility of modern Indian short story. Some of the famous Sanskrit collections of legends, folktales, fairy tales, and fables are Panchatantra , Hitopadesha and Kathasaritsagara . Jataka tales , originally written in Pali , is a compilation of tales concerning the previous births of Lord Gautama Buddha . The Frame story , also known as
8532-479: Is considerably relevant and stated that she was a major voice in the Third Generation of Nigerian writers , while Izuu Nwankwọ called her invented Igbo naming scheme as an "artform", which she has perfected in her works. He lauded her ability to insert Igbo language and meaning into an English-language text without disrupting the flow or distorting the storyline. In the judgement of Ernest Emenyonu , one of
8690-735: Is demonstrated by characters changing their names, a common theme in Adiche's short fiction, which serves to point out hypocrisy. By using the theme of immigration, she is able to develop dialogue on how her characters' perceptions and identity are changed by living abroad and encountering different cultural norms. Initially alienated by the customs and traditions of a new place, the characters, such as Ifemelu in Americanah , eventually discover ways to connect with new communities. Ifemelu's connections are made through self-exploration, which, rather than leading to assimilating into her new culture, lead her to
8848-699: Is one of the best-known writers of short stories in the Spanish language . " The Library of Babel " (1941) and " The Aleph " (1945) handle difficult subjects like infinity . Borges won American fame with " The Garden of Forking Paths ", published in the August 1948 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine . Two of the most representative writers of the Magical realism genre are also widely known Argentine short story writers, Adolfo Bioy Casares and Julio Cortázar . The Nobel laureate author Gabriel García Márquez and
9006-569: Is typically at the forefront of her works, which celebrate Igbo language and culture , and African patriotism, in general. Her writing is an intentional dialogue with the West, intent on reclaiming African dignity and humanity. A recurring theme in Adichie's works is the Biafran War. The civil war was a "defining moment" in the post-colonial history of Nigeria, and examining the conflict dramatises
9164-614: The Ramayana , the Mahabharata , and Homer 's Iliad and Odyssey . Oral narratives were often told in the form of rhyming or rhythmic verse , often including recurring sections or, in the case of Homer, Homeric epithets . Such stylistic devices often acted as mnemonics for easier recall, rendition, and adaptation of the story. While the overall arc of the tale was told over the course of several performances, short sections of verse could focus on individual narratives that were
9322-597: The code of silence , which, in the United States, often acts as censorship . She stated that molding a story to fit an existing narrative, such as characterising the Boko Haram 's kidnapping of schoolgirls as equal to the Taliban's treatment of women , is a form of censorship which hides the truth that Boko Haram opposes western-style education for anyone. Although she did not speak of her father's recent kidnapping and release, writer Nicole Lee of The Guardian said that
9480-402: The intersections of oppression, such as how class, race, gender and sexuality influence equal opportunities and human rights, causing global gender gaps in education, pay and power. In 2015, Adichie returned to the theme of feminism at the commencement address for Wellesley College and reminded students that they should not allow their ideologies to exclude other ideas and should "minister to
9638-575: The trans-Atlantic slave trade in school and had no understanding of the racism associated with being Black in the United States or class structures in the United Kingdom. It explores the central message of a "shared Black consciousness", as both of the characters, one in Britain and the other in America, experiences a loss of their identity when they try to navigate their lives abroad. Adichie
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#17327971795269796-462: The 18th century with the publication of the fictional anecdotal letters of Sir Roger de Coverley . In Europe, the oral story-telling tradition began to develop into written form in the early 14th century, most notably with Giovanni Boccaccio 's Decameron and Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales . Both of these books are composed of individual short stories, which range from farce or humorous anecdotes to well-crafted literary fiction, set within
9954-484: The 1970s that demonstrate the rise of the postmodern short story. While traditionalism maintained a significant influence on the form of the short story, minimalism gained widespread influence in the 1980s, most notably in the work of Raymond Carver and Ann Beattie . Carver helped usher in an "extreme minimalist aesthetic" and expand the scope of the short story, as did Lydia Davis , through her idiosyncratic and laconic style. The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges
10112-623: The 2018 PEN World Voices Festival, Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture at Cooper Union in Manhattan. Although the speech was centered on feminism and censorship, Adichie's questioning of why Clinton's Twitter profile began with "wife" instead of her own accomplishments became the focus of media attention, prompting Clinton to change her Twitter bio. Later that year, she spoke at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany about breaking
10270-553: The 5 July edition of the Vatican's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano . In her article, " Sognare come un'unica umanitàs " ("Dreaming as a Single Humanity"), Adichie recalled being berated at her mother's funeral for having criticised the church's focus on money, but she also acknowledged that Catholic rituals gave her solace during her mourning. She stated that Pope Francis' call in Fratelli tutti for recognition of everyone as part of
