• TSOO BOI: The Voices That Protest

    Amidst the Black Lives Matter movement, the End Sars revolution and the Fix the Country demand, TSOO BOI digs deep into the legacy of protests in the history of black people, and the potency of hashtags as a protest tool in the modern and digital age. This collection of essays, short stories and poems wrestles with our present reality, fleshes out the regressive parts, and imagines a better future.

    Reflecting on the past, present and future, 17 contemporary Ghanaian writers speak on topics such as respectability politics, queerphobia, the Ghanaian dream, decolonization and climate change.

    TSOO BOI is a shout for action, attention and coordination.

    Contributing writers include Ivana Akotowaa Ofori, Fui Can-Tamakloe, Najat Seidu, Adjoa Kedea, Edem Azah, Fiifi Buabeng-Baiden, Priscilla Arthur, Eev, Nahaja Adam, Akuvi Aguedze, Ama Afrah Appiah, Gabriel Awuah Mainoo, Mighty Yaw Apasu, Henrietta Enam Quarshie, Grace Mensah-Fosu, Ago Serwaa and Henneh Kyereh Kwaku. With cover art by Afia Prempeh.

  • Voices that Sing Behind the Veil: Anthology of Short Stories from Africa and the Diaspora (Hardcover)

    This 684-page collection is published in collaboration with the Pan African Writers Association which is based in Accra and affiliated to the continental body, the African Union.

    The fifty-six stories come from fifteen African countries and elsewhere; Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and East of the continent, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Great Lakes region, Ethiopia and Tanzania (in setting). They bring in other voices in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, St. Maarten, United States and Britain. The themes are amok and definitely so in a vein of free expression. There are stories of love (of even a man who finds one whilst visiting a dying cancer-patient wife at the hospital in Lagos) or of a husband wrongfully imprisoned in Malawi who upon escape from jail confronts a wife about to wed again, a story very reminiscent of the main character in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s, Weep Not, Child.

    There is hate and there is poverty – one from Kenya which reads like the Zimbabwean novelist, Dambudzo Marechera’s 1978 classic, The House of Hunger. Issues of mental health, corpse donation for scientific research and Coronavirus-19 are addressed alongside Pentecostal redemption, fake prophets and the havoc they exert on societies as do their counterparts in Islam.

    Contributing writers include distinguished and award-winning writers, academics and emerging talents such Zaynab Alkali (Nigeria), Ben Okri (UK/Nigeria), Molefi Kete Asante (US), Wesley Macheso (Malawi), Ogochukwu Promise (Nigeria), Grace Maguri (Zimbabwe), Athol Williams (South Africa), Martin Egblewogbe (Ghana), Esther K Mbithi (Kenya), Mary Ashun (Ghana), Wale Okediran (Nigeria) among others.

    “These extraordinary stories, mesmerising and beautifully written, are surely connected to a past that remains with us, the experiences of day-to-day living and the limitless imaginings of our futures. The discerning editor combines stories that communicate appreciation with apprehension, presence with essence… a good read.” – Toyin Falola, Historian and the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair, University of Texas, Austin

  • Say It in Swahili

    Contains over 1,000 useful sentences and phrases for travel or everyday living abroad: food, shopping, medical aid, courtesy, hotels, travel, and other situations. Gives the English phrase, the foreign equivalent, and a transliteration that can be read right off. Also includes many supplementary lists, signs, and aids. All words are indexed.
  • English-Swahili Pocket Dictionary

    A concise and portable dictionary developed by two experienced and well respected teachers of Swahili. In this work they have taken into account not only the difficulties which non-Swahili speakers from many different language backgrounds have in learning the language, but also the importance of making Swahili equivalents of English words, correspond to those of the best speakers of Swahili.
    The English-Swahili Pocket Dictionary will be of benefit to English speakers who are learning Swahili, while Swahili speakers who are learning English will also find it invaluable.
  • Swahili Made Easy: A Beginner’s Complete Course

    This handy book is a beginner’s complete course in the Swahili language, designed especially for foreigners. The book is a result of the author’s many years of teaching experience. It is divided into two parts: part one covers pronunciation; Swahili greetings and manners; classification of nouns; adjectives, verbs, adverbs, etc. in twenty-eight lessons and thirty-six exercises. part two includes a study of Swahili usage in specific situations (e.g. at home, in the market, on the road, at the airport, etc.); eleven further lessons and thirteen exercises; the key to the exercises in Parts One and Two; and a Swahili-English vocabulary of words used in the book.

