Those who have read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will perhaps understand my excitement over the announcement that the Nigerian author will be delivering the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) vice-chancellor’s Open Lecture, writes Cape {town} Etc‘s Robyn Simpson. The lecture will be held virtually on July 28.
View this post on Instagram
UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng made the announcement on Friday.
“We are excited to have Adichie as the next speaker for the VC’s Open Lecture, which will be our second for this year.
“We are looking forward to this exciting lecture where Adichie’s eloquence and perspective as a writer and public speaker will inspire all of us to look beyond stereotypes and social norms to recognise our common humanity,” said Phakeng.
The Open Letter series was established in true Mandela Day-style, with the hopes to enable anyone in the community, whether they are connected to the university or not, to have the benefit of hearing first-hand from academics, researchers and innovators who have distinguished themselves in their areas of expertise.
I studied Adichie’s work during my time at Stellenbosch University and it served as the introduction for my love and respect towards African writers. Her first novel released in 2013, Purple Hibiscus, has since become one of my all-time favourite reads. It’s a story that blends beautifully the horrors of history and war and culture, all while tapping into feminism and the realities of being a young woman growing up in Nigeria.
Adichie uses her magic touch of fiction and realism to portray a unique type of storytelling that enables readers authentic insight into promises of freedom; about the blurred lines between childhood and adulthood; between love and hatred; between the old gods and the new. A style that has afforded readers a roaring introduction into an Africanness that I have never experienced through text before.
The topic for her lecture is in the process of being finalised and will be communicated in due course. I have no doubt, however, that the time spent with Adichie will be profound, no matter what is chosen to be focused on.
Purple Hibiscus is difficult to appreciate without diving into a full-blown thesis. However, its accolades are something to go by.
Her other award-winning books include “Half of a Yellow Sun”, which won the Orange Prize; and “Americanah”, a 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award winner.
“Dear Ijeawele: A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions“, was published in March 2017, and ”Notes on Grief“ was published earlier this year.
A lecture with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is something all Capetonians should be excited about. She has delivered two landmark TED talks, “The Danger of a Single Story” in 2009 and “We Should All Be Feminists” in 2012. The latter started a worldwide conversation about feminism and was published as a book in 2014.
She graduated summa cum laude from Eastern Connecticut State University with a degree in Communication and Political Science. She holds a Master’s in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Arts in African History from Yale University. She was awarded a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University between 2005 and 2006 and a fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute of Harvard University between 2011 and 2012.
Adichie has honorary doctorates from Eastern Connecticut State University, Johns Hopkins University, Haverford College, Williams College, the University of Edinburgh, Duke University, Amherst College, Bowdoin College, SOAS University of London, American University, Georgetown University, Yale University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Northwestern University.
She is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Adichie is also the co-founder of Farafina Trust, a Nigerian non-profit organisation that promotes reading, writing, social introspection and engagement with society through the literary arts.
To top it all off, Adichie has been named as an Icon of Change by Elle Magazine.
View this post on Instagram
So, join online for this exciting lecture where Adichie’s eloquence and perspective as a writer and public speaker will no doubt inspire all of us to look beyond stereotypes and social norms to recognise our common humanity.
The deets:
- When: Wednesday, July 28 2021
- Time: 6pm
- Platform: Microsoft Teams
Register online to attend the lecture.
#RobynintheHood
Insta: @Robyn.inthe.Hood
Twitter: @Robynhoodcpt
Picture: Unsplash
