Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a well-known author in Nigeria, has revealed that she never considered giving up on writing despite receiving up to 25 rejections for her debut novel, Purple Hibiscus.
Adichie made the disclosure in an exclusive interview on Channels Television’s Amazing Africans, which aired on August 3, 2025. She emphasized that even if she had never been published, she would still continue to write.
She considers writing to be a divine gift and thinks that this is her main goal on earth.
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“Writing is my vocation, so I never consider giving up on it,” I said. I do believe I’m here to write, but it’s a little spiritual.
Even if I hadn’t been published, I would still be writing today because I believe that is a gift I have received. Giving up writing was never an option, therefore. However, “Chimamanda said, “the rejection was demoralizing.”
The well-known author first shared her story of being rejected for Purple Hibiscus after speaking at the Things Fall Apart Festival’s inaugural grand finale in Enugu in July.
Adichie reflected on how those rejections came about and how the experience helped her stay more grounded and effective in advancing her writing career.
She said, “I started writing this book, and I was a college student in the US at the time. I was working on my novel while my sister and I were residing in their home. And when I finished writing the book, I thought it was good and someone would probably publish it right away.  ,
“So I started distributing it. You typically send it out physically and with a self-addressed envelope at the time, which was before email became a thing. I had read every book on how to become a published author.  ,
You were advised to distribute in batches of four or five to increase your chances. The Writer’s Marketplace was a book that you could visit, and there you would look at various publishers and agents who were interested in literary fiction, or what was then known as ethnic fiction.
So I created a list of the people I began sending out, and I immediately felt very confident in doing so. I thought, “I’m sure four people will say yes, it’s not even five.” So I was shocked when I received the first five rejections. I was genuinely shocked. But I think it was very beneficial for me because it made me much more realistic and overly optimistic about what publishing meant in America.
Following Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie continued to publish books with acclaim, including Americanah, Half of a Yellow Sun, and her most recent book, Dream Count.
She has also received honorable mentions for her work in literary journals, including Purple Hibiscus, the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2007, and the Americanah Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, among others.
