Posted on 18 September 2026:

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#YathraWorld — Global Lens

Modak Trainer Academy Hosts Webinar on Buchi Emecheta, the Voice Behind “Second Class Citizen”

Modak Trainer Academy, Kolkata organised an international webinar titled “Buchi Emecheta: Struggles of a ‘Second Class Citizen” on Wednesday, 16th September 2026, via Google Meet, hosted by Pritili Modak.

The session revisited the life and literary legacy of Buchi Emecheta, the Nigerian-British author who turned her own hardships — poverty, migration and marginalisation — into powerful fiction. 

Guest speaker Prof. Swati Bhattacharya, former Associate Professor at the Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta, guided the seminar on Emecheta’s landmark novel Second Class Citizen, examining its themes of womanhood, motherhood and quiet resilience. Her pen became a voice for resilience, weaving stories that mirrored the strength of womanhood and the struggle for identity. Best known for her 1974 novel Second Class Citizen, Emecheta also gifted the world The Bride Price (1976), The Slave Girl (1977), and The Joys of Motherhood (1979), Destination Biafra —each a testament to courage and self‑definition.

Prof. Bhattacharya reflected: “Books became her refuge when life turned her into an orphan at sixteen. From the missionary school in Lagos to the British Museum in London, Emecheta’s journey was stitched with resilience, each page a testament to courage.”

Born in Lagos in 1944, Emecheta rose from an orphaned childhood to become one of the most distinctive literary voices of her generation, best remembered for her semi-autobiographical debut, Second Class Citizen. Her writing — shaped by a difficult marriage, single motherhood in London, and years of working ordinary jobs while raising five children — gave voice to themes of survival, tradition versus modernity, and female independence through education. 

She passed away in London in 2017, leaving behind a body of work that continues to inspire readers and scholars worldwide.

Buchi Emecheta stands as “the first successful black woman novelist living in Britain after 1948,” a pioneer whose words continue to echo across generations, reminding that literature can rise from adversity and turn pain into power.

The webinar offered participants a moving reminder of how literature can transform personal struggle into lasting cultural memory.

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