As Ghana play today and hopefully get through to the next round I ask Kinna who lives in Ghana to do the Ghana writers post for me ,many thaks Kinna and best of luck for the black stars .
World Cup of Writers – Ghana
Writers
I’m Ghanaian by birth and so I’m quite familiar with the writers of my country. I will discuss some of my favorites. I consider Efua Sutherland as the mother of Ghanaian writing. She was a dramatist and her plays, Edufa and the Marriage of Anansewa, are masterpieces and quite representative of African drama. Then there is Ama Ata Aidoo, a novelist, dramatist and poet. Aidoo’s books include Changes, Our Sister Killjoy and No Sweetness Here. All really good. Her play, Anowa, is an excellent exploration of Ghana’s role in the Slave Trade. Next, Ayi Kwei Armah, the novelist. His novel, The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born is also a favorite of mine. I also like the works of Kojo Laing.
Among the ‘younger writers, I love the works of Nii Ayikwei Parkes – his latest book is Tail of the Blue Bird. Amma Darko, who in Faceless, explored the plight of street children in Ghana. Others include Mohamed Naseehu Ali, his book The Prophets of Zongo is a good read. I know of two writers who write mysteries/crime drama, a rarity among African writers. They are Yaba Badoe, her book is True Murder. The other is Kwei Quartey and his book is Wife of the Gods.
World cup memories –
Ghana’s national soccer team is known as the Black Stars. Although, we’ve been quite a force on the African continent, the country qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 2006. We played well and managed to get out of the group stages into the round of 16. The most memorable game was the final game in the group against the United States. Ghana won the match 2-1. Unfortunately, we faced Brazil in the round of 16 and were sent home.
Great post. I will have to check out some of these writers, they sound interesting.
I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by an author from Ghana before (although I have stamps!) 😀 Thanks for the list you gave us.
yes kinna gave us a great insight to ghanas lit scene ,all the best stu
Ghana managed to get through to the 8th finals (I’m sorry, I don’t know the English term, so I roughly translated the Dutch) yesterday, right?
And thank you for another wonderful list Kinna 🙂
yes we say last 16 then quater finals 🙂 ,all the best stu
Thanks to Stu for doing this World Cup of Writers series and inviting me to participate. Well, Ghana did get through to the next round. But overall, I so unimpressed with the team’s performance… I hope we are able to lift our game against the USA on Saturday.
your welcome Kinna thanks for a great post ,all the best stu
Excellent post, and thank you for the recommendations! I actually own Wife of the Gods and will have to move it up the pile soon. Also, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for Ghana in the next game (sorry USians, you know I love you too.)
thanks ana ,all the best stu
Great post. I haven’t read any Ghanaian writers, so I’ll be on the lookout for any and all of the titles mentioned here. And I’m also rooting for Ghana 😀