I think if you've lived in the world as a man, with the privileges the world accords to men, and then change gender, it's difficult for me to accept that then we can equate your experience with the experience of a woman who has lived from the beginning in the world as a woman, and who has not been accorded those privileges that men are.' 'My feeling,' she said, 'is that trans women are trans women. The interviewer had asked Adichie about feminism as it relates to trans women. In an Instagram story Wednesday, Emezi resurrected their criticisms of comments that Adichie - who has championed LGBTQ rights in Nigeria, a country where it is still illegal to be LGBTQ, where anti-LGBTQ violence is common and where Twitter has recently been banned - made in 2017 to Channel 4. In order to understand their current battle, you have to go back a few years - and it takes some untangling to comprehend their exchanges. Pride Month 4 Books To Broaden Your Pride Month Reading List Meanwhile, Adichie's recent Notes on Grief was hailed on WHYY's Fresh Air in May, and her Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, was named one of NPR's Best Books of 2017. Earlier this month, Emezi, who uses they/them pronouns, was invited to give a list of Pride Month reading recommendations on Morning Edition, and their latest book, Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir, received a stellar review. In return, Emezi, a nonbinary person, says that Adichie 'hates trans people,' and is trying to use her platforms to oppress the queer community.īoth writers are frequently featured on NPR. Two literary stars from Nigeria are having a very public feud right now, and their personal beefs are heavily overlaid with big questions about feminism, gender identity, cancel culture, social media and anti-LGBTQ violence.Ĭhimamanda Ngozi Adichie - author of such books as Americanah and Half a Yellow Sun, and a celebrated feminist who has been sampled by Beyoncé - has accused a younger writer who was once her student, Akwaeke Emezi, of being an opportunist who has tried to build on their former teacher's fame. 2020.Ĭhristophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in Paris in Jan.

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