Acclaimed Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie has become the first Nigerian to be awarded the prestigious Mary McCarthy Award  for her works and other engagements which create  public awareness on burning social issues.

She received the award named after renowned novelist, Mary McCarthy at an event held at Bard College, New York.

The Mary McCarthy award was instituted to give recognition and acknowledgement to profitable engagements in the public sphere by an artist, writer or intellectual.

Notable previous recipients of the award which comes with a $2,000 cash, the publication of a collection of short stories and a Standard Royal contract include Zadie Smith, Mona Simpson, Susan Sontag and Margaret Atwood, author of the Handmaid’s Tale.