Ama Ata Aidoo
World
Ghanian author, playwright, and winner of the 1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book.
Professional Information
Working primarily in:
World
Description of Work:
Ama Ata Aidoo's many awards include the Nelson Mandela Prize for Poetry in 1987 for Someone Talking to Sometime and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Africa for Changes in 1992.
Selected Works:
Her publications include the dramas:
The Dilemma of a Ghost (Longman, Harlow, 1965) and Anowa (Longman, Harlow, 1970)
the short stories: No Sweetness Here (Longman, Harlow, 1970)
the novels:
Our Sister Killjoy or Reflections from a Black-Eyed Squint (Longman, Harlow, 1977) and Changes (The Women's Press, London, 1991)
the poetry: Someone Talking to Sometime (College Press, Harare, 1985) and An Angry letter in January and Other Poems (Dangaroo Press, Coventry, 1992)
and the children's books: The Eagle and the Chickens and Other Stories (Tana Press, Enugu, 1986) and Birds and Other Poems (College Press, Harare, 1987).
Biographical Information
Ama Ata Aidoo
(At a Glance)
Date of Birth: Mar/13/1942
Gender: female
Place of Origin: Ghana
Born Chirstina Ama Ata Aido in Abeadzi Kyiakor, known as the Gold Coast at the time. She grew up in a Fante royal household because her father was chief of Abeadzi Kyiakor. Her father, who built the first school in the village, was a strong influence on her.
At the age of 15 years, Aido decided to become a writer. Her first publication, during the same year, was a short story in the local newspaper which won the local writing contest.
From 1961 to 1964 Aido attended Wesley Girls' High School in Cape Coast. She then went on to receive her bachelors of arts in English from the University of Ghana in Legon. While still at the univesity she wrote her first play,
The Dilemma of a Ghost, which was published in 1964.
Aido's has written many genre's including fiction, dramas, novels, short stories, and poetry focused on women undergoing change and the tensions between Western and African values. She has also written childrens books.
Outside of writing she was the Minister of Education for Ghana in 1982. She has traveled widely and has taught as a visiting professor in the Theater, African, and African American Studies Departments in various colleges and universities in the USA.
Resources:
http://books.heinemann.com/shared/authors/amaataaidoo
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/features/womenwriters/aidoo_life.shtml
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/aidoo.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ama_Ata_Aido
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