The award ceremony which takes place today, Sunday the 15th of September at the State Theater of Kassel in Germany – a day that happens to be Adichie’s birthday – is being given to her not only for her undeniable literary prowess, but also for her equality and justice advocacy.
The “Prism of Reason” award was founded in 1990 by citizens of the city of Kassel and the region. So far, the prize has been awarded 28 times.
The first prize-winner (in 1991) was the then German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher; he was honoured for his services to the opening of the Iron Curtain. Other awardees include Chinese dissident and artist Ai Weiwei; Indian scientist and documenta 13 participant Vandana Shiva; Somali-born Dutch-American activist, Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Israeli diplomat, peace activist and publicist Avi Primor; and Peruvian farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya.
This year, in the 29th year of the award, the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees of the Society of Friends and Sponsors of the Kassel Citizens’ Prize have selected Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as the 2019 winner of the “Prism of Reason”. This makes her the first Nigerian to receive this remarkable prize.
A statement made by the Kassel Board president Bernd Leifeld said “Combative but not fanatical, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie…points out ways to overcome outdated patterns which are deeply anchored in education and society”. He added that “Kassel citizens honour her with their Prize “The Prism of Reason 2019” because she believes in the social, political and economic equality of all people”.
The prize consists of a certificate, a sculpture designed by the Kassel art professor and documenta artist Karl Oskar Blase with a prism (symbolising the analytical glass of the Enlightenment), and a cash prize of 10,000 EURO. The prize and the award ceremony are financed exclusively by membership fees and donations from citizens of the city and region of Kassel.
It’s proving to be quite the birthday weekend for Adichie already. First with the announcement on Friday the 13th of September that HBO Max, a division of WarnerMedia Entertainment, is creating a straight-to-series order for the television adaptation of Adichie’s most recent novel “Americanah”. The 10-episode series will star Academy Award®? winner Lupita Nyong’o, with the pilot being written by screenwriter and actor Danai Gurira (who starred in the movie “Black Panther”)- and will be co-produced by Lupita Nyong’o and Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B.
Adichie has also been trending non-stop on social media since Friday when a Twitter group of fans of the writer (@Chimamanda_Army) went viral to announce a competition to celebrate her birthday. Tagged #10ThingsAboutChimamanda, participants are encouraged to list 10 things about Adichie to stand the chance of winning fan-donated prizes, such as 10 collections of Chimamanda’s books, 10 pairs of movie tickets to watch a film of their choice at any Filmhouse cinema location; and 10 Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8 Tablets.
According to the fans, the competition kicked off fully at 12am midnight Nigerian time/GMT (the start of her birthday, Sunday September 15th) and will run until 5pm Nigerian time/GMT of the same day. For those who want to join in, more details on the competition can be found on the fan page on Twitter: @Chimamanda_Army.
