The Joys of Motherhood

Career

Emecheta began writing about her experiences of Black British life in a regular column in the New Statesman,[1] and a collection of these pieces became her first published book in 1972, In the Ditch.[5][16] The semi-autobiographical novel[4] chronicled the struggles of a main character named Adah, who is forced to live in a housing estate while working as a librarian to support her five children.[5] Her second novel published two years later, Second-Class Citizen (Allison and Busby, 1974),[20] also drew on Emecheta's own experiences, and both books were eventually published in one volume by Allison and Busby under the title Adah's Story (1983).[21] These three stories introduced Emecheta's three major themes, which were the quest for equal treatment, self-confidence and dignity as a woman. Her works Gwendolen (1989, also published as The Family), Kehinde (1994) and The New Tribe (2000) differ in some way, as they address the issues of immigrant life in Great Britain.[2] Most of her fictional works are focused on sexual discrimination and racial prejudice, informed by her own experiences as both a single parent and a black woman living in the United Kingdom.[22]

From 1965 to 1969, Emecheta worked as a library officer for the British Museum in London.[6] From 1969 to 1976, she was a youth worker and sociologist for the Inner London Education Authority,[6][23] and from 1976 to 1978 she worked as a community worker in Camden, North London,[4][6] meanwhile continuing to produce further novels at Allison and Busby, with Margaret Busby as her editor[1] – The Bride Price (1976), The Slave Girl (1977), The Joys of Motherhood (1979) and Destination Biafra (1982) – as well as the children's books Titch the Cat (1979, based on a story by her 11-year-old daughter Alice)[24] and Nowhere To Play (1980).[25]

Following Emecheta's success as an author, she travelled widely as a visiting professor and lecturer. She visited several American universities, including Pennsylvania State University, Rutgers University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[6][26] From 1980 to 1981, she was senior resident fellow and visiting professor of English at the University of Calabar, Nigeria.[7] From 1982 to 1983, Emecheta, together with her son Sylvester, ran the Ogwugwu Afor Publishing Company, producing her own work under the imprint,[16] beginning with Double Yoke (1982).[27] She received an Arts Council of Great Britain bursary, 1982–83,[4][7] and was one of Granta magazine's "Best of Young British Novelists" in 1983.[16] In 1982, she lectured at Yale University, and the University of London.[7] She became a Fellow at the University of London in 1986.[28]

Over her career, Emecheta worked with many cultural and literary organizations, including the Africa Centre, London, and with the Caine Prize for African Writing as a member of the Advisory Council.[29]

Buchi Emecheta suffered a stroke in 2010,[16] and her last years were marked by increasing disability and illness.[9] She died in London on 25 January 2017, aged 72.[16][20][30]


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