  • Nyakyusa-English-Swahili & English-Nyakyusa Dictionary

    Unhappy with the policy of using English as the medium of instruction in secondary schools in Tanzania which left his students bewildered, a Norwegian volunteer teacher in Ipinda, Tukuyu, south western region of Tanzania decided that his students would probably cope with the foreign language only after they were grounded first in the structure of their own languages — Nyakyusa and Swahili. As a trilingual dictionary was not available, he set out to compile one and this well-produced dictionary is the product. Words, examples and usages are included.

  • A Time to Part

    Age Range: 13+ years

    The Ayi Kwei Armah Novel 1st Prize” Award Winner, GAW Awards 2018 
    She’s chasing shadows, running from the past. He’ll be there to catch her when she falls.
    Seven years ago, Jasmine left everything she knew behind. Her mother was dead, her father was terminally ill, and she had broken Hagan, the only man who ever loved her. It was the perfect time to start over. Except she never left any of it behind. When an echo from the past and the search for a killer pull her back into the chaos, she’ll have to decide if letting go is too high a price to pay for her life.
    This is a story of second chances, of love that survives the worst, and the fight to hold on to the light, in the face of darkness.

    A Time to Part

    30.00
  • No Vengeance

    Age Range: 13+ years

    Colonel Barlow had cheated death many years back. He had been forced into exile by the man who had wanted him dead at the time of the uprising. He is back and must meet his adversary. He has returned with his son Kit, a battle tested soldier.

    Why does Sonday refuse to meet him face to face? Does he fear reprisal? And what is the cause of his nightmares? Meanwhile where is the blue diamond ring?

    No Vengeance

    40.00
  • Ansu’s Village

    Age Range: 4 – 7 years

    Have you ever been to a village?

    If you have not, Ansu is here to tell you all about his village and the exciting people who live there. The people in his village are kind and they love visitors. It seems that all the villagers have their opposites. Where there’s ‘a big’ there’s ‘a small’. Where there’s ‘a weak’ there’s ‘a strong’.

    Together they are all happy and make Ansu feel at home.

  • Sawteeth

    Age Range: 7 – 9 years

    Notorious Kwaku Ananse has been active in the galamsey business. He has brought strangers with guns to dig for illegal gold. They are destroying the beautiful environment. The animals of the forest are not happy. Then Sawteeth returns from one of his trips. Will he be able to lead the animals to attack and drive away the galamsey people?

    Sawteeth

    30.00
  • The Children of House No. D13 South Suntresu Kumasi: An Ahwoi & Adu-Gyamfi Siblings’ Collective Biography

    *Available from 15 June 2022

    To describe The Children of House No. D13, South Suntresu, Kumasi, as an intriguing project is an understatement. A collective biography of eight siblings was always going to be a daunting challenge, even if each person told their own story and got it together in one volume. To do it in a coordinated combination of first and third person “voices” would appear to be a bit implausible. To actually achieve the purpose and turn it from a project into an enthralling reading experience deserves all the plaudits this book is likely to gather.

    This book is a collection of life stories of the eight children of Madam Maye Charlotte Hudson, also known as Esi Tutuwa but known to some people as Esi Nkwagye and to the people of South Suntresu, Kumasi as Mrs. Ahwoi. The ‘Ahwois” principally is the collective name of three brothers – Ato, Kwesi and Kwamena – who have played prominent roles in Ghana’s recent history, but the siblings also include five girls, Ama, Adoma, Efua, Naana and Sister Aggie, who also played their part in this thrilling story in their own unique ways.

    For such a collective recall of personal histories to work, a principal requirement is a willingness of all the parties involved to treat the project seriously; of equal importance is the need to treat everyone’s personal history as important, which is what this book has succeeded in doing. It would be right to describe it as an exercise in literary democracy!

    It is not every book project that produces a good book, but this book has done so because at the heart of the project is a good story. And at the heart of that good story is human progress against the odds capsuled in the life of these eight individuals.

    These are the dramatis personae in order of appearance – from the womb – Ato Ahwoi, Kwesi Ahwoi, Mrs. Ama Twum, Kwamena Ahwoi, Mrs. Ama Adoma Bartels-Kodwo, Mrs. Efua Bram-Larbi, Theodora Naana Adu Gyamfi and Mrs. Agnes Appiagyei-Dankah. Theodora Naana Adu-Gyamfi passed away at the age of 28 and so her role ends early except in passing references. However, it is worth recalling that before she died, and in an act that exemplifies the major theme of this book, Naana secretely transferred all the money in her own bank account into that of her six year old niece, Abena Tutuwa Ahwoi, the daughter of her brother, Kwamena.

    The structure of the narrative, which makes it possible to flow, is simply to follow the fortunes of these siblings sequentially in turn through the main phases of their development. The person whose presence permeates the story is the matriarch – Mrs. Ahwoi, nee Maye Charlotte Hudson.