10428-492: The Biafran conflict, weaving together a love story that includes people from various regions and social classes of Nigeria, and how the war and encounters with refugees changes them. While completing her Hodder and MacArthur fellowships, Adichie published short stories in various magazines. Twelve of these stories were collected into her third book, The Thing Around Your Neck , published by Knopf in 2009. The stories focuses on
10586-640: The British newspaper, The Guardian , calling the essay "perfectly reasonable". That interview sparked a Twitter backlash from critics of her opinion, which included a former graduate of one of Adichie's writing workshops , Akwaeke Emezi . In response, Adichie penned "It Is Obscene: A True Reflection in Three Parts" and posted it on her website in June 2021, criticising the use of social media to air out grievances. The following month, students who were members of
10744-518: The Catholic faith and spurred her decision to raise her child as Catholic. By 2021, Adichie stated that she was a nominal Catholic and only attended mass when she could find a progressive community focused on uplifting humanity. She clarified that "I think of myself as agnostic and questioning". That year, her reflections on Pope Francis's encyclical Fratelli tutti were published in Italian in
10902-533: The LGBT community at the University of Cape Town , South Africa, boycotted her public lecture on their campus. Adichie admitted in an interview with Otosirieze Obi-Young in September that she was "deeply hurt" by the backlash and began a period of self-reflection on her biases, informed by reading anything she could find to help her understand trans issues. In late 2022, she faced further criticism for her views after another interview with The Guardian when she said, "So somebody who looks like my brother—he says, 'I'm
11060-718: The Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize, The London Magazine Short Story Prize, the Pin Drop Studio Short Story Award and many others attract hundreds of entries each year. Published and non-published writers take part, sending in their stories from around the world. In 2013, Alice Munro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature —her citation read "master of the contemporary short story." She said she hopes
11218-478: The Short-Story . During that same year, Matthews was the first one to name the emerging genre "short story". Another theorist of narrative fiction was Henry James , who produced some of the most influential short narratives of the time. The spread of the short story movement continued into South America, specifically Brazil. The novelist Machado de Assis was an important short story writer from Brazil at
11376-476: The United States to undertake further education at Drexel University , and would later study at three universities: Eastern Connecticut State University , Johns Hopkins University , and Yale University . Adichie grew up bilingually and writes in English and Igbo . Citing Chinua Achebe and Buchi Emecheta as her inspiration, she first published Decisions , a poetry collection, in 1997, which she followed with
11534-550: The University of Nigeria Campus Secondary School, with top distinction in the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), and numerous academic prizes. She was admitted to the University of Nigeria, where she studied medicine and pharmacy for a year and half, and served as the editor of The Compass , a student-run magazine in the university. In 1997, at the age of 19, Adichie published Decisions ,
11692-496: The University of Nigeria while her mother worked for the government in Enugu until 1973 when she became an administration officer at the University of Nigeria, and later the first female registrar . Adichie stayed at the University of Nigeria campus in the house previously occupied by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe . Her siblings include Ijeoma Rosemary, Uchenna "Uche", Chukwunweike "Chuks", Okechukwu "Okey" and Kenechukwu "Kene". Adichie
11850-542: The Uruguayan writer Juan Carlos Onetti are further significant magical realist short story writers from the Hispanic world. In Brazil, João Antonio made a name for himself by writing about poverty and the favelas . Detective literature there was led by Rubem Fonseca . João Guimarães Rosa wrote short stories in the book Sagarana, using a complex, experimental language based on tales of oral tradition. The role of
12008-640: The administration. Titles afforded to such staff include assistant registrar, senior assistant registrar and principal assistant registrar. In the United Kingdom , the term registrar is usually used for the head of the university's administration. The role is usually combined with that of secretary of the university's governing bodies and in these cases, the full title will often be "registrar and secretary" (or "secretary and registrar") to reflect these dual roles. The University of Cambridge in England uses
12166-509: The age" allowed her to use her celebrity "to demonstrate the power of dress and empower people from diverse contexts to embrace [fashion] ... which has everything to do with the politics of identity". Academics Floriana Bernardi and Enrica Picarelli credited her support of the Nigerian fashion industry with helping put Nigeria "at the forefront" of the movement to use fashion as a globally-recognised political mechanism of empowerment. Toyin Falola ,
12324-539: The apology, Adichie attempted to clarify her statement, by stressing that girls are socialised in ways that damage their self-worth, which has a lasting impact throughout their lives, whereas boys benefit from the advantages of male privilege, before transitioning. Some accepted her apology, and others rejected it as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist view that biological sex determines gender. The controversy emerged again in 2020 when Adichie voiced support for J. K. Rowling 's article on gender and sex, in an interview in
12482-421: The archaic spelling of " Registrary " for this office. In Canada , the registrar is an administrative position, usually responsible for admissions, records and registration, academic scheduling, front line service and support, strategic enrollment data management and analysis, academic policy, and graduation (sometimes known as convocation). In Ireland , the registrar is usually the chief academic officer, and
