Americanah author on why she wanted her pregnancy to be as personal as possible

"I just feel like we live in an age when women are supposed to perform pregnancy. We don’t expect fathers to perform fatherhood. I went into hiding. I wanted it to be as personal as possible."Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie famously proclaimed in her brilliant interview with David Pilling of the Financial Times.

Here are excerpts of the interview:

"This is the first time I’m saying it publicly. I have a lovely little girl so I feel like I haven’t slept . . . but it’s also just really lovely and strange,”

In an astute reflection on privacy and pregnancy, she explained why she kept her pregnancy away from the media and some of her friends:

“I have some friends who probably don’t know I was pregnant or that I had a baby. I just feel like we live in an age when women are supposed to perform pregnancy. We don’t expect fathers to perform fatherhood. I went into hiding. I wanted it to be as personal as possible.

“In this country of mine that I love,” she goes on, sliding to a halt on the word “love”, “people think that you’re incomplete unless you’re married.”

And when she was asked what her baby name is, she replied:

“No, I won’t say,” she says with a disarming smile."

With her signature blend of wit and wisdom, Adichie reflects on why her favourite character in “Americanah” is Ifemelu:

“I’ve had to spend a lot of time convincing people that she’s not me, but in some ways she is. She’s almost an act of defiance, because I really find myself questioning the idea of the likeable character, especially the likeable female character.”

I liked her. I didn’t always like her. She can be soft or prickly. I wanted her to be all of those things, because I just think that we need more women to be all of those things — and for it to be OK."

She also spoke about racism, Biafra, Nigeria and American politics, and why she is going to vote for Democratic Party flag-bearer, Hillary Clinton, in the United States elections in November.

Read the interview in its entirety in The Financial Times.

Read more on Chimamanda Adichie's pregnancy, her insight on writing and 10 things interesting things you should know about her

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