7 Shocking Truths Chimamanda Revealed in New Interview

Who would have known?

I am a reader. I love to read. And one of my all-time favorite authors is no surprise, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, whose most recent short story, Zikora, released in 2020 was my favorite read of the year.

While Chimamanda does a lot of interviews and is well-known for being a prolific writer and celebrity, not much is really known about her own personal life.

Well, not until now that is. In a lengthy interview with Ebuka Obi-Uchendu for her BlackBoxInterview, Chimamanda revealed a lot of things about herself – more than she’s ever previously revealed in fact and wow! Let’s just say there’s a lot to dig into.

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1. She doesn’t watch mainstream American television

At one point during the interview, Ebuka asks Chimamanda what she watches to which she revealed that she likes to watch European television that is closed captioned, as well as documentaries. She praises these types of programs for being “real”.

When Ebuka asked her about what she doesn’t watch, Chimamanda said:

I would not watch mainstream American comedies. That and mainstream tv shows in the US that are sort of on ABC, CBS, and NBC. I would almost never watch them. They bore me.

2. She doesn’t really like music

When asked about what she does for fun, Chimamanda revealed that she reads for fun. When asked how she feels about music, she revealed that she doesn’t really like music and would most times only listen to music when she’s working out, during dinner with friends, or with her daughter in the car because her daughter is a lover of music.

3. She cannot swim

Chimamanda revealed with a laugh that she cannot swim because her father never thought there was a reason she’d need to learn how to swim.

4. Her books are fiction – but people often forget that

In one of the funnier parts of the interview, Chimamanda revealed that although all of her books are fiction, she has had to re-iterate that a number of times because people a lot of times think that her books are autobiographical when they are not.

A funny story she gave about this was about a time when she was doing a book signing. A woman kept trying to come around the table and when asked about why she wanted to come around the table, the woman said “I want to see your feet where he poured hot water.”

She reveals that it got to a point where she had to start off all her Purple Hibiscus events by saying to people, “My father is the loveliest man, he’s nothing like this character.”

5. Purple Hibiscus wasn’t the first book she submitted to agents

While Purple Hibiscus is Chimamanda’s first published novel, it was not the first book she submitted to agents to get published. That other book according to her was a really big book that was really bad. She says that the book was rejected by every agent and that the reason she thinks the book was so bad was because it wasn’t honest.

6. She attracted more white men than black men in America

In another funny part of the interview, Chimamanda revealed that while in America, she seemed to attract white men moreso than black men. She said that her best friend thinks the reason is because she doesn’t have wide hips. 😂

7. She made up the name 'Chimamanda '

In arguably the most shocking revelation of the entire interview, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie revealed that she invented the name Chimamanda. Her parents didn’t name her Chimamanda. She was born Ngozi Grace but growing up she never felt like Grace, and Ngozi felt to common. So in primary school, she named herself Amanda at confirmation. Then she moved to America and didn’t quite like being referred to as Amanda, she wanted something Nigerian because she no longer wanted an ‘English name’. So, because she already had Amanda on all her official documents, she still wanted Amanda to be a part of the name and so she came up with Chimamanda.

Isn’t that crazy? My mind was absolutely blown. Still is.

Well, if you’re a Chimamanda fan like me and would like to watch the entire interview, then here you go.

That’s All.

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