12640-483: The arrival of a king to challenge colonial and religious leaders symbolises Palm Sunday , and the usage of language referencing Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart invokes the memories of his work to her readers. Similarly, the name of Kambili, a character in Purple Hibiscus , evokes " i biri ka m biri " ("Live and Let Live"), the title of a song by Igbo musician Oliver De Coque . To describe pre- and post-war conditions, she moves from good to worse as seen in Half of
12798-463: The artistic and personal expression of the form. They may also attempt to resist categorization by genre and fixed formation. William Boyd , a British author and short story writer, has said: [a short story] seem[s] to answer something very deep in our nature as if, for the duration of its telling, something special has been created, some essence of our experience extrapolated, some temporary sense has been made of our common, turbulent journey towards
12956-426: The attention that a person pays to their fashion and style correlates to the amount of prestige and respectability they will be given by society. She began to recognise that people were judged for the way that they dressed. In particular, women writers wrote disparagingly about or trivialised attention to fashion, depicting woman who enjoyed fashion and makeup as silly, shallow or vain and without any depth. Acknowledging
13114-456: The award will bring readership for the short story, as well as recognising the short story for its own merit, rather than "something that people do before they write their first novel." Short stories were cited in the choice of other laureates as well: Paul Heyse in 1910 and Gabriel García Márquez in 1982. Short stories are sometimes adapted for radio, TV or film: As a concentrated, concise form of narrative and descriptive prose fiction,
13272-465: The bi-monthly magazine Desh (first published in 1933) was key in development of the Bengali short story. Two of the most popular detective story writers of Bengali literature are Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (the creator of Byomkesh Bakshi ) and Satyajit Ray (the creator of Feluda ). Notable examples in the post-World War II period include: The numbers of 21st-century short story writers run into
13430-598: The book by providing advance copies to booksellers, reviewers, and media houses, and sponsoring Adichie on a promotional tour. They also sent the manuscript to Fourth Estate , who accepted the book for publication in the United Kingdom in 2004. During that period, Adichie hired an agent, Sarah Chalfant of the Wylie Agency , to represent her. Purple Hibiscus was later published by Kachifo Limited in Nigeria in 2004, and subsequently translated into more than 40 languages. After her first book, Adichie began writing Half of
13588-470: The book of essays We Should All Be Feminists (2014); Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions (2017); a memoir, Notes on Grief (2021); and a children's book, Mama's Sleeping Scarf (2023). Adichie was born and raised in Enugu , the capital of Enugu State . After her secondary education, she attended the University of Nigeria , where she was the editor of the school's magazine, The Compass . At nineteen, she left Nigeria for
13746-489: The case Low v. Trump University because of his Mexican heritage. After the debate, she wrote on her Facebook that she felt ambushed by the BBC and that they had "sneakily [pitted her] against a Trump supporter" to create adversarial entertainment. In response, the BBC issued an apology for not informing her of the nature of the interview, but claimed they had designed the program to offer a balanced perspective. Adichie delivered
13904-472: The character Auntie Ifeoma embodies a womanist view through making all family members to work as a team and with consensus, so that each person's talents are utilised to their highest potential. In both her written works and public speaking, Adichie incorporates humour, and uses anecdotes , irony and satire to underscore a particular point of view. Adichie has increasingly developed a contemporary Pan-Africanist view of gender issues, becoming less interested in
14062-455: The church's focus on money and guilt do not align with her values. In a 2017 event at Georgetown University , she stated that differences in ideology between Catholic and Church Missionary Society leaders caused divisions in Nigerian society during her childhood, and she left the church around the time of the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. She acknowledged that the birth of her daughter and election of Pope Francis drew her back to
14220-634: The city, and she encouraged Black women to work with men to change the violent culture and celebrate their African roots. Her keynote address at the 2020 Congreso Futuro [ es ] (Future Conference) in Santiago, Chile, focused on the importance of listening. She said that, to become an effective advocate, a person must understand a wide variety of perspectives. She stressed that people become better problem solvers if they learn to listen to people with whom they may not agree, because other points of view help everyone recognise their common humanity. She
14378-458: The colonial accounts of history and develops the means to contest its distortions through indigenous knowledge , by recognising that colonial literature tells only part of the story and minimises African contributions. Adichie illustrates this in Half of a Yellow Sun , when mathematics instructor Odenigbo , explains to his houseboy, Ugwu , that he will learn in school that the Niger River
14536-500: The crowd was aware of her personal ordeal, which made her speech "all the more poignant". In 2016, Adichie was invited to speak about her thoughts on Donald Trump 's election to the US Presidency for the BBC's program Newsnight . When she arrived at the studio, she was informed that the format would be a debate between her and R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. , a Trump supporter and the editor-in-chief of The American Spectator ,
