UNVEILING
THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF AMA ATA AIDOO: TOYIN FALOLA INTERVIEWS AND PAWA HOST
PANEL DISCUSSION
By
Wole Adedoyin
The Toyin Falola Interviews, in collaboration
with the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA), is thrilled to announce a
highly anticipated panel discussion on the life and legacy of Ama Ata Aidoo,
the renowned Ghanaian author, poet, playwright, politician, and academic. This
insightful event will take place on Sunday, July 2, 2023, at 4:00 PM in Ghana,
5:00 PM in Nigeria, and 11:00 AM in Austin CST.
Ama Ata Aidoo, who was born on March 23, 1942,
and sadly passed away on May 31, 2023, played a pivotal role in African
literature. She made history as the first published female African dramatist
with her groundbreaking play, The Dilemma of a Ghost, which was published in
1965. Additionally, Aidoo's novel Changes earned her the prestigious
Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 1992. In recognition of her remarkable
contributions to African literature, she established the Mbaasem Foundation in
Accra in 2000, aimed at promoting and supporting the work of African women
writers.
This panel discussion aims to honor Ama Ata
Aidoo's extraordinary life and the lasting impact she has had on the literary
world. The event will be an opportunity for participants to gain insights into
Aidoo's unique perspective, creative process, and political activism. Through
engaging discussions and personal anecdotes, the panelists will shed light on
Aidoo's works, her cultural influence, and the ways in which she shaped African
literature.
The esteemed panel of discussion will feature
prominent individuals who have been deeply influenced by Aidoo's work and have
a profound understanding of her contributions. Among the distinguished
panelists are Dr. Akwasi Aidoo, Bisi Adjapon, Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, H.E. Abena P
A Busia, and Prof. Peter Amuka. Their diverse backgrounds and expertise will
provide a comprehensive exploration of Aidoo's life and legacy, allowing
participants to gain a multifaceted understanding of her impact.
In addition to the panel discussion, the event
will feature a captivating performance by Oswald Okaitei, a talented artist
whose work resonates with Aidoo's themes and artistic vision. His performance
will add a unique dimension to the event, showcasing the profound influence that
Aidoo's works have had on various art forms.
To participate in this enlightening panel
discussion and celebrate the life and legacy of Ama Ata Aidoo, interested
individuals can register and watch the event through the Toyin Falola
Interviews website at [https://www.tfinterviews.com/post/ama-ata-aidoo].
The event will also be accessible via Zoom at [https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86580894258].
The Toyin Falola Interviews and PAWA are excited
to bring together a diverse community of literature enthusiasts, scholars, and
creatives to honor the exceptional contributions of Ama Ata Aidoo. This panel
discussion promises to be a memorable and enriching experience, providing
participants with a deeper understanding of Aidoo's impact on African
literature and her enduring legacy.
Below are
the profiles of the Panelists
DR. AKWASI AIDOO
is a philanthropy professional and a creative writer. He is currently a
Senior Fellow at Humanity United, and was the founding Executive Director of
TrustAfrica – a foundation dedicated to promoting equitable development, social
justice, movement building and democracy in Africa. Dr. Aidoo currently serves
on the Boards of several international organizations including Human Rights
Watch, International Development Research Centre, and the Centre on African
Philanthropy and Social Investment at Wits Business School at the University of
Witwatersrand in South Africa. In the 1970s and 1980s, Dr. Aidoo taught at
universities in Ghana, Tanzania, and the United States. He was educated in
Ghana and the United States and received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in
medical sociology from the University of Connecticut in 1985.
BISI ADJAPON
is the author of the critically acclaimed novels, Daughter in Exile (Harper
Collins, 2023) and The Teller of Secrets (Harper Collins, 2021), The
latter, her debut, has been named a best book by The American Library
Association, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Globe and Mail (Canada), Pop Sugar,
Essence, and Ms Magazine. The short story version, Of Women and Frogs, was
nominated for the Caine Prize.
Her second novel, Daughter in
Exile, is a New Yorker Magazine and Amazon Editors' Best Book, and has received
starred reviews from many publications including Publishers Weekly, American
Library Association's Booklist, Library Journal, Book Browse, and World
Literature Today. It has also been listed a must-read by The Root and Essence. Adjapon's
writings have appeared in journals and newspapers including The Guardian,
McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, The Sun Magazine, Aljazeera, New York Times,
Washington Times and Brittle Paper.
