Buchi Emecheta

Buchi Emecheta

Nigerian writer, whose works explore the joys and sorrows of African women as they struggle with patriarchal dominance, neocolonialism, economic exploitation, and racism.Emecheta's first novels, In the Ditch (1972) and Second Class Citizen (1974), drew upon her experiences as a member of London's working class. These works were followed by three novels set in the region of Nigeria where Emecheta was born: The Bride Price (1976), the manuscript of which once had been burned by her husband; The Slave Girl (1977); and The Joys of Motherhood (1979). All three are significant critiques of gender relations in African societies. The Joys of Motherhood has been considered Emecheta's best novel. It follows the life of a woman consumed by the societal demands of motherhood. The novel Destination Biafra (1982) is Emecheta's response to the civil conflict in the late 1960s that threatened to divide Nigeria. Her book Double Yoke (1983) deals with the sexual harassment of female students by male professors and with the struggles of educated African women. In The Rape of Shavi (1983), Emecheta explores the theme of the European exploitation of Africa in the setting of a fictional African country called Shavi. The novels Gwendolen (1989) and Kehinde (1994) are set in London. In Gwendolen Emecheta writes about a Jamaican family in a style reminiscent of the work of American author Alice Walker.In Kehinde, the protagonist, with the support of her women friends, leaves a polygamous marriage to create her own life. Emecheta also wrote an autobiography, Head Above Water (1986); the children's stories Titch the Cat (1979) and Nowhere to Play (1980); literature for young adults, including The Moonlight Bride (1980), The Wrestling Match (1980), Naira Power (1982), and A Kind of Marriage (1986); radio and television plays; and several works of criticism.