Globally renowned Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has shared an inspiring account of perseverance, revealing that she received 25 rejections for her debut novel, Purple Hibiscus, before it was finally published.
Speaking at the inaugural grand finale of the Things Fall Apart Festival held in Enugu in July, Adichie reflected on her early struggles and how those rejections shaped her resolve and humility as a young writer.
“The thought of quitting writing was never an option for me because writing is my vocation. It’s what I believe I’m here to do—it’s spiritual. I feel it’s a gift I’ve been given,” Adichie said.
“Even if I hadn’t been published, I’d still be writing today.”
Adichie, whose works have since earned global acclaim, emphasized that while the rejections were disheartening, they did not diminish her deep passion for writing.
A Humbling Beginning
Recounting the journey of publishing Purple Hibiscus, Adichie described how, as a college student in the United States, she wrote the novel while living with her sister and caring for her nephew—all while juggling full-time studies.
“When I finished writing the novel, I thought, ‘This is good. Someone will publish it quickly.’ I was very confident. But that confidence quickly gave way to reality,” she recalled.
At the time, email submissions were not yet standard, so she mailed physical copies of her manuscript, including self-addressed stamped envelopes, to literary agents and publishers.
Using resources like The Writer’s Marketplace, she targeted those open to literary or so-called “ethnic fiction,” sending submissions in batches of four or five. Her optimism, however, was soon tested.
“I was sure at least four people would say yes. When I got the first five rejections, I was shocked—genuinely shocked. But it was good for me. It made me more grounded and realistic about what publishing meant, especially in America.”
From Rejection to Global Recognition
Despite the early obstacles, Purple Hibiscus was eventually published in 2003 and went on to win the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (2005). The novel marked the beginning of a stellar literary career.
She later published Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), which won the Orange Prize for Fiction, Americanah (2013), which was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, and her most recent novel, Dream Count.
Adichie’s body of work has earned her international recognition, including the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship (often dubbed the “Genius Grant”) in 2008, and her election into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017.
