Statement from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

[Immunetypegoblin]

www.chimamanda.com/, published yesterday.

She is angry. One can understand why. One to watch I think.

Oof.

She gets it. And she is ANGRY.

I think we are going to see a lot more of this.

By ‘this’ I mean women in the public eye getting angry and speaking out.

Wow. It’s so beautifully written, and so angry. I’ve never read her books but that makes me want to start.

She has such a way with words. What a brilliant essay.

Wow. She's wonderful and her rage is entirely justified. That other person seems frankly disturbed.

I’ve never read her books but that makes me want to start.

Do it, you will not regret it.

Thanks for that link. It is an incredible piece of writing which isn't surprising given that it is by Chimamanda Ngozi Agochi but it's a breathtakingly well put together argument.

My god. That is awful.Another angry, threatening TRA.

Part 3, about people on twitter, had me nodding along.

What a wonderful response. I think so highly of her.

Part Three is amazing:

People who ask you to ‘educate’ yourself while not having actually read any books themselves, while not being able to intelligently defend their own ideological positions, because by ‘educate,’ they actually mean ‘parrot what I say, flatten all nuance, wish away complexity.’

So, so true.

👏👏👏 Chimamanda!

A powerful piece. Human and brave and dignified.

Wow. I have no idea of the women she is talking about but what a nasty individual.

As ever it was beautifully written.

"There are many social-media-savvy people who are choking on sanctimony and lacking in compassion, who can fluidly pontificate on Twitter about kindness but are unable to actually show kindness. People whose social media lives are case studies in emotional aridity. "

And

"The assumption of good faith is dead. What matters is not goodness but the appearance of goodness. We are no longer human beings. We are now angels jostling to out-angel one another. God help us. It is obscene."

She is right to be very pissed off.

@PurgatoryOfPotholes

She has such a way with words. What a brilliant essay.

She really does! I wish I could write like that. Blistering essay and not a word out of place.

It’s awful the way she’s been treated but I hope that because high profile people like her are angry about this that others listen.

What a powerful piece

I saw this and wondered if there would be anything about it on here. She is brilliant isn’t she.

It is astonishing that someone can simultaneously want to piggy back of her reputation and at the same time trash it.

I think I do know who it is about and that person has previously had a thread about them on here. I will not say anymore as I do not want the thread to be deleted.

I have recently read her short book Zikora which I think many of you on here would love. It is about a pregnant woman who has a prickly but loving relationship with her mum. So much is packed into that little book.

I think one of the people she refers to is Akwaeke Emezi. I remember threads on this from 2019 when their novel was nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction. Sorry, no time to search now but hope that's enough information for anyone who wants to look at this further.

That was really horrible to read. Poor her

Very easy to see why she's an award winning writer. Incredibly well put and like pp I was muttering 'alleluia' to myself while reading part three.

I'm going to buy one of her books.

Blistering is right! I've missed reading some damn fine fiction. What I've been into doesn't hit the mark.

I think I've just found a new favourite!

I like an essay from an author, would like to see more from JKR and CNA.

I wasn’t sure whether to name the name. However:

My addressing this lie will indeed get this person some attention. May they bask in it.

She's brilliant.

She really is an amazing writer and thinker. That's a blistering take down phrased with the most beautiful precision.

A really great piece. This in particular rang true for me:

People who claim to love literature – the messy stories of our humanity – but are also monomaniacally obsessed with whatever is the prevailing ideological orthodoxy. People who demand that you denounce your friends for flimsy reasons in order to remain a member of the chosen puritan class.

I think this is why things like pronouns on emails make me feel so anxious. Not because I'm specifically, desperately against pronouns, but because they signal this kind of thinking and behaviour: step out of line and I will cut you. So if people at the top of an organisation all have their pronouns displayed it chills debate and discussion (about valid issues for an organisation, not just idle chat) because you assume that you will be silenced as transphobic. Which is probably the idea really.

Also Suggesting that Chimamanda's parents died as a punishment for her transphobia?? Wow. That's a shockingly cruel thing to say.