Half of a Yellow Sun by Nigerian-born author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,has been voted “winner of winners” Women’s Prize.
The award is meant to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Women’s Prize for fiction formerly known as the Orange Prize and the Bailey’s Prize. The UK based prize brought together previous winners of the prize giving the public the opportunity to vote for their best fiction work among all the previous winners. The list of authors included Zadie Smith, Maggie O’Farrell and the late Andrea Levy.

In a report published by The Guardian, Ngozi was quoted expressing her gratitude for the accolade.

“I’m Especially moved to be voted winner of winners because this is the prize that first brought a wide readership to my work – and also introduced me to the work of many talented writers”.

Commenting on her win is Kate Mosse, founder of the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

“One of the things that’s so fantastic about Chimamanda being the winner of winners is that a lot of younger readers are now coming to the novel, who probably didn’t read it when it came out. It’s felt like a really celebratory thing to be doing this very strange year”, said Kate.

The novel which originally won the prize in 2007, a year after it was published is set in Nigeria during the Biafran war bringing to light issues of class, race, end of colonialism, and women’s empowerment.
According to the Women’s Prize for Fiction official website, Ngozi will be presented with a silver edition of the prize’s annual statuette, known as the ‘Bessie’. She will also be on a live event with Kate Mosse on December 6th 2020 to talk about her win and writing in general.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction is one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the UK with global recognition. It rewards English female writers of any nationality.