14694-576: The cycles which silence women's voices. She stated that studies had shown that women read literature created by men and women, but men primarily read works by other men. She urged men to begin to read women writers' works to gain an understanding and be able to acknowledge women's struggles in society. In 2019, as part of the Chancellor's Lecture Series, she gave the speech "Writer, Thinker, Feminist: Vignettes from Life" at Vanderbilt University 's Langford Auditorium. The speech focused on her development as
14852-447: The differences between traditional and western cultures. Her stories often point out failed cultures, particularly those which leave her characters in a limbo between bad options. At times, she creates a character as an oversimplified archetype of a particular aspect of cultural behavior to create a foil for a more complex character. Adichie gives her characters recognisable common names for an intended ethnicity, such as Mohammed for
15010-523: The duration of a single telling. It may be helpful to classify such sections as oral short stories. Another ancient form of short story popular during the Roman Empire was the anecdote , a brief realistic narrative that embodies a point. Many surviving Roman anecdotes were collected in the 13th or 14th century as the Gesta Romanorum . Anecdotes remained popular throughout Europe well into
15168-502: The early to mid 1900s in England were detective stories and thrillers. Many of these detective stories were written by authors such as G.K. Chesterton , Agatha Christie , and Dorothy L. Sayers . Graham Greene wrote his collection of short stories, Twenty-One Stories , between 1929 and 1954. Many of these short stories are classified in the genres of thriller, suspense, or even horror. The European short story movement during this time
15326-551: The evolution of the publishing industry and the submission guidelines of its constituent houses. As a point of reference for the genre writer, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America define short story length in the Nebula Awards for science fiction submission guidelines as having fewer than 7,500 words. Short stories date back to oral storytelling traditions which originally produced epics such as
15484-562: The evolving form of the short story. For example, J. D. Salinger 's Nine Stories (1953) experimented with point of view and voice, while Flannery O'Connor's well-known story, " A Good Man is Hard to Find " (1955), reinvigorated the Southern Gothic style. Cultural and social identity played a considerable role in much of the short fiction of the 1960s. Philip Roth and Grace Paley cultivated distinctive Jewish-American voices. Tillie Olsen 's " I Stand Here Ironing " (1961) adopted
15642-443: The experiences of Nigerian women, living at home or abroad, examining the tragedies, loneliness, and feelings of displacement resulting from their marriages, relocations, or violent events. The Thing Around Your Neck was a bridge between Africa and the African diaspora , which was also the theme of her fourth book, Americanah , published in 2013. It was the story of a young Nigerian woman and her male schoolmate, who had not studied
15800-527: The failure of contraception and an unexpected pregnancy, abandonment by her partner, single motherhood, social pressure and Zikora's identity crisis, and the various emotions she experiences about becoming a mother. Adichie's works show a deep interest in the complexities of the human condition. Recurrent themes are forgiveness and betrayal, as in Half of a Yellow Sun , when Olanna forgives her lover's infidelity, or Ifemelu's decision to separate from her boyfriend in Americanah . Adichie's examination of war shines
15958-417: The first collection of short stories was by Heinrich von Kleist in 1810 and 1811. In the United States, Washington Irving was responsible for creating some of the first short stories of American origin, " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow " and " Rip Van Winkle ". Edgar Allan Poe became another early American short story writer. His concise technique, deemed the "single effect", has had tremendous influence on
16116-447: The first true collections of short stories appeared between 1810 and 1830 in several countries. The first short stories in the United Kingdom were gothic tales like Richard Cumberland 's "remarkable narrative", "The Poisoner of Montremos" (1791). Novelists such as Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens also wrote influential short stories during this time. Germany soon followed the United Kingdom's example by producing short stories;
16274-558: The first writer of nothing but short stories to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature . Her award-winning short story collections include Dance of the Happy Shades , Lives of Girls and Women , Who Do You Think You Are? , The Progress of Love , The Love of a Good Woman and Runaway . Prominent short story awards such as The Sunday Times Short Story Award , the BBC National Short Story Award ,
16432-424: The formation of the modern short story. Examples include: In the latter half of the 19th century, the growth of print magazines and journals created a strong demand for short fiction of between 3,000 and 15,000 words. In 1890s Britain, literary periodicals such as The Yellow Book , Black & White , and The Strand Magazine popularized the short story. Britain was not alone in the endeavor to strengthen
16590-727: The frame narrative or story within a story , is a narrative technique that probably originated in ancient Indian works such as Panchatantra . The evolution of printing technologies and periodical editions were among the factors contributing to the increasing importance of short story publications. Pioneering the rules of the genre in the Western canon were, among others, Rudyard Kipling (United Kingdom), Anton Chekhov (Russia), Guy de Maupassant (France), Rabindranath Tagore (India and Bangladesh), Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera (Mexico) and Rubén Darío (Nicaragua). Early examples of short stories were published separately between 1790 and 1810, but
16748-447: The grave and oblivion. In the 1880s, the term "short story" acquired its modern meaning – having initially referred to children's tales. During the early to mid-20th century, the short story underwent expansive experimentation which further hindered attempts to comprehensively provide a definition. Longer stories that cannot be called novels are sometimes considered " novellas " or novelettes and, like short stories, may be collected into
