Award-winning Nigerian writer and activist Chimamanda Adichie, author of the acclaimed novel Half of a Yellow Sun, is among the nominees for Forbes Africa’s Person of the Year award for 2014. Also up for the honour are Rwandan economist and the president of the African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka; Thuli Madonsela, South African advocate and the nation’s Public Protector, who helped draft the country’s constitution in 1994; Nigerian business magnate Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man; and Arunma Oteh, director-general of Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission.
Adichie’s novel Half of a Yellow Sun, which follows characters during the Biafran War, was adapted into a film last year by Nigerian playwright and stage director Biyi Bandele, starring British-Nigerian Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) and Thandie Newton, as well as Nollywood actors Genevieve Nnaji and O.C. Ukeje. The film version of the book, which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, set box office records in its native Nigeria (after being delayed a few months by local government censors).
In addition to her writings, Achidie is nominated for her 2012 TED talk, “We Should All Be Feminists”, in which she shared her experiences of being an African feminist, and her views on gender construction and sexuality. (Parts of Adichie’s speech was sampled in Beyoncé’s 2013 song, ‘Flawless,’ a decision that was not entirely free of controversy.)
If Adichie takes the Forbes award (which include a public vote), then it will mark the first time that an author has won the award. To cast your vote on Forbes Africa’s Person of the Year, click here.
Culled from Feva TV
