Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been
awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction
Winner of Winners’ for her novel Half of
Yellow Sun.
The public choose Chimamanda’s novel
over a stellar-line up including Zadie Smith, the late Andrea Levy, Lionel Shriver, Rose Tremain and Maggie O’Farrell amongst others.
This one-off award makes the culmination of the prize’s year long 25th anniversary celebrations forming a key part of the Reading Women Campaign which champions a quarter of a century of phenomenal winners.
Throughout 2020, thousands of readers embarked on a challenge to read all 25 previous winners of the prize joining the prize digital book club to share their thoughts and downloading all newly created online reading guides MD exclusive author interviews. Over 8,500 people joined in the vote in September.
Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie’s haunting novel, originally won
the Women’s Prize for Fiction (then the
Orange Prize) in 2007. Set in 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. First published in 2006, it garnered
critical and popular acclaim around the
world and was adapted into a film
starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie
Newton in the lead roles and was
released worldwide in 2013.
Chimamanda, who is currently in Lagos,
Nigeria, thanked the Prize for this special
award. I’m 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!
Adichie will be presented with a specially
commissioned 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.