    The book achieves the purpose of showing the “remarkable togetherness and the mutual support system that enabled the children of House No. D13, South Suntresu, Kumasi, to overcome the many hurdles along their individual paths in life as being due to their mother, Madam Maye Charlotte Hudson (Mrs. Ahwoi). Indeed, the matriarch herself is effectively the ninth subject of the biography of the eight children” as Honourable Kwame Preprah states in the Foreword.

    Nana Kwasi Gyan Apenteng

    Consultant in Communication, Media and Culture

    Former Chairman, National Media Commission (NMC)

    Former President, Ghana Association of Writers (GAW)

  • A Toast to Fatherhood

    This book – A Toast To Fatherhood – primarily addresses the subject of fatherhood from the perspective of sons and daughters. The book builds on the common knowledge that a son or daughter is anyone born by a woman. Here, a father is defined to mean more than just biological father.

    Through the chapters of A Toast to Fatherhood, the author seamlessly shares real life stories in addressing some thought-provoking issues related to the child-father relationship. These include:

    • What is fatherhood: Is it a divinely initiated human institution or a mere collection of individuals called fathers?
    • Why do son and daughters wait for their fathers to die before they find beautiful words in tributes to read over the dead bodies?
    • And if so, then why shouldn’t you and I propose a toast to fatherhood and to fathers while they are alive?
  • The Side We Choose to See

    This book gives a breathtakingly vivid account of twelve stories of women who are incarcerated in Ghana, West Africa. The narration combines real life stories with a tinge of fiction to keep the reader continuously engaged to the point of falling off their seat, in shock. Each narration is unique with regards to the story line and draws out intricate details of how the crimes were perpetuated by the imprisoned women some of who still profess their innocence. Based on the stories beautifully narrated, relevant thoughts and lessons are drawn out based on the Author’s perspective. The reader is also given an opportunity to make judgements for themselves after immersing themselves into a particular story. The stories are different yet they are interwoven by one theme: Crime.
  • Chicken Soup for your Soul: Poems and More

    In a deeply captivated form, this masterpiece of creative writing transcends the truly diverse life experiences of an African heroine. Irrespective of stage one’s stage, this unique collection of artistic inscriptions is to be savoured by all, for being highly uplifted, deeply inspired, continually intriguing, and delightfully entertaining. The book is a manifestation of the quest between the Author and her peers, towards not just the youth, but to the benefit of all who are still traveling along the intricating winding of life.

  • From Dar es Salaam to Bongoland: Urban Mutations in Tanzania

    The name Dar es Salaam comes from the Arabic phrase meaning house of peace. A popular but erroneous translation is ‘haven of peace’ resulting from a mix-up of the Arabic words “dar” (house) and “bandar” (harbour). Named in 1867 by the Sultan of Zanzibar, the town has for a long time benefitted from a reputation of being a place of tranquility. The tropical drowsiness is a comfort to the socialist poverty and under-equipment that causes an unending anxiety to reign over the town. Today, for the Tanzanian, the town has become Bongoland, that is, a place where survival is a matter of cunning and intelligence (bongo means ‘brain’ in Kiswahili). Far from being an anecdote, this slide into toponomy records the mutations that affect the links that Tanzanians maintain with their principal city and the manner in which it represents them.

    This book takes into account the changes by departing from the hypothesis that they reveal a process of territorialisation. What are the processes – envisaged as spatial investments – which, by producing exclusivity, demarcations and exclusions, fragment the urban space and its social fabric? Do the practices and discussions of the urban dwellers construct limited spaces, appropriated, identified and managed by communities (in other words, territories)? Dar es Salaam is often described as a diversified, relatively homogenous and integrating place. However, is it not more appropriate to describe it as fragmented?

    As territorialisation can only occur through frequenting, management and localised investment, it is therefore through certain places – first shelter and residential area, then the school, daladala station, the fire hydrant and the quays – that the town is observed. This led to broach the question in the geographical sense of urban policy carried out since German colonisation to date. At the same time, the analysis of these developments allows for an evaluation of the role of the urban crisis and the responses it brings.

    In sum, the aim of this approach is to measure the impact of the uniqueness of the place on the current changes. On one hand, this is linked to its long-term insertion in the Swahili civilisation, and on the other, to its colonisation by Germany and later Britain and finally, to the singularity of the post-colonial path. This latter is marked by an alternation of Ujamaa with Structural Adjustment Plans applied since 1987. How does this remarkable political culture take part in the emerging city today?

    This book is a translation of De Dar es Salaam à Bongoland: Mutations urbaines en Tanzanie, published by Karthala, Paris in 2006.

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