A former International Affairs
Specialist for the US Foreign Agricultural Service, she won the Civil Rights
Award for Human Relations. As an educator, she won An Excellence in
Teaching Award in Fairfax County, Virginia. For four years, she was
Artistic Director of the Young Shakespeare Company in Washington. Now she is a
fulltime writer, dividing her time between the United States and Ghana.
ASHRAF ABOUL-YAZID
(1963): He worked in Cultural Journalism for more than 35 years. He authored
and translated 42 books. An anthology of his poetry books, A street in Cairo,
The memory of Butterflies, The Memory of Silence, and The Whisper of the Sea
and The Shells, has been published in English, Sindhi, German, Russian,
Persian, Turkish and Spanish. He is the President, Asia Journalist Association,
Editor in Chief, THE SILK ROAD LITERATURE SERIES. Of his awards: Grand
Manhae Prize in Literature, Korea (2014), Arab Journalism Award in Culture, UAE
(2015), The Gold Medal in LIFFT Eurasian Literary Festival, Turkey (2021) and
Sawiris Cultural Award, Children Literature, Egypt (2023).
H.E. ABENA P A BUSIA
is a Ghanaian diplomat and internationally known poet, H.E. Abena P. A. Busia,
currently serving as her country’s Ambassador to Brazil, is a Professor
Emerita, having served forty years in the Departments of English and Women’s
& Gender Studies and Comparative Literature at Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey.
She has received Fellowships and
awards from numerous organizations, including the Rockefeller, Fulbright and
Ford Foundations, and the Rutgers University President’s Award for
Distinguished Public Service.
She has published widely, lectured
extensively, and taught workshops and masterclasses on curriculum
transformation, around the world, in the areas of gender, race, and
multi-cultural studies.
She is a Founding Board member
of several international organizations including the Busia Foundation for which
she serves as International Liaison Officer, the African Women’s Development
Fund [AWDF] for which she served as the founding Program Committee Chair and
AWD Fund-USA for which she served as Executive Chair.
She is also one of the three
Project co-directors and series editors of the award winning four volume Women
Writing Africa project, published by the Feminist Press 2002-2008.
Ambassador Busia has given numerous
interviews and poetry readings on radio, performed and read at conferences,
universities, churches and poetry and Jazz festivals around Europe, North
America, and West Africa, including the celebrated New Orleans Jazz Festival
and the welcoming ceremonies for Nelson Mandela on the steps of City Hall, Los
Angeles.
First published by the late
Chinua Achebe, her poetry has appeared in various anthologies and magazines on
three continents, in West Africa, North America, and Europe.
As a board member of the Women’s
Learning Partnership, a South-South network of women’s organizations dedicated
to women’s leadership and empowerment, she is the curator of “Lifelines: The
Poetry of Human Rights” presenting readings annually at the UN Commission on
the Status of Women and other NGO fora.
PROF PETER AMUKA
is a Kenyan Professor of Comparative Literature. He holds a PhD in Comparative
Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles, MA and BA degrees in
Literature from University of Nairobi. He was a Research Fellow/Lecturer at the
Institute of African Studies until 1987 when he moved to Moi University.
Currently he is a Professor of
Comparative Literature at Kibabii University in Bungoma, Kenya.
Prof. Amuka has over 40 publications
comprising book reviews, feature articles, critical essays and book chapters in
African oral and written literatures and short fiction. In 2021, he published a
novella, WANJIRA and her HITLERS.
OSWALD OKAITEI
is a young multi-award winning Ghanaian poet, spoken word artiste, playwright,
Storyteller and a ‘creative artpreneur’. He has been featured on many national
and international platforms and shared stage with poetry/spoken word legends as
Muta Baruka, Prof. Atukwei Okai, Prof. Kofi Anyidoho, Rocky Dawuni among
others.
Oswald represented Ghana at
the 2016 Storymoja Festival in Nairobi, Kenya and at the Babishai Poetry
Festival in Kampala, Uganda in 2015 and 2016 as a Resource Person and an
Artiste.
In 2016, he was adjudged the
Pan-African Poet/Spoken word artiste in Ghana. Other awards received by
Okaitei include World Poetry Empowered Poet 2013 & World Poetry Theatre
Ambassador award 2014 [by the World Poetry & Canada International] and the
Pentasi B. Inspirational Poet Award 2015 [by Pentasi B. World Poetry Friendship
International in Philippines]. Oswald Okaitei is currently the Organising Secretary
of the Ghana Assoc of Writers
