Adichie elected member of American Academy of Arts and Letters

Nigeria’s Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was elected as writer for Nigeria in the Foreign Honourary Members category alongside Kaija Saariaho (composer of Finland) and Zadie Smith, (writer of England). Others elected in the literature category include Henri Cole (poet), Junot Diaz (writer), Amy […]

Nigeria’s Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She was elected as writer for Nigeria in the Foreign Honourary Members category alongside Kaija Saariaho (composer of Finland) and Zadie Smith, (writer of England).

Others elected in the literature category include Henri Cole (poet), Junot Diaz (writer), Amy Hempel (writer), Edward Hirsch (poet), Ursula K. Le Guin (writer), Colum McCann (writer), Ann Patchett (writer), and Kay Ryan (poet).

New members will be inducted in mid-May, when the American Academy of Arts and Letters holds its annual induction and award ceremony, by Calvin Trillin, secretary. Fourteen members will be inducted into the 250-person organisation and President Yehudi Wyner will induct the three foreign honorary members. Joyce Carol Oates will deliver the centennial Blashfield Foundation Address. An exhibition of art, architecture, books, and manuscripts by new members and recipients of awards will be on view in the galleries from May 18 to June 11.

The American Academy of Arts and Letters was founded in 1898 as an honour society of the country’s leading architects, artists, composers, and writers. Founding members include William Merritt Chase, Kenyon Cox, Daniel Chester French, Childe Hassam, Henry James, Theodore Roosevelt, Elihu Vedder, and Woodrow Wilson.

In addition to electing new members as vacancies occur, the Academy seeks to “foster and sustain an interest in Literature, Music, and the Fine Arts” by administering over 70 awards and prizes, exhibiting art and manuscripts, funding performances of new works of musical theater, and purchasing artwork for donation to museums across the country.

 

Adichie is one of Nigeria’s most renowned writers. Her novels include ‘Half of a yellow Sun’, ‘Americanah’, ‘Purple Hibiscus’, and a collection of short stories, ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’.