Kofi Awoonor
Encyclopedia
Kofi Awoonor is a Ghana
ian poet and author, whose work combines the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people and contemporary and religious symbolism to depict Africa
during decolonization.
Awoonor was born in Ghana when it was still called the Gold Coast
. He went to university in there, and went on to teach African literature at the University of Ghana
. While at the University of Ghana he wrote his first poetry book; Rediscovery. Like the rest of his work, Rediscovery was based on African oral poetry. In Ghana he managed the Ghana Film Corporation and founded the Ghana Play House. He then studied literature at the University of London
, and while in England wrote several radio plays for the BBC. He spent the early 1970s in the United States, studying and teaching at universities. While in the USA he wrote This Earth, My Brother, and My Blood. Awoonor returned to Ghana in 1975 as head of the English department at the University of Cape Coast
. Within months he was arrested for helping a soldier accused of trying to overthrow the military government and was imprisoned without trial. After ten months he was found guilty and released. The house by the Sea is about his time in jail. After imprisonment Awoonor became politically active, and has written mostly nonfiction. From 1990 to 1994 Awoonor was Ghana's Ambassador to the United Nations
where he headed the committee against apartheid.
Novels
Non-fiction
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
ian poet and author, whose work combines the poetic traditions of his native Ewe people and contemporary and religious symbolism to depict Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
during decolonization.
Awoonor was born in Ghana when it was still called the Gold Coast
Gold Coast (British colony)
The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
. He went to university in there, and went on to teach African literature at the University of Ghana
University of Ghana
The University of Ghana is the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian universities and tertiary institutions. It is one of the best universities in Africa and by far the most prestigious in West Africa...
. While at the University of Ghana he wrote his first poetry book; Rediscovery. Like the rest of his work, Rediscovery was based on African oral poetry. In Ghana he managed the Ghana Film Corporation and founded the Ghana Play House. He then studied literature at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, and while in England wrote several radio plays for the BBC. He spent the early 1970s in the United States, studying and teaching at universities. While in the USA he wrote This Earth, My Brother, and My Blood. Awoonor returned to Ghana in 1975 as head of the English department at the University of Cape Coast
University of Cape Coast
The University of Cape Coast, Ghana, is one of the rare sea-front universities in the world. The university was established in 1962 out of a dire need for highly qualified and skilled manpower in education and was affiliated to the University of Ghana...
. Within months he was arrested for helping a soldier accused of trying to overthrow the military government and was imprisoned without trial. After ten months he was found guilty and released. The house by the Sea is about his time in jail. After imprisonment Awoonor became politically active, and has written mostly nonfiction. From 1990 to 1994 Awoonor was Ghana's Ambassador to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
where he headed the committee against apartheid.
Works
Poetry- Rediscovery and Other Poems (1964)
- Night of My Blood (1971) - poems that explore Awooner's roots, and the impact of foreign rule in Africa
- The House By the Sea (1978)
Novels
- This Earth, My Brother (1971) - a cross between a novel and a poem
- Comes the Voyager at Last (1992)
Non-fiction
- The Breast of the Earth: A Survey of the History, Culture, and Literature of Africa South of the Sahara (1975) Anchor Press, ISBN 0385070535
- Ghana: A Political History from Pre-European to Modern Times (1990)
Further reading
- Robert Fraser, West African Poetry: A Critical History, Cambridge University Press (1986), ISBN 052131223X
- Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Basic Civitas Books (1999), ISBN 0465000711 - p. 153
- Bedrock: Writers on the Wonders of Geology, edited by Lauret E. Savoy, Eldridge M. MooresEldridge M. MooresEldridge Moores is an American geologist who specializes in the understanding of ophiolites and the geology of the continental crust of the Western United States and Tethyan belt, the geology of Greece, Cyprus, and Pakistan, and the tectonic development of the Sierra Nevada...
, and Judith E. Moores (Trinity University Press, 2006)