BooksNewsNigeriaChimamanda Adichie debunks plagiarism allegation over ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’

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Nigerian Author, Chimamanda has denied claims of plagiarising one of her best-selling literature, Half of a Yellow Sun.

This claim were made Amu- Giwa in a YouTube video which was released on Sunday.  Amu Giwa had accused Chimamanda of stealing from her book titled Sade bit by bit.

Although both books centred on the  1969 -1979 Biafra War, Giwa believes Chimamanda’s Half of a Yellow sun is a duplicate of her book.

Reacting to this claim, Chimamanda denied all allegations stating that she had not seen or heard about the book when she published her second novel.

A press statement made by Chimamanda’s literary agency – Wylie Agency stated that Chimamanda and her publisher’s never heard about Sade until these agellations were made.

“Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche and her publishers had never heard of Giwa Amu’s novel until she brought her delusional claim. Her present allegation are false, libellous and constitute a harassment to Chimamanda  Ngozi Adichie,” The statement said.

 

The Allegation

In a 12 minutes long YouTube video, Giwa alleged Chimamanda of copying and setting her novel, ‘Sade’ with the assistance of three editors, Mitzi Angel , Anjali Singh and Robin Desser.

Providing access to a 54 pages document published on her blog, Giwa illustrated how Chimamanda stole and reworded her novel which was first published in first published in 1996.

As a result of her close ties with Chinua Achebe, she was able to easily rework the themes, plot, setting , Characterization, content and language of her book.

“Chinua Achebe, a writer linked to the Biafra propaganda effort, was the main decision-maker on the Board of Directors at Heinemann.  I received a letter that Chinua Achebe read and accepted my novel, ‘Sade’, for publication for senior secondary schools in Nigeria under the sub-title ‘Sade United We Stand. In 1999, Sade was published by Heinemann to be sold in Nigeria under the subtitle, ‘United We Stand’. Mrs Adichie must have learnt of her book from Mr Achebe since they had a father-daughter relationship. ”

 

The Book

She began to write her novel in 1992, which was initially titled ‘The Human Sacrifice’. Giwa said she was unable publish immediately after writing because there was a lack of market for Africa writers.

In 1995, she sent her manuscript to  Heinemann Education Books in the Uk where Chinua Achebe was a founding editor of the African Writers series but was still unable to publish due to a drop in the request for books under the Africa Writer series. Giwa self- published her book in 1996.

In 1998, she sent her manuscript to Heinemann Education Books Nigeria where Achebe who sat as one of the board of directors and “decision-maker” approved it for publication. Heinemann Education Books Nigeria published Shade in 1999.

 

Court Case

Ms Giwa-Amu brought a legal claim against Ms Adichie and her publishers for alleged copyright infringement in 2016.

She  claimed that every incident from her literary work, Sade, was copied and expanded upon to create a literary forgery.

According to the Wylie agency, a professional independent reader was appointed to read both novels.

“The reader concluded that there was absolutely no basis for Giwa-Amu’s claim and advised that the claim should not be pursued. Giwa-Amu nevertheless continued with the claim,”

“A Central London County Court order, in February, 2019, struck out Ms Giwa-Amu’s claim and mandated her to pay £14,250 damages to Ms Adichie and her publishers.

“Till date, Giwa-Amu has not paid the money.

“Her present allegations are false, libellous and constitute a harassment to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Further legal actions are being taken,” the statement reads.

Beloved John (Staff Writer)

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