16906-459: The history of the short story". The creation and study of the short story as a medium began to emerge as an academic discipline due to Blanche Colton Williams ' "groundbreaking work on structure and analysis of the short story" and her publication of A Handbook on Short Story Writing (1917), described as "the first practical aid to growing young writers that was put on the market in this country." In Uruguay , Horacio Quiroga became one of
17064-517: The human family and for their responsibility to care for each other allowed her to re-imagine what the church might be. Adichie is an activist and supporter of LGBT rights in Africa and has been vocal in her support for LGBT rights in Nigeria . She has questioned whether consensual homosexual conduct between adults rises to the standard of a crime, as crime requires a victim and harm to society. When Nigeria passed an anti-homosexuality bill in 2014, she
17222-675: The intersections of class, culture, gender, (post-)imperialism, power, race and religion. Struggle is a predominant theme throughout African literature, and her works follow that tradition by examining families, communities, and relationships. Her explorations go beyond political strife and the struggle for rights, and typically examine what it is to be human. Many of her writings deal with the way her characters reconcile themselves with trauma in their lives and how they move from being silenced and voiceless to self-empowered and able to tell their own stories. Adichie's works, beginning with Purple Hibiscus , generally examine cultural identity. Igbo identity
17380-485: The issues that sparked it. The University of Nigeria, Nsukka reappears in Adichie's novels to illustrate the transformative nature of education in developing political consciousness, and symbolises the stimulation of Pan-African consciousness and a desire for independence in Half of a Yellow Sun . It appeared in both Purple Hibisus and Americanah as the site of resistance to authoritarian rule through civil disobedience and dissent by students. The university teaches
17538-542: The late 17th century; one of the most famous collections was by Charles Perrault . The appearance of Antoine Galland 's first modern translation of the 1001 Arabian Nights , a storehouse of Middle Eastern folk and fairy tales, is the Thousand and One Nights (or Arabian Nights ) (from 1704; another translation appeared in 1710–12). His translation would have an enormous influence on the 18th-century European short stories of Voltaire , Diderot and others. In India, there
17696-519: The lives of common people, especially the oppressed classes. The prolific Indian author of short stories Munshi Premchand , pioneered the genre in the Hindustani language , writing over 200 short stories and many novels in a style characterized by realism and an unsentimental and authentic introspection into the complexities of Indian society. In 1884, Brander Matthews , the first American professor of dramatic literature, published The Philosophy of
17854-593: The message drawn from the talk in her subsequent speeches, including her address at the Hilton Humanitarian Symposium of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 2019. On 15 March 2012, Adichie became the youngest person to deliver a Commonwealth Lecture . The presentation was given at the Guildhall in London addressing the theme "Connecting Cultures". Adichie said, "Realistic fiction is not merely
18012-439: The more marketable form of "collections", of stories previously unpublished or published, but elsewhere. Sometimes, authors who do not have the time or money to write a novella or novel decide to write short stories instead, working out a deal with a popular website or magazine to publish them for profit. Around the world, the modern short story is comparable to lyrics , dramas, novels and essays – although examination of it as
18170-641: The most influential short story writers in the Spanish language. With a clear influence from Edgar Allan Poe , he had a great skill in using the supernatural and the bizarre to show the struggle of man and animal to survive. He also excelled in portraying mental illness and hallucinatory states. In India, Saadat Hasan Manto , the master of the short story in the Urdu language, is revered for his exceptional depth, irony, and sardonic humor. The author of some 250 short stories, radio plays, essays, reminiscences, and
18328-504: The most prominent scholars of Igbo literature , Adichie was "the leading and most engaging voice of her era" and he has described her as "Africa's preeminent storyteller". Toyin Falola , a professor of history, hailed her along other writers, as "intellectual heroes". Her memoir, Notes On Grief was positively praised by Kirkus Reviews as "an elegant, moving contribution to the literature of death and dying." Leslie Gray Streeter of The Independent said that Adichie's view on grief "puts
18486-401: The neighborhood to give a visible representation of the role of women in history and to serve as a symbol of equality. The neighborhood residents defeated a move by conservative politicians to remove the mural in 2021 through a petition drive of collected signatures. Luke Ndidi Okolo, a lecturer a Nnamdi Azikiwe University said: Adichie's novel treats clear and lofty subjects and themes. But
18644-512: The point with the most action) and resolution (the point when the conflict is resolved). Because of their length, short stories may or may not often follow this pattern. For example, modern short stories only occasionally have an exposition, more typically beginning in the middle of the action ( in medias res ). As with longer stories, plots of short stories also have a climax, crisis or turning point. In general, short stories feature endings which might be either conclusive or open-ended. Ambiguity
18802-425: The popularity of the short story. Several authors during this time wrote short stories centered on the devices of satire and humor. One such author, Hector Hugh Munro (1870–1916), also known by his pen name of Saki , wrote satirical short stories about Edwardian England. P.G. Wodehouse published his first collection of comical stories about the valet, Jeeves , in 1917. Other common genres of short stories during
