Gothenburg – Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was honoured with the 2025 Sjöjungfrun Literary Prize, also known as The Mermaid Award, during the Gothenburg Book Fair in Sweden on Saturday.
The award was presented to her in front of a packed audience of 1,500 people at the fair’s K-hall, where queues stretched close to a kilometre, marking what organisers believe could be a new record turnout for a seminar at the event.
Oskar Ekström, Program Director of the Gothenburg Book Fair, handed Adichie a hand-carved mermaid statuette crafted by Panos Mamakos before she sat for a conversation with author Agri Ismaïl. Their discussion covered literature’s power to shape identity, questions of feminism and the meaning of storytelling in contemporary society.
Speaking after receiving the prize, Adichie described writing as her life’s central calling and expressed appreciation for the Mermaid Award’s symbolism as well as the deep connection her work has made with Swedish readers.
Born in Nigeria in 1977, Adichie is regarded as one of the most prominent literary voices of her generation. Her works include Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) which won the Orange Prize for Fiction, and Americanah (2013) which became a global bestseller. Her essay We Should All Be Feminists (2014) continues to influence debates on gender equality worldwide.
Ekström described her as one of the most influential writers of today, saying her literature inspires global conversations and has made her a dream guest for the Swedish fair.
Adichie has recently been recognised elsewhere in Europe, receiving the Felix Jud Prize in Hamburg, and she is scheduled to be honoured with the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence in London in the coming weeks.
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