Adichie honoured with thought leadership award as she picks PEN Pinter prize

Chimamanda Adichie, an award-winning Nigerian author, has been honoured with the Thought Leadership award by the Global Hope Coalition (GHC).

Adichie was recognised during the GHC’s 2018 annual awards dinner in New York City, for the impact of her work in shaping global conversations bordering on feminism, race, and North/South relations.

As a highlight of the dinner, five individuals from Tunisia, Denmark, France, Sudan, and Mali were recognized as 2018 heroes of the global campaign against extremism and intolerance.

The dinner served as a special tribute to leaders and organizations that have reacted with compassion and dignity to refugee crises in different parts of the world.

Special distinctions for leadership were presented to President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, Beji Caid Essebsi, President of Tunisia (represented by Khemaies Jhinaoui, minister of foreign affairs),  Prime Minister of Bangladesh, and Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of Greece.

The GHC, established in 2016, is a network of four not-for-profit foundations based in New York, Zurich and Hong Kong.

The coalition aims to empower courageous “everyday heroes” who stand up to terror, violence, and intolerance, and to recognize those whose efforts preserve our cultural heritage and build bridges across cultures.

Meanwhile, Adichie has received the 2018 PEN Pinter prize for her outstanding work of literary merit that has defined the truth in human lives and societies.

She received the prize at an award ceremony in the UK on Tuesday.

Adichie, the first African to win the award, said: “I admired Harold Pinter’s talent, his courage, his lucid dedication to telling his truth, and I am honoured to be given an award in his name.”