Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is the author of three novels, a MacArthur fellow, and the recipient of many awards, including the Orange Prize. Her work has been translated into thirty languages. In this video she talks about what happens when we “show a people as one thing, as only one thing, over and over again.”

“The single story creates stereotypes,” she says, “and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” In this compelling presentation (18 minutes, 49 seconds), Adichie shares stories of how she has revised her thinking and shows how we all can revise our thinking, allowing room for multiple perspectives and narratives.

• Learn more about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at her website and on her Facebook page.
• Here’s a list of New York Times articles about Adichie.
• Check out her new novel, Americanah, (Knopf, May 2013).