Buchi Emecheta

Buchi Emecheta na one Nigerian raita wey rait meni buks, including novel, drama, stori abaut im life, an chudren buk. Di first buk wey e rait we pipu sabi wel wel na Second Class Citizen (1974). E stil rait The Bride Price (1976), The Slave Girl (1977), an The Joys of Motherhood (1979). Dem tok sey shi bi "di first black woman wey make am as raita for Britain afta 1948."

How shi tek stat

Na Lagos dem bon Buchi Emecheta , Nigeria on 21 July 1944. Shi bi Igbo woman fom Delta State, an ha papa an mama na Alice an Jeremy Emecheta. Ha papa na railway worka. Ha mama na slav bifor, but leta shi get freedom.

Buchi go missionary skul wey bi onli for girls. Wen shi dey nine years old, ha papa die. Na war wound kil am for Burma, wia dem fors am go faight for British pipu. One year leta, dem giv ha scholarship to Methodist Girls' Skul for Yaba, Lagos. But bifor shi finish, ha mama tu die, so na buk escape am.

For 1960, shi mari Sylvester Onwordi, wey dey don engaged to sins shi bi 11 years old. Dat sem year, shi bon ha first pikin, an by 1961, she don bon anoda one.

Life for London

In 1962, shi folo ha hosband go London. For six years, shi bon five pikin – three girls and two boys. Ha marriage no sweet at all, an shi rait abaut di wahala for ha buk Second Class Citizen. Ha hosband no lik di way she dey rait, so e burn di first buk wey shi rait, The Bride Price. But shi no stop, shi rsit am again, an dem poblish am for 1976. At 22 years, wen shi kari belle for her fifth pikin, shi komot for di marriage. Shi hustle as single mother, wok, an stll go skul. By 1972, shi don get sociology digre for University of London. Leta, for 1991, she stil do PhD.

How shi tek bi raita

She dey rait ha experience as black woman for London, an di New Statesman magazine begin poblish her storis for 1971. Na so dem poblish ha first book, In the Ditch (1972). Ha second book, Second-Class Citizen (1974), be like continuation of di first one. Dis two books sho di kain wahala wey wumen dey fez – dem dey struggle to get respet, confidence, an beta laife.

Ha leta buks like Gwendolen (1989), Kehinde (1994), an The New Tribe (2000) tok abaut how African people dey liv for abroad. Her buks focus on how women dey sofa for inside society, especially as black wumen.

Shi no just dey rait, shi stil wok as librarian, sociologist, an community worka. Shi travu go America an difren university go tich pipu abaut raitin. For 1982, shi even opun ha own publishing kompani, Ogwugwu Afor Publishing, wit ha pikin.

Last days and legacy

For 2010, shi get stroke, an fom dia, sickness hold ha. She die for London on 25 January 2017, wen shi dey age of 72. Shi win plenty awods, including di Jock Campbell Prize for 1978. In 2005, Queen of England giv ha OBE awod for her contribution to literature. Afta shi die, ha pikin Sylvester Onwordi stat The Buchi Emecheta Foundation to sopot readin an edukeshon for Africa an UK. In 2019, Google uze speshial Doodle to celebrate ha 75th birthday. Ha buks stil dey inspire pipu today, an dem don even re-poblish Second-Class Citizen an In the Ditch as Penguin Modern Classics.