Flora Nwapa’s 86th Birthday

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  Today is Flora Nwapa‘s birthday and Google celebrates it with one of its signature anniversary doodle.
  
  Flora Nwapa is Nigeria’s first female novelist. She was a close friend of Chinua Achebe who gave her her big break as a writer. Read the inspiring story here. Her most popular work is a Efuru, a dark, quirky love story set in a Nigerian village at the turn of the 20th century. She went on to write four other novels, short story collections, and children’s books. She also established Tana Press, a pioneering platform that created opportunities for women writers.
  
  Nwapa broke into the global literary scene at a time when African writing was largely male dominated. She, alongside women like Nadine Gordimer and, later, Bessie Head, opened the way for a generation of women to own and tell their stories.
  

  
  Flora Nwapa, Nigeria's first published female novelist and Africa's first internationally-acclaimed English-language female writer, held the spotlight for nearly her entire adult life. She was not only an accomplished author, but a publisher, public servant, and activist.
  From Nwapa's first novel, Efuru, published in 1966, to the establishment of her publishing company, Tana Press, Nwapa demonstrated an unwavering commitment to advancing and highlighting the women of Nigeria. Additionally, she used her books, and the books she published, to introduce Nigeria’s rich culture to a global audience.
  Nwapa served by day in the Nigerian government, becoming the first female Minister of Health and Social Welfare for Nigeria’s former East Central State in 1970. During that time, she worked to reunite children and their parents who were divided as a result of the Biafran War. Afterwards, she became Minister of Lands, Survey, and Urban Development, a position she held until 1974.
  Today’s Doodle pays homage to Nwapa, known as the “mother of modern African literature,” on what would be her 86th birthday.
  
  She has now been feature on one of over 2000 doodles that Google has shared on its home page over the last few years. Google celebrates her work because it believes that Nwapa, in her life and in her work, “reflects [its]…love for innovation.”
  
  Her being featured on a Google doodle says a lot about Nwapa’s cultural influence and her status as a global icon. Even though we do not need Google to tell us how amazing Nwapa is, we are delighted that her life is being recognized on such a global platform.
  
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