18960-496: The recording of the real, as it were, it is more than that, it seeks to infuse the real with meaning. As events unfold, we do not always know what they mean. But in telling the story of what happened, meaning emerges and we are able to make connections with emotive significance." She stated that literature could build bridges between cultures because it united the imaginations of all who read the same books. Adichie accepted an invitation to speak in London in 2012, at TEDxEuston, because
19118-410: The relationship between beauty, fashion, style and socio-political inequalities, Adichie became committed to promoting body positivity as a means to acquire agency . She began to focus on body politics , taking particular pride in her African features such as her skin colour, hair texture and curves, and wearing bold designs featuring bright colours to make a statement about self-empowerment. Adichie
19276-512: The revival of short story salons such as those held by the short fiction company Pin Drop Studio. More than 690,000 short stories and anthologies were sold in the UK in 2017, generating £5.88 million, the genre's highest sales since 2010. Throughout the 2010s, there was frequent speculation about a potential "renaissance"; Sam Baker called it a "perfect literary form for the 21st century". In 2012, Pin Drop Studio launched what became
19434-454: The right to freedom of speech against those who undermine facts with partisan messaging. Adichie married Ivara Esege, a Nigerian doctor, in 2009, and their daughter was born in 2016. The family primarily lives in the United States because of Esege's medical practice, but they also maintain a home in Nigeria. Adichie has Nigerian nationality and permanent resident status in the US. Larissa MacFarquhar of The New Yorker stated that Adichie
19592-444: The rules for entering or leaving classes, and keeps a permanent record of grades and marks. In institutions with selective admission requirements, a student only begins to be in connection with the registrar's official actions after admission. Various grades of professional academic-related staff perform senior administrative and managerial roles in such universities on behalf of the registrar or head of department and head subsections of
19750-525: The ruling "narrative" or epistemological/experiential framework of their society." Still often cited Registrar (education) A registrar is a senior administrative executive within an academic institution (consisting of a college , university , or secondary school ) who oversees the management and leadership of the Registrar's Office. Typically, a registrar processes registration requests, schedules classes and maintains class lists, enforces
19908-619: The second annual Eudora Welty Lecture on 8 November 2017 at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C. The lecture was presented to a sold-out crowd and focused on her development as a writer. That year, she also spoke at the Foreign Affairs Symposium held at Johns Hopkins University. Her talk focused on the fragility of optimism in the face of the current political climate. Adichie and Hillary Clinton delivered
20066-433: The seduction of a friend's boyfriend in "Light Skin". Miscarriage, motherhood and the struggles of womanhood are recurring themes in Adichie's works, and are often examined in relation to Christianity, patriarchy , and social expectation. For example, in the short story "Zikora", she deals with the interlocking biological, cultural and political aspects of becoming a mother and expectations placed upon women. The story examines
20224-410: The short story has been theorised about through the traditional elements of dramatic structure : exposition (the introduction of setting, situation, and main characters), complication (the event that introduces the conflict), rising action , crisis (the decisive moment for the protagonist and his commitment to a course of action), climax (the point of highest interest in terms of the conflict and
20382-480: The short story movement. French author Guy de Maupassant composed the short stories " Boule de Suif " ("Ball of Fat", 1880) and " L'Inutile Beauté " ("The Useless Beauty", 1890), which are important examples of French realism . Russian author Anton Chekhov was also influential in the movement. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in India, many writers created short stories centered on daily life and
20540-413: The singer "reached many people who would otherwise probably never have heard the word feminism." But, she went on to state that the sampling caused a media frenzy with requests from newspapers world-wide who were keen to report on her new-found fame because of Beyoncé. Adichie said, "I am a writer and I have been for some time and I refuse to perform in this charade that is now apparently expected of me". She
20698-409: The social scene of the different socioeconomic groups. Rabindranath Tagore published more than 150 short stories on the lives of the poor and oppressed such as peasants, women, and villagers under colonial misrule and exploitation. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay , Tagore's contemporary, was another pioneer in Bengali short stories. Chattopadhyay's stories focused on the social scenario of rural Bengal and
20856-470: The socio-political and economic life of the community. Her style often focuses on strong women and adds a gendered perspective to topics previously explored by other authors, such as colonialism, religion, and power relationships. Adichie often separates characters into social classes to illustrate social ambiguities and traditional hierarchies. By using narratives from characters of different segments of society, as she reiterates in her TED talk, "The Danger of
21014-636: The spirit of the "bold LGBTQ activist [of] the African literary world where homosexuality is still treated as a fringe concept." Since 2017, Adichie has been repeatedly accused of transphobia , initially for saying that "my feeling is trans women are trans women" in an interview aired on Channel 4 in Britain. She apologised, and acknowledged that trans women need support and that they have experienced severe oppression, but she also stated that transgender women and other women's experiences are different, and one could acknowledge those differences without invalidating or diminishing either group's lived experience. After
