The 'ironic' question of Nigerian writing

Thousands of people across social media have been posting about Nigeria's literary heritage after a journalist asked acclaimed writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie if there were any bookshops in her country.

People have tweeted about the author more than 16,000 times since the question was asked in a public interview on Thursday evening in Paris.

A response on Friday posted by Adichie on her Facebook page has drawn a further 13,000 reactions and more than a thousand comments, and been shared over 3,000 times across the social networking site.

The interview - part of the Night Of Ideas event, a French government-backed initiative - was broadcast on Twitter and Facebook by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has been viewed nearly 38,000 times.

Journalist Caroline Broue asked Adichie if people read her books in Nigeria. Adichie replied, "They do, shockingly."

Broue then asked: "Are there any bookshops in Nigeria?"

Broue added news in France about Nigeria was dominated by stories of Boko Haram and violence, and the bookshop question was an invitation for Adichie to talk about a different aspect of her country.

Share: