A new display is featured in the library this month. Gloria Oladejo '25 created a display for Nigerian Independence Day. Gloria selected books by some of her favorite Nigerian authors - Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Ayobami Adebayo, and Helen Oyeyemi. These authors are deemed as some of the best writers of today. They've either been awarded the Booker Prize or made the short-list. The Booker Prize is a prestigious literary award for the "best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language." Adichie is known for her best selling books Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, and Americanah (a book that was read by many SAS students in their English classes). Chinua Achebe is best known for his book, Things Fall Apart, another book that is read by our students in their English classes. Ayobami Adebayo is best known for her books, Stay With Me and A Spell of Good Things, while Helen Oyeyemi's Gingerbread, Peaces and Boy, Snow Bird are just a few of her many writings.
Gloria tells us: "Aside from the arts, Nigerians have also been making waves in literature. Chinua Achebe's literary masterpiece, Things Fall Apart to the revolutionary feminist works of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie serve as few exemplars out of many of Nigerian authors' impact within the literary world.r"
"As a child however, my first exposure to Nigerians' literary prowess was through the words of my mother. Her myriad of proverbs and intricately worded slights showed me how to use words through creative means and how the act of doing so was embedded in our culture."
We are so grateful to Gloria for sharing her culture and love of literature. Happy Nigerian Independence Day!