Emecheta came primed for the patriarchal red flag raised by Nnolim. The acclaimed author of more than 20 books, whose writing, according to Margaret Busby, ‘epitomized female independence’, Emecheta’s creative scope spanned novels, plays, autobiography as well as children’s and young adult literature. From 1980 to 1981, she taught creative writing to undergraduates at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) as a visiting lecturer. That year-long engagement resulted in the publication of
Double Yoke, an ‘…
attempt to salvage young minds by imbuing them with the tenants of feminism’. Asides setting up her own publishing house, which she named Ogwugwu Afor, Emecheta also ventured into film with an adaptation of
Double Yoke, a bold attempt at evangelizing the tenets of her feminism. But more importantly, the social capital from her visibility as a Nigerian woman writing and publishing abroad on largely her own terms helped to extend the frontiers of possibility for African literature.
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