Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie received the National Book Critics Circle Award in the fiction category for her novel Americanah (Alfred A. Knopf). The story involves a Nigerian couple who are separated, one going to the United States for college and one living in London. Eventually, they both return to Nigeria.
Like the character in her novel, Adichie left Nigeria at the age of 19 to study at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University and graduated summa cum laude in 2001. She later earned a master’s degree in creative writing at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and a master’s degree in Africana studies from Yale University. She has taught at Princeton University and Harvard University.
