Acclaimed African Authors Trivia Quiz

Answer: Buchi Emecheta

"In the Ditch", 1972, is the debut novel of the Nigerian writer Buchi Emecheta (1944, Lagos, Nigeria - 2017, London, England). Emecheta got married at 16, and at 18 she went to London to meet her husband. At the age of 22, pregnant with her 5th child, she divorced her husband.

She managed to raise her children, study, graduate, and work. In trying to maintain her sanity, she started writing. "In the Ditch" is partially autobiographical, reflecting her personal experience as a poor black woman. In "In the Ditch" Adah, a Nigerian woman, was abandoned by her husband and depended on state welfare and double jobs to survive and raise her children.

Answer: Buchi Emecheta

"Second Class Citizen", 1974, tells the story of Adah, a child from Igbo, who has to overcome tribal domination over women. She dreamed about moving to London. Adah gets married and manages to go to London where her husband is studying. Once there, she has to live with the prejudice of poverty and racism, and with an abusive husband. Due to her strength and tenacity, she manages to raise her children, study, work, and become a writer. "Second Class Citizen" is also an autobiographical book. Emecheta's books focus on racial and sexual discrimination suffered by a black woman living in the UK.

Answer: Buchi Emecheta

"The Bride Price" (1976) is the first book written by Emecheta, but the original version was lost because her husband threw the manuscript into the fire. This act was the last straw in the abusive marriage. She later rewrote the novel and dedicated it to her mother. "The Bride Price" is the story of a girl whose father passed away and she, her mother, and her brothers had to return to their home village where, according to tribal custom, they're "inherited" by her father's brother.

Answer: Buchi Emecheta

"The Joys of Motherhood", 1979, is a book by Emecheta addressing the "need for a woman to be fertile, and above all to give birth to sons". The book tells the story of a traditional woman who thought her wealth lay in having many children who would certainly, according to tradition, take care of her in her old age. But things don't turn out that way.

Answer: Buchi Emecheta

"Head above Water", 1986, is a non-fictional book. It is an autobiographical book in which Emecheta discusses her days in Nigeria, and her life in England until she became a renowned author. Part of this book was published in Granta Magazine (number 7, 1st March 1983).

Answer: Nadine Gordimer

"The Lying Days", 1953, is the first novel by South African writer Nadine Gordimer (1923-2014), who published more than 30 books, most of them chronicles that make clear the social destruction that occurred in South Africa during the apartheid regime.

The book tells the story of Helen Shaw, the daughter of a white, middle-class couple. As she grows up, she begins to be aware of life around her.

Answer: Nadine Gordimer

Gordimer's "The Conservationist", 1974, was the joint winner of the Booker-McConnell Prize for fiction. The main protagonist is Mehring, a middle-aged, attractive, rich, white South African man. The book deals with the problems of South Africa after the changes of the 1940s and the difficulties that white people have in coming out of the racist society.

Answer: Nadine Gordimer

"Burger's Daughter", 1979, is a political and historical novel by Nadine Gordimer. It is set in the mid-1970s and details the action of a group of activist white people who seek to overthrow the South African government, which supports apartheid. "Burger's Daughter" was first published in the United Kingdom; it was initially banned from circulation in South Africa.

Answer: Nadine Gordimer

"My Son's Story", 1990, is the ninth novel by Nadine Gordimer, written in the last years of the Apartheid regime. The book tells the story of a teacher classified by South African law as mixed race who has an illicit romance with a white woman. This fact drives him and his family to fight against apartheid.

In 1991, Nadine Gordimer was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, and the Academy cites this book in their press release.

Answer: Nadine Gordimer

"No Time Like the Present", 2012, was the last novel published by Nadine Gordimer during her lifetime. The novel is set after the end of Apartheid. The main characters are an interracial South African couple. He is a college professor, white, half Jewish, half Catholic, and she is the daughter of a South African Methodist Minister.

They had married when interracial marriage was illegal; with the end of apartheid, they became a "respectable" couple. However, despite the end of Apartheid, the couple had to face problems in a society with a lot of poverty, unemployment, corruption, violence, and AIDS.

Answer: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (1977, Nigeria) grew up in Nigeria; at the age of 19 she moved to the United States to complete her studies. She published a collection of poems and a plays before publishing "Purple Hibiscus", in 2003. In this book, a young woman describes the drama within her wealthy family, subjected to a violent, religious fanatic father.

Answer: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

"Half of a Yellow Sun", 2006, is an Adichie novel that takes place before and during the Biafran War, which lasted from 1967 to 1970. It deals with the effects of the war on relationships between five people: the twin daughters of an influential businessman, a Nigerian houseboy, a professor, and a British expatriate. For this book, the author received the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2007.

In 2013 the book was adapted for film, under the same name.

Answer: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

"The Thing Around Your Neck", 2009, is a collection of short stories, which was very well received by critics. In these fictional stories, the author explores the experiences of several characters from Nigeria and America. The 12 short stories that make up this book were previously published in different magazines.

"The Thing Around Your Neck", the short story that gives the book its name, tells the story of Akunna, a woman who wins an American visa in a lottery, the dream of many Nigerians. Akunna, as well as her friends and relatives, thinks that after a short time in her new country she will have a beautiful house and a modern car. Upon arriving in the USA, she faces another reality: she is molested by the uncle who welcomes her, has to look for another place to live, gets a job that barely allows her to pay her expenses, and has no resources to continue her studies. When she meets a white American boyfriend, cultural differences become very evident, creating difficulties that perhaps not even love can overcome.

Answer: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

With the novel "Americanah", Adichie won the 2013 U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. The book is about a young Nigerian couple during the time that Nigeria was under military dictatorship. The girl goes to the US to attend university, where she faces several types of racial discrimination.

The boy can't get a visa to go to the US and spends time in London. With the re-democratization of Nigeria, the young woman, who became successful with her blog about race in America, returns to her homeland and meets her old boyfriend, now a successful businessman.

Answer: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

"We Should All Be Feminists", 2014, by Chimamanda Adichie, is a book-length essay that analyzes what it means to be a feminist. The author treats the subject with lightness and humor: a definition of feminism for the 21st century. This definition focuses on inclusion and awareness. Throughout the work, it is clear that the gender division is harmful to both women and men.