Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has vowed that her twin boys will be raised as emotionally strong and responsible men.
She made the revelation in a recent interview with the BBC’s Emma Barnett.
Adichie, 47, expressed concern over how young boys are often influenced by harmful societal norms.
“I’m determined to raise good men.I want to raise my boys to be emotionally comfortable, to be in touch with their emotions, to not be afraid of fear.”
According to the Purple Hibiscus author, boys today are growing up in a space where negative influences dominate.
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“This space is just occupied by noxious characters and ideas,”
she said, adding that she hopes her sons will not only resist these pressures but also become men who stand for what is right.
Adichie believes in raising boys who are neither aggressive nor weak but balanced and confident.
“I want them to be the kind of boys that never start a fight, but if you bring a fight to them, they will beat you up,”
she stated.
Adichie, had her first child, a daughter, in 2016. She later welcomed twin boys last year, and admitted that becoming a mother shifted her views on parenting.
She also revealed that pregnancy affected her creativity. This led to a terrifying writer’s block that made her doubt if she would ever write again.
“I have been hiding in a cave. I couldn’t write for a while, and then I started writing again. This is what I tell myself to feel better,” she said.
Her new novel, Dream Count, is her first in over a decade, and while she did not initially intend to write about motherhood, she later realized that the theme naturally found its way into the book.
Adichie will be releasing the first feature-length novel in 11 years in March 2025.
The novel titled ‘Dream Count’ is a reflection on love, desire, and the intricacies of womanhood explored through the lives of four distinct women.
The writer has also made the New African’s list of ‘100 Most Influential Africans’, New Yorker’s ’20 under 40′, and Time Magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People’.
