Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: novelist or polemicist?
The celebrated thinker and writer is at her best not in the realm of fiction, but of fact
Can you be a good polemicist and a good novelist? To judge by the accolades offered to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, you can. Her novels have been lavished with awards and praise: “Americanah”, her third novel, won a National Book Critics Circle award in 2013 and was named one of the New York Times’s 100 best books of the century. Meanwhile, her polemics have been acclaimed by readers and, better yet, by Beyoncé (the singer used lines from a speech by Ms Adichie in a song, “Flawless”).
Explore more
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Dream on”
Culture
March 8th 2025- Prisoner swaps are controversial, but there are sure to be more
- Meghan Markle’s new Netflix show is out of touch with the times
- Why the art market is growing more friendly to crypto
- AI unleashes a weird new genre of political communication
- Surreal “Severance” brilliantly captures the reality of office life
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: novelist or polemicist?
From the March 8th 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
Jane Austen’s forgotten inspirations
A new book investigates the authors whom Austen revered
Meet Generation Alpha
People are curious about what’s in store after Gen Z. But there is a problem
Let there be lights, camera, action! (But not too much action)
God is back on the box
The best way to curb the cruelty of the world’s worst regimes
First get your facts straight, argues Kenneth Roth, a top human-rights campaigner
The best- or worst-timed book in history
“The Technological Republic” calls for techies to work with Washington. But that is already under way
A new novel is published amid a boom in dystopian fiction
Laila Lalami’s “The Dream Hotel” tackles technology and privacy