21172-655: The state and serve as mentors to Nigerian youth. Adichie was among those he felt qualified as "intellectual heroes", who had "push[ed] forward the boundaries of social change". Adichie's book Half of a Yellow Sun was adapted into a film of the same title directed by Biyi Bandele in 2013. In 2018, a painting of Adichie was included in a wall mural at the Municipal Sport Center in the Concepción barrio of Madrid , along with 14 other historically influential women. The 15 women were selected by members of
21330-516: The stories included in The Thing Around Your Neck —Adichie examined these themes using the family as a miniature representation of violence. Female sexuality, both within patriarchal marriage relationships and outside of marriage, is a theme that Adichie typically uses to explore romantic complexities and boundaries. Her work discusses homosexuality in the context of marital affairs in stories such as "Transition to Glory", and taboo topics such as romantic feelings for clergy in Purple Hibiscus , as well as
21488-544: The subjects and themes, however, are not new to African novels. The remarkable difference of excellence in Chimamanda Adichie's Purple Hibiscus is the stylistic variation—her choice of linguistic and literary features, and the pattern of application of the features in such a wondrous juxtaposition of characters' reasoning and thought. Adichie's work has garnered significant critical acclaim and numerous awards. Book critics such as Daria Tunca wrote that Adichie's work
21646-494: The thousands. Female short story writers have gained increased critical attention, with British authors, in particular, exploring modern feminist politics in their writings. Sales of short-story fiction are strong. In the UK, sales jumped 45% in 2017, driven by collections from international names such as Alice Munro, a high number of new writers to the genre, including famous names like actor Tom Hanks (plus those who publish their work using readily accessible, digital tools), and
21804-548: The time, under the influences of Xavier de Maistre , Laurence Sterne , Guy de Maupassant , among others. At the end of the 19th century, the writer João do Rio became popular by short stories about the bohemianism . Lima Barreto wrote about the former slaves and nationalism in Brazil, with his most recognized work being Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma . Examples include: In the United Kingdom, periodicals like The Strand Magazine and Story-Teller contributed to
21962-405: The way in which the country's identity was shaped. Half of a Yellow Sun , her major work on the war, highlights how policies, corruption, religious dogmatism and strife played into the expulsion of the Igbo population and then forced their reintegration into the nation. Both actions had consequences, and Adichie presents the war as an unhealed wound because of political leaders' reluctance to address
22120-461: The way the West sees Africa and more interested in how Africa sees itself. Adichie, in a 2011 conversation with Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina , stated that the overriding theme of her works was love. Using the feminist argument " The personal is political ", love in her works is typically expressed through cultural identity, personal identity and the human condition, and how social and political conflict impact all three. Adichie frequently explores
22278-514: The world in a way that can change it. Minister radically in a real, active, practical, 'get your hands dirty' way". She has spoken at many commencement ceremonies, including at Williams College (2017), Harvard University (2018), and the American University (2019). Adichie was the first African to speak at Yale University 's Class Day, giving a lecture in 2019 that encouraged students to be open to new experiences and ideas and "find
22436-530: Was a medical doctor there. In 2000, she published her short story "My Mother, the Crazy African", which discusses the problems that arise when a person is facing two completely opposite cultures. After finishing her undergraduate degree, she continued studying and simultaneously pursued a writing career. While a senior at Eastern Connecticut, she wrote articles for the university paper Campus Lantern. She received her bachelor's degree summa cum laude with
22594-556: Was among the Nigerian writers who objected to the law, calling it unconstitutional, unjust and "a strange priority to a country with so many real problems". She stated that adults expressing affection for each other did not cause harm to society, but that the law would "lead to crimes of violence". Adichie was close friends with Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina , whom she credited with demystifying and humanising homosexuality when he publicly came out in 2014. Writer Bernard Dayo said that Adichie's eulogy to Wainaina in 2019 perfectly captured
22752-669: Was born in Umunnachi , Anambra State. Grace began her university studies in 1964, at Merritt College in Oakland , California, and later earned a degree in sociology and anthropology from the University of Nigeria. The Biafran War broke out in 1967 and James started working for the Biafran government at the Biafran Manpower Directorate. During the war, Adichie lost her maternal and paternal grandfathers. After Biafra ceased to exist in 1970, her father returned to
22910-515: Was born in Abba in Anambra State , and studied mathematics at University College, Ibadan , from which he graduated in 1957. James married Grace Odigwe on 15 April 1963, and moved with her to Berkeley in the United States, to complete his PhD at the University of California . After returning to Nigeria, he began working as a professor at the University of Nigeria at Nsukka in 1966. Her mother
