Renowned Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has shared that she welcomed twin boys in 2024, expanding her family, which already includes her nine-year-old daughter.
In an interview with The Guardian, Adichie spoke about the overwhelming public interest in her life, her personal losses, and the challenges of balancing motherhood with her writing career.
“I want to protect my children,” she said. “I’m fine with them being mentioned, but I don’t want the focus to shift entirely to them.”
The 47-year-old author has consistently kept her personal life out of the public eye, including her marriage to physician Ivara Esege in 2009. “Nigerians are… they want to know about your personal life. Because of that, I am resistant. I very rarely talk about it,” she explained.
After a ten-year hiatus from fiction, Adichie is preparing to release Dream Count, a novel that delves into themes of immigration, motherhood, and marriage. She admitted that her journey into motherhood had temporarily hindered her creative process. “There were years when I was almost existentially afraid that I wouldn’t write again. It was unbearable,” she confessed.
Her breakthrough came while writing Notes on Grief, a work inspired by the death of her father in 2020. Reflecting on her upcoming book, she noted, “My God, it’s about my mother. It wasn’t intentional. I’m glad it’s not a sad book. She wouldn’t have wanted a sad book dedicated to her.”
