Chimamanda Adichie awarded Doctor of Letters by University of Edinburgh

Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Adichie, has been awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of  Letters by the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

The award was presented by Timothy O’Shea, vice chancellor of the university, in recognition of her achievement an author and public intellectual.

While delivering her speech, the 39-year-old author of We Should All Be Feminists told the audience that she was “very fortunate” to receive the honour.

She said: “It is lovely to be in this place, which is hallowed. I feel very fortunate to be included among the people who have been honored with a degree from this university.”

Barbara Bompani, director of the Centre for African Studies, who proposed Adichie for the award, said there are many stories of the influence that “Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s work has had on the lives, thoughts and creativity of others”.

“Through her writing, her advocacy, and her public engagement, she inspires all of us to better understand our own, and other peoples’ stories.”

Adichie is a prominent contemporary writer who has authored three award-winning novels, Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, and Americanah, and a short story collection, The Thing around Your Neck.

Her most recent work, Dear Ijeawale, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, is a series of letters about feminism and motherhood.