Home » General Articles » DNB Classics » Nigerian writer Buchi Emecheta is dead!

Nigerian writer Buchi Emecheta is dead!


Florence Onyebuchi “Buchi” Emecheta was a Nigerian novelist who had written more than 20 books, including Second-Class Citizen (1974), The Bride Price (1976), The Slave Girl (1977) and The Joys of Motherhood (1979).

Her themes of child slavery, motherhood, female independence and freedom through education won her considerable critical acclaim and honours, including an Order of the British Empire in 2005.

She has been characterised as “the first successful black woman novelist living in Britain after 1948”.

Following her success as an author, Emecheta travelled widely as a visiting professor and lecturer.

One of her popular quotes is:

“I work toward the liberation of women, but I’m not a feminist. I’m just a woman.” 

Emecheta’s Joys of Motherhood was so widely read in Nigeria that every Nigerian student knew about the book, and could have read it.

Buchi Emecheta died in London on 25 January 2017, aged 72.

Share this post with your friends:

About Daniel Nkado

Daniel Nkado is a Nigerian writer and community researcher based in London. He documents African and Black queer experience across Nigeria and the diaspora through community-anchored research, cultural analysis, and public education. He is the founder of DNB Stories Africa. Read Daniel's full research methodology and bio here.

View all posts by Daniel Nkado

4 Comments on “Nigerian writer Buchi Emecheta is dead!”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *