I think my first general rule is that most of my experiences are not that interesting. It's usually other people's experiences. It's not that entirely conscious. Somebody tells me a story or, you know, repeats an anecdote that somebody else told them and I just feel like I have to write it down so I don't forget - that means for me, something made it fiction-worthy. Interesting things never happen to me, so maybe two or three times when they do, I have to use them, so I write them down.
Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieThere has always been a strange dissonance between the public and the private in Nigeria.
Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieHow [stories] are told, who tells them, when theyโre told, how many stories are told โ are really dependent on power.
Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieShe wanted to ask him why they were all strangers who shared the same last name.
Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieHe was making her feel small and absurdly petulant and, worse yet, she suspected he was right. She always suspected he was right. For a brief irrational moment, she wished she could walk away from him. Then she wished, more rationally, that she could love him without needing him. Need gave him power without his trying; need was the choicelessness she often felt around him.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie