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Between the Generations: An Anthology for Ama Ata Aidoo at 80
Ama Ata Aidoo, multiple award-winning Ghanaian novelist, poet, playwright and author of the critically acclaimed play, Dilemma of a Ghost, turned 80 in March, 2020. And as part of efforts to celebrate her – the first female African playwright – Between Generations: An Anthology for Ama Ata Aidoo at 80 was released.
Described by Editor Ivor Agyeman-Duah, as ‘international affairs through fiction’, the 230-page collection tackles wealth and inequality, immigration, sisterhood, love lost and regained and other contemporary issues in Africa and the world.
Opening with Aleppo by Ama Ata Aidoo, the anthology includes stories by eleven other contemporary African writers: Nigerian novelists, Sefi Atta, Ogochukwu Promise; South African novelist, Njabulo S. Ndebele; Senegalese novelist Boubacar Boris Diop, Ghanaian novelists, Ayesha Haruna Attah, Bisi Adjapon, writers Martin Egblewogbe, and Gheysika Adombire Agambila; Rwandan writer, Louise Umutoni and Cameroonian writer Ray Ndebi.₵115.00 -
Scarlet
For many generations, uncertainty and tension have pervaded both the people of Under The Sky and the wraiths of Kiriyanga, but they trudge on, while holding on to the little streaks of light at the end of this seemingly-never-ending tunnel – a prophecy that order would be restored on the Day of Scarlet. This imminent respite however, comes with stringent conditions: “ … until a woman drinks from the confluence of two rivers that do not mix, the Day of Scarlet will not come.”
Scarlet is an inquiry into the absurdity of possessing absolute power or its pursuit thereof. With strong allusions to the Grecian myth of Zeun and Hades, and Yoruba myths of love triangles among gods as told of Osun, Ogun, and Sango, or Yemoja, Obatala, and Ogun, woven into and set in tales from Kikuyu lore, Alexander Emmanuel Ochogwu lends his voice to the conversations around politics and power-grabbing in Nigeria, Africa, and beyond₵55.00Scarlet
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Louisa
Louisa’s dream of attending the best senior high school in the country materializes when she gains admission to St. Nicolas. Her assertiveness leads her into a confrontation with Paul, the class bully which nearly gets her killed.
The events following this incident further portray the protagonist’s will to achieve her goals no matter what.
₵75.00Louisa
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The Matriarch’s Verse
I am a mongrel; a mixed breed of Ga, Ewe, Akuapem, English, Middle-Eastern and American cultures; I am a Third Culture Kid.
Apiorkor’s socio-cultural experiences are interesting and might appear to be unique. But the truth is that there are several other Ghanaians who are secret sharers of her life. Such people lack access to platforms that would allow them to tell their collective story, so that their societies and communities can re-think all of the things that affect them.
Happily, Apiorkor is an artist over matter and over emotions. She possesses a mastery over words and over the essences of life. Many Ghanaian men, women and children are like her.
And her voice represents their voices.
In this sensational collection, The Matriarch seeks to celebrate, shock, tickle, challenge and highlight our Ghanaian-ness in the 21st Century. The author peppers our imagination with the following:
What does it mean to be Ghanaian?
How have we progressed?
Why do we stand for the things we stand for?
Who really is the modern Ghanaian woman?
Where is the global place for the urban Ghanaian space?
₵55.00The Matriarch’s Verse
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Unspoken
The debut collection of poetry and prose by Abena Amoah. Reading as a personal journal, Unspoken is divided into a three-chapter journey: Uncovering, Unburied, and Uncaged delivering a moving collection unearthing memory and unveiling abuse and trauma and its complexity in the mind of a woman.
There is a pain, loss, love, and surviving on these pages. Abena tells of it all with such fierceness and care.
₵54.00Unspoken
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It Takes A Woman: A Life Shaped by Heritage, Leadership and the Women Who Defined Hope
It Takes a Woman retraces the early life of Agyeman‐Rawlings who rose to prominence as the First Lady of the Republic of Ghana (1982-2000). She redefined the privilege of serving a nation, and sought every platform to champion the causes of underserved citizenry and women. While her husband, former President Jerry John Rawlings, embarked on a relentless pursuit of transforming Ghana into a model of African democracy, Mrs. Agyeman-Rawlings founded the 31st December Women’s Movement (the 31st DWM), an organisation which played a pivotal role in the empowerment of women, and in addressing issues of systemic gender inequality, not only in Ghana but across the African region.
Born in an era when women were overtly marginalised, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings’ strong relationship with her father, mother and family elders formed the core of much of her formative years. Fortified by her unique family history, she was raised to never accept the notion that “there were some things she could not do, simply because she was a woman.”
The narrative captures the family history of a spirited little girl, and as she walks us through the refreshingly detailed scenes from her childhood, we are transported to a hopeful and quintessential Ghana, where a sense of national pride resounded powerfully at the time of independence. But as she recalls Ghana’s struggles post-independence, we are also confronted face to face with her juxtaposed emotions of elation and frustration, hurt and joy, certainty and dread. She was not to know that her personal life being upended early one morning in 1979 would also become a turning point in the nation’s history and would thrust her into the glare of international publicity.
It Takes a Woman, written with unflinching candour, is an absorbing portrait of a life devoted to public service and shaped by heritage. Above all, it is an account of resilience. The voices of the women who stood tall will forever inspire Agyeman-Rawlings to stand for many more whose voices may not be loud enough to stand on their own.
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The Library Tree: How a Canadian Woman Brought the Joy of Reading to a Generation of African Children
“You are proof that the vision and actions of just one person can make a tremendous difference in so many lives!” — Michaelle Jean, former Governor General of Canada, following a visit to the Nima Library, November 2006
It began one afternoon in the shade of a tree in the yard of a Canadian woman living in Ghana, West Africa. Kathy Knowles brought out a basketful of books thinking she might amuse the neighbourhood kids by reading to them.
Over 20 years, that simple storytelling session morphed into seven large community libraries in impoverished areas of the country’s capital, support for more than 200 similar initiatives around Ghana and other African countries, and a publishing venture that produces children’s books tailor-made for the African culture.
Kathy Knowles now runs her volunteer-based Osu Children’s Library Fund from her Winnipeg home with twice-yearly trips to Ghana. Her work promoting libraries and literacy in Africa has been recognised internationally. Her unflagging enthusiasm has created bricks-and-mortar projects and has brought the wonder of reading to thousands of children.
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