Chimamanda Adichie wins Women’s Prize for Literature ‘Winner of Winners’
Nigerian writer and author of Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been voted winner of Women’s Prize for Literature “Winner of Winners,” according to a statement by the organisers.
Chimamanda was overwhelmingly voted as the winner for her novel Half of a Yellow Sun- Nigeria during the Biafran War.
The novel is about the end of colonialism, ethnic allegiances, class, race, and female empowerment – and how love can complicate all of these things. There was no challenge to this vote unlike in alleged ‘advanced democracies.’
Founded in 1996,the Women’s Prize for Fiction is the UK’s most prestigious annual book award celebrating and honouring fiction written by women. The Prize was set up to celebrate originality, accessibility, and excellence in writing by women and to connect world-class writers with readers everywhere.
Commenting on the prize, Chimamanda Adichie said: “I am especially moved to be voted ‘Winner of Winners’ because this is the Prize that first brought a wide readership to my work – and has also introduced me to the work of many talented writers.”
She will be presented with a silver edition of the Prize’s annual statuette, known as the ‘Bessie’, which was originally created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven as part of the gift of an anonymous donor. It will be an online event on December 6, 2020.
The list of the past winners of the prize include Helen Dunmore (1996), Anne Michaels (1997), Carol Shields (1998), Suzanne Berne (1999), Linda Grant (2000), Kate Grenville (2001), Ann Patchett (2002), Valerie Martin (2003), Andrea Levy (2004), Lionel Shriver (2005), Zadie Smith (2006), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2007), Rose Tremain (2008), Marilynne Robinson (2009), Barbara Kingsolver (2010), Téa Obreht (2011), Madeline Miller (2012), A. M. Homes (2013), Eimear McBride (2014), Ali Smith (2015), Lisa McInerney (2016), Naomi Alderman (2017), Kamila Shamsie (2018), Tayari Jones (2019), and Maggie O’Farrell (2020).
This list of 25 awardees revealed that there have been three Black writers and only one African.
Earlier in the year, the team organising the prize announced that they were looking to see the “Winner of Winners,” selected by a popular vote from readers, as part of their 25-anniversary celebrations.
