Chimamanda Elected into US Academy of Arts and Letters

Award winning Nigerian Author, Chimamanda Ngozi- Adichie has been elected into the American Academy of Arts and Letters as a foreign honorary member.

According to a statement from the Academy on http://artsandletters.org , the honorary members will be inducted at the annual induction in May.

This induction will make Chimamanda the second Nigerian to be inducted into the academy after Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate, was inducted in 1986.

The Academy explained that Chimamanda will be honoured alongside 14 others.

The statement reads in part: “When the American Academy of Arts and Letters holds its annual induction and award ceremony in mid-May, Calvin Trillin, secretary, will induct fourteen members into the 250-person organisation and Yehudi Wyner, president will induct three foreign honorary members.”

The objective of the Academy include fostering and sustaining 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 theatre, and purchasing artwork for donation to museums across the country.

Some of her previous awards include: Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction 2007 (Half of a Yellow Sun); The MacArthur Fellowship 2008 for Fiction and The PEN Open Book Award, 2007 (Half of a Yellow Sun).