By TopViewTV
It’s a rare privilege to sit with a literary giant and hear the unfiltered truth about the struggles and triumphs of creativity. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Nigerian author who has given the world modern classics like Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah, calls herself simply a storyteller. But her storytelling is anything but simple—it is urgent, layered, and deeply human. Her latest novel, Dream Count, is her first in 12 years, the product of both silence and perseverance. What began as a terrifying dry spell of writer’s block has blossomed into one of the most anticipated novels of the year, a book that captures the fragility, longing, and resilience of its characters and of its author.
The Long Road to Dream Count
After the success of Americanah, Adichie found herself in a place she had never known before: she couldn’t write fiction. “I wasn’t writing at all,” she admits. The years stretched, becoming a 12-year pause from novels. When she finally returned to the page in 2021, it wasn’t without anxiety. But Adichie sees that fear not as a weakness, but as a sign of care. “Anxiety means you want to create something good—even when there’s no guarantee of success.”
Love, Longing, and Four Women
Dream Count doesn’t follow a straight line. Instead, it’s a web of interconnected lives told through four women whose voices rise and converge. “I let the characters assert themselves,” Adichie explains. At its heart, Dream Count is about love and longing. Adichie insists these themes are universal, but she is deliberate in rooting them in the experiences of Black women. Her hope? That readers will fall in love with all four women equally.
Between Two Worlds
Many of the women in Dream Count are West African immigrants, shaped by their “insider-outsider” experience. Adichie knows this duality well—she splits her time between Nigeria and the U.S. This shifting identity plays out in her characters’ struggles. One, Kajato, makes America her home only to realize the country cannot live up to her expectations.
Writing as Destiny
Adichie doesn’t hesitate when asked about her purpose. “I was born to be a writer,” she says. Even without fame, she insists she would still be at her desk, pen in hand. Of all the forms she works in—essays, short stories, children’s books—the adult novel feels most natural. Still, she delights in experimentation, like writing the sarcastic blog For Men Only, which appears in Dream Count.
Spotlight: Inprint, Houston’s Literary Gem
Adichie’s conversation took place under the banner of Inprint, Houston’s premier literary arts nonprofit, which featured her on May 8 at the Wortham Center. Founded in 1983, Inprint has become a cultural force. Executive Director Rich Levy describes its mission as always striving to do things “better and bigger” in service to the written word.
Its offerings include the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, which showcases the world’s leading authors (45 years running), the Inprint Cool Brains! series for young readers, and the Spanish-language reading series Escritores en la casa. Inprint also offers workshops in senior centers, jails, and hospitals, and Inprint House. Since its founding, Inprint has awarded over $5 million in fellowships and prizes to young writers.
