By Japhet Alakam

When little Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born to the family of James Nwoye Adichie in the university community of Nsukka, little did the parents know that she will grow to become one of the best writers in the land. But , today as fate will have it, the little child has become the most prominent of a “procession of critically acclaimed young anglophone authors that is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Ever since 1997, when she published her first collection of poems (Decisions) and a play (For Love of Biafra) in 1998 ,it has been a steady rise and she has continued to publish many novels which won many awards.

Last week, young award winning Nigerian novelist and short story writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was selected as one of TIME magazine’s 2015 100 Most Influential People in the World, bringing to the fore the popular adage that says,”when a child wash his/her hand very well, he/she will dine with elders.”   With this development, the young Adichie who is the author of three novels, Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Americanah (2013), of a short story collection, The Thing around Your Neck (2009) has added another cap to her myriads of caps.

Her selection was based on her unique position as a literary success and an influential cultural voice.

Ms. Adichie studied political science at Eastern Connecticut State University, and has a Masters degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University and a Masters degree in African Studies from Yale.

She has held fellowships at Princeton-where she taught a writing course-and Harvard.

She is the first Nigerian recipient of numerous prestigious literary awards including the Orange prize, the National Book Critics Circle award, the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize and the Nonino Prize for fiction. She has, most recently, been shortlisted for the Dublin IMPAC prize, the most lucrative literary award in the world.

In addition, she was listed as one of the top twenty fiction writers under the age of forty by The New Yorker magazine. She has been awarded a Macarthur Fellowship, popularly known as the Macarthur ‘Genius’ Award.

Adichie has also been honoured by the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the ‘Global Ambassador’ award.

Her first TED talk, “The Danger of a Single Story”, is one of the most-watched TED talks and is a staple of school courses all over the world.

Her second TED talk, “We Should all be Feminists” has been a major influence in the ongoing worldwide resurgence of feminism, and inspired Beyonce’s popular anthem “Flawless”.

Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages and have sold over a million copies worldwide. The film adaptation of her most recent novel “Americanah” will be co-produced by Brad Pitt and Lupita Nyong’o.

She lives in Lagos, where she organizes an annual creative writing workshop.

Other Nigerians on the TIME 100 list are activist Obiageli Ezekwesili, president-elect Muhammadu Buhari and artist Chris Ofili.