Ghanaian Literature Week
November 14, 2011
Welcome to Ghanaian Literature Week!
This is a week long, from November 14, 2011 to November 20th, 2011, celebration of Ghanaian Literature and a discussion of book/reading related issues in Ghana. Everyone is invited. The rules of participation are simple: read a literary work by a writer who is from or lives in Ghana, read a book about Ghana, discuss any issue related to reading and books in Ghana. For more detailed information, please see my introductory post, The 2nd Annual Ghanaian Literature Week.
I will add links below to participants’ reviews and discussions to this sticky post throughout the week.
- Water Wahala by Isaac Neequaye (ANZ Litlovers LitBlog)
- A wonderful Intro to Ghana Lit Week by Amy Reads
- Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo (Rebecca Reads)
- Mr Happy and the Hammer of God by Martin Egblewogbe (here at Kinna Reads)
- Meeting Ama Ata Aidoo (at BuriedInPrint)
- The Eloquence of the Scribes by Ayi Kwei Armah (at Multilogue: mind and matter)
- Proverb Monday #48 (at ImageNations)
- Mallam Sile by Mohammed Naseehu Ali (at The Reading Life)
- Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes (at ImageNations)
- A Plea for Mercy by Kwesi Brew (at African Soulja)
- The Housemaid by Amma Darko (at Amy Reads)
- The Reader in Ghana (here at Kinna Reads)
- The Other Crucifix by Benjamin Kwakye (ImageNations)
- Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Armah (Amy Reads)
- No Sweetness Here and Other Storiesby Ama Ata Aidoo (at The Feminist Texican)
- Tickling the Ghanaian – Encounters with Contemporary Culture by Kofi Akpabli (at ImageNations)
- Ordained by the Oracle by Asare Konadu (at Winstonsdad’s Blog)
- The Second Life of Samuel Tyne by Esi Edugyan (at A Striped Armchair)
- Mallam Sile by Mohammed Naseehu Ali (at Wandering in the Stacks)
- The Other Crucifix by Benjamin Kwakye (at Amy Reads)
- Yaba Badoe’s Short Story, The Rival (at BuriedInPrint)
- Fiona Leonard on writing her novel, The Chicken Thief (here at Kinna Reads)
- Quotes for Friday from Nii Ayikwei Parkes’ Tail of the Blue Bird (at ImageNations)
- African Love Stories edited by Ama Ata Aidoo (at Amy Reads)
- Tail of a Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes (at Opinions of a Wolf)
- A Bird In Me Heart by Agana Agana-Nsire (at African Soulja)
- The Association of Foreign Spouses by Marilyn Heward Mills (at Accra Books and Things)
- Ananse Stories: Adwoa Badoe’s Pot of Wisdom (at Buried In Print)
- Dilemma of a Ghost and Anowa by Ama Ata Aidoo (at Amy Reads)
- Mistress of the Game by Asabea Ashun (here at Kinna Reads)
- The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayikwei Armah (at Farm Lane Books Blog)
- Between Sisters by Adwoa Badoe (here at Kinna Reads)
- Esi Edugyan wins Canadian Literary Prize (at Geosi reads)
- Ghanaian Writers – Lets Gear Up to the Final Call for Entries (at Geosi Reads)
- On Tales from Different Tails by Nana Awere Damoah (here at Kinna Reads)
- Ghana Lit Week 2 Wrap Up (at Amy Reads)
- Koku the Cockerel by Franka Maria Andoh (here at Kinna Reads)
The Twitter hashtag for the week is #GhanaLit
My sincere thanks to the participants!
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Trackbacks
- A PLEA FOR MERCY – KWESI BREW [FOR GHANA LIT WEEK] « AFRICAN SOULJA
- No Sweetness Here and Other Stories | The Feminist Texican [Reads]
- The Second Life of Samuel Tyne by Esi Edugyan (thoughts) « A Striped Armchair
- The 2nd Annual Ghanaian Literature Week « Kinna Reads
- A BIRD IN ME HEART – AGANA AGANA-NSIIRE [FOR GHANA LIT WEEK] « AFRICAN SOULJA
- The association of foreign spouses, by Marilyn Heward Mills: Some reflections « Accra books and things
- Ananse Stories: Adwoa Badoe’s Pot of Wisdom « Buried In Print
- The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born – Ayi Armah – Farm Lane Books Blog
- Ghana Lit Week 2 Wrap Up (hosted by Kinna) « Amy Reads
- November 2011 Reading Wrap-Up « Amy Reads
- Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey « Pens With Cojones
I ordered a book (The Beutyful People Are Not Yet Born) from my library in plenty of time, but last week I got a message saying the book was no longer available. I ordered a copy from the Internet and hope it will get here soon. I will try and read/review it before the end of the week, but may end up being a couple of days late (depending on when it arrives and how long it is) I look forward to seeing what everyone else reads. Thanks for organising Ghanaian Literature Week!
Thanks a lot for making the effort. I hope that you do get to participate. I would send you a couple of short stories but I know that you are not a fan of the form:)
I was unable to get a book for this week’s festivities, but if you have a link to a short story or two, I’d love to read and review
Sent you a tweet
Great start. Let’s see how it goes. My review of Tail of a Blue Bird comes up tomorrow and The Other Crucifix on Wednesday.