23068-474: Was disappointed by the media portrayal, but acknowledged that "Thanks to Beyoncé, my life will never be the same again." Adichie was outspoken against critics who later questioned the singer's credentials as a feminist because she uses her sexuality to "pander to the male gaze". In defence of Beyoncé, Adichie said: "Whoever says they're feminist is bloody feminist." Scholar Matthew Lecznar said that Adichie's stature as "one of most prominent writers and feminists of
23226-431: Was discovered by a white man named Mungo Park , although the indigenous people had fished the river for generations. However, Odenigbo cautions Ugwu that, even though the story of Park's discovery is false, he must use the wrong answer or he will fail his exam. Adichie's works about African diaspora consistently examine themes of belonging, adaptation and discrimination. It is often shown as an obsession to assimilate and
23384-443: Was included on Vanity Fair ' s 2016 International Best-Dressed List , and cited Michelle Obama as her style idol. That year, Maria Grazia Chiuri , the first female creative director of French fashion company Dior , featured in her debut collection a T-shirt with the title of Adichie's TED talk, "We Should All Be Feminists". Adichie was surprised to learn that Dior had never had a woman rule its creative division and agreed to
23542-529: Was invited to be a visiting writer at the University of Michigan in Flint in 2014. The Renowned African Writers/African and African Diaspora Artists Visit Series required her to engage with students and teachers from high schools and universities, patrons of the local public library, and the community at large through forums, workshops, and lectures that discussed Purple Hibiscus , Americanah , and her personal writing experiences. Clips from her talks "The Danger of
23700-575: Was not unique to England. In Ireland, James Joyce published his short story collection Dubliners in 1914. These stories, written in a more accessible style than his later novels, are based on careful observation of the inhabitants of his birth city. In the first half of the 20th century, a number of high-profile American magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly , Harper's Magazine , The New Yorker , Scribner's , The Saturday Evening Post , Esquire , and The Bookman published short stories in each issue. The demand for quality short stories
23858-741: Was raised Catholic , and the family's parish was St. Paul's Parish in Abba. Adichie's father died of kidney failure in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic , and her mother died in 2021. As a child, Adichie read only English-language stories especially by Enid Blyton . Her juvenilia included stories with characters who were white and blue-eyed, modeled on British children she had read about. At ten, she discovered African literature and read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, The African Child by Camara Laye , Weep Not, Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o , and Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta . Adichie began to study her father's Biafran stories when she
24016-481: Was recognised with a Shorty Award in 2018 for her "Wear Nigerian Campaign". Adichie's 2009 TED Talk , "The Danger of a Single Story" is one of the most viewed TED Talks and her 2012 talk, "We Should All Be Feminists" was sampled by American singer Beyoncé as well as featured on a T-shirt by the French fashion house Dior in 2016. Adichie has received numerous academic awards, fellowships, and other honours, among them
24174-607: Was selected as one of 15 women to appear on the cover of the issue of British Vogue in an issue guest-edited by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex . In a 2021 discussion at Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus , Adichie spoke with the former Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel , and journalists Miriam Meckel and Léa Steinacker . They discussed that, for democracy to survive, people needed to preserve their traditions and history, be informed about intolerance and learn to accept diversity. Adichie said that she often uses fashion to educate people about diversity, and Merkel agreed that it could serve as
24332-410: Was so great and the money paid so well that F. Scott Fitzgerald repeatedly turned to short-story writing to pay his numerous debts. His first collection, Flappers and Philosophers , appeared in book form in 1920. Ernest Hemingway's concise writing style was perfectly suited for shorter fiction. Influenced by the short stories of Stephen Crane and Jack London , Hemingway's work "marks a new phase in
24490-426: Was the idea of persuading Nigerians to buy local products, as opposed to purchasing garments abroad, as had been done in the past. The posts on her page do not focus on her private life, but instead highlight her professional appearances all over the world, in an effort to show that style has the power to push boundaries and have global impact. She won a Shorty Award in 2018 for her "Wear Nigerian" campaign, and in 2019
24648-522: Was the keynote speaker of the 2021 Reykjavik International Literature Festival held in the Háskólbíó cinema at the University of Iceland , and presented the talk In Pursuit of Joy: On Storytelling, Feminism, and Changing My Mind. On 30 November 2022, Adichie delivered the first of the BBC 's 2022 Reith Lectures , inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt 's " Four Freedoms " speech. Her talk explored how to balance
24806-533: Was the only language her daughter spoke at the age of two. Speaking at the inaugural Gabriel García Márquez Lecture in Cartagena, Colombia in 2019, Adichie addressed violence in the country and urged leaders to focus on educating citizens from childhood to reject violence and sexual exploitation and end violent behaviors. Her speech was given in the Nelson Mandela barrio, one of the poorest neighborhoods of
24964-405: Was thirteen. In visits to Abba, she saw destroyed houses and rusty bullets scattered on the ground, and would later incorporate them and her father's accounts into her novels. Adichie began her formal education, which included both Igbo and English. Although Igbo was not a popular subject, she continued taking courses in the language throughout high school. She completed her secondary education at
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