Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Renowned Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has conquered the international literary scene with novels such as "The Purple Hibiscus" and "Americanah". She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017.

What do you see as the responsibilities of writers in the current socio-political context?
The sole responsibility of the fiction writer is to her art and to creating truthful imaginative work which resists all forms of censorship, whether self-imposed or from external socio-political sources.

How do you reconcile fiction and activism in your literary work?
Fiction that takes activism as its starting point risks becoming empty propaganda. I see both as quite distinct. My fiction aims to humanize while some of my essays and nonfiction could be fairly described as activism, which is to say that their intent is clearly to persuade or enlighten or bring about some form of change.

How have your personal experiences influenced your feminist works, such as We Should All Be Feminists?
This was a TED talk I delivered some years ago, in which I used stories from my life and from my observations. My approach to feminism has always been rooted in stories and lived experience, rather than in theory. My childhood was joyful and I had wonderful parents, but I knew very early on, as a child, that the world did not extend the same grace to women as it did to men. As a storyteller, I am deeply alert to the granular details of human experience — I watch and listen and ask questions.

What does this Sorbonne University Honorary Doctorate mean to you? How do you consider the achievement in the broader perspective of your career?
I’m very honored to be recognized and to become part of a larger French intellectual tradition. I’ve been fortunate to have honorary degrees from well regarded institutions in the past and they serve as a form of encouragement, especially as writing can be such a solitary exercise.

In an era of increasing political and cultural polarization, what role do you think institutions like Sorbonne University can play in amplifying diverse literary voices and fostering global literary dialogue?
Even without political polarization, diverse voices matter. Stories matter. Literature is our last frontier for understanding ourselves and our world. Diverse stories remind us that there are multiple points of view and that the humanity of every single person matters. If we are to build a world of peaceful co-existence, we need to hear different voices. Institutions like Sorbonne University can and should make a priority of bringing different voices together.