I’m looking forward to your thoughts on both books.
My contribution is a post on CHANGES by Ama Ata Aidoo: http://reviews.rebeccareid.com/changes-by-ama-ata-aidoo/. Thanks for organizing this! I also found a volume of “Modern African Poetry” at the library sale the other day so I may try to read some Ghanian poetry before Friday too.. we’ll see.
Thanks for participating. Yes to the poetry anyday.
Loved Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Eloquence of the Scribes(TES). I had read his hauntingly engaging Fragments few weeks earlier. TES is deep. For me Armah’s linkages of contemporary African literature as a corpus to works of the scribes of Egyptian civilization and the griots in feudal Africa completes a very useful circle and provides the needed continuity of the spoken and written word in African history. Daniel Defoe then NEVER invented the novel which fact has implications not just for literature in Africa but our approaches to other fields of knowledge as well. I like what PER ANKH his publishing house is doing in Senegal to ensure that African creatives benefit from their work. His description of Heinemann’s theft of his royalties on his books is shocking. TES also provides a useful window into how Armah first avoided and then came to terms with his calling as a writer.
Thanks for coming by my blog and leaving a comment. I’ve added your link to the list above.
“Pending moderation” felt Big Brotherish…. Just joking….will pass by regularly and thanks for the work on Ghanaian letters!!!!
I brought a whole stack of books with me on my trip (plus a few on my Kindle) and am excited to see what everyone else reviews this week as well! Thanks for hosting
Looking forward to your reviews. I know that you have a hectic travel schedule so I’m all the more grateful for your participation.
I just posted on a short story by Mohammed Naseehu Ali, “Mallem Sile”-The story was short listed for the Caine prize in 2009. The author is from Ghana and the story is set in a market street tea shop.
Thanks for participating, Mel u
I’ve also read a short story by Yaba Badoe, which was in one of the books that Ama Ata Aidoo edited, African Love Stories. I might also read the story that Mel talked about yesterday (though I’m terrible at reading whole stories on-screen), and I still have a children’s book for later this week too. Am really enjoying other readers’ posts and they are definitely adding to my reading list!
I have been reading Nii Ayi Kwei Parkes Tail of the Blue Bird. I think he is very Ayi Kwei Armahian in his very arrestingly potent descriptive power and the uncanny knack for mining gems of wisdom from the seemingly mundane….
check this…..” It sounded interesting, in the same way that sports highlights sounded so on the radio. But the listener is never there when the athletes, boxers,gymnasts, cricketers and footballers have to wake up at 4 a.m. to train, to run up the same hill a hundred times until the echo of the earth beneath their feet begins to haunt them(Parkes,2010:15).” And then Parkes also shows re-creative power with the word in stripping Akan and other Ghanaisms of their italicized vestments and allows their translations to borrow such livery: it is an African/ Ghana world alas!!!! That is a powerful statement of self awareness and ideational independence I have henceforth borrowed.
I identify with the world he describes in Ghana because I grew up also in those years. Parkes captures both the wrenchingly brutal realities of that era and its very human magnificence….check this…..” Mr. Acquah’s thrift with the drink reminded Kayo of the first time he had had Pepsi. He was eleven and had just managed to get a scholarship to Presbyterian Boys Secondary School. His father brought the bottle home and they all had some-all of them: his mother, his father, his four-year-old sister and two-year-old brother, and himself(Parkes, 2010:23).” Parkes captures popular socio-economic history for us extending the path cut by Ayi Kwei Armah. Check this too…” Ah the ancestors knew what they talking about when they said Abusua yɛ dom….the family is indeed an army(Parkes, 2010:10).” Parkes intimates that the Abusua has kept us sane from the Washington Consensus to the Beijing Consensus. Parkes critiques our historical and cultural amnesia; he urges us to remember the Sankofa bird and to remember too that this reigning chaos is not normal at all. I am waiting for his sequel.
Sequel, new book wahtever…. I think we are all waiting for new writing from Nii Ayikwei Parkes. Thanks for your comment.
I finally got my Ghana Lit post up!
http://opinionsofawolf.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/book-review-tail-of-the-blue-bird-by-nii-ayikwei-parkes-ghanaian-lit-week/
Thanks for participating.
Just thought of someone to add to your reading list …
Author, YEMA LUCILDA HUNTER was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa and now lives in Ghana, West Africa. Her novels include, ROAD TO FREEDOM, BITTERSWEET and REDEMPTION SONG. Her new book is a biography, ” An African Treasure, in Search of Gladys Casely-Hayford, 1904 – 1950.”
Thank you for coming by and leaving a comment. I’ve not heard of Yema Hunter. I will look for a new book. Gladys Casely-Hayford is fascinating.
wow i have a lot to catch up on all these books fantastic….any children’s book on the list dear?
Koku the Cockerel is a picture book.
ok thanks my son is 7 will try it, it’ll be good to compile a list of children’s literature…we’ve read journey to jo’burg great book
thanks