Ama Ata Aidoo (23 March 1942 — 31 May 2023) was a

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

author, poet, playwright, politician, and academic. She was a Secretary for Education in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

from 1982 to 1983 under

Jerry Rawlings Jerry John Rawlings (born Jerry Rawlings John; 22 June 194712 November 2020) was a Ghanaian military officer, aviator, and politician who led the country briefly in 1979 and then from 1981 to 2001. He led a military junta until 1993 and then se ...

PNDC The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was the name of the Ghanaian government after the People's National Party's elected government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, in a coup ...

administration. Her first play, '' The Dilemma of a Ghost'', was published in 1965, making Aidoo the first published female African dramatist. As a novelist, she won the

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First ...

in 1992 with the novel ''

Changes Changes may refer to: Books * '' Changes: A Love Story'', 1991 novel by Ama Ata Aidoo * ''Changes'' (The Dresden Files) (2010), the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series * ''Changes'', a 1983 novel by Danielle Steel * ''Chan ...

''. In 2000, she established the Mbaasem Foundation in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

to promote and support the work of African women writers.

Early life

Christina Ama Ata Aidoo was born on 23 March 1942 in Abeadzi Kyiakor, near

Saltpond Saltpond is a town and the capital of the Mfantsiman Municipal District in the Central Region of Ghana. As of 2013, Saltpond has a population of 24,689 people. Major ethnic groups who lived in the town are the Akan, Ga, Ewe, Ashanti, an ...

, in the

Central Region of Ghana The Central Region is one of the sixteen administrative regions of Ghana. Ashanti and Eastern regions border it to the north, Western region to the west, Greater Accra region to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The Central Region i ...

. She was initially called Christiana Ama Aidoo. Some sources ( including Megan Behrent,

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, and ''Africa Who's Who'') have stated that she was born on 31 March. She had a twin brother, Kwame Ata. Aidoo was raised in a Fante royal household, the daughter of Nana Yaw Fama, chief of Abeadzi Kyiakor, and Maame Abasema. Her grandfather was murdered by neocolonialists, which brought her father's attention to the importance of educating the children and families of the village on the history and events of the era. This led him to open up the first school in their village and influenced Aidoo to attend

Wesley Girls' High School Wesley Girls' High School (WGHS) is an educational institution for girls in Cape Coast in the Central Region, Ghana, Central region of Ghana. It was founded in 1836 by Harriet Wrigley, the wife of a Methodist Church in Singapore, Methodist minis ...

, where she first decided she wanted to be a

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

Education

From 1957, Aidoo attended

Wesley Girls' Senior High School Wesley Girls' High School (WGHS) is an educational institution for girls in Cape Coast in the Central region of Ghana. It was founded in 1836 by Harriet Wrigley, the wife of a Methodist minister. The school is named after the founder of Methodi ...

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city and the capital of the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly, Cape Coast Metropolitan District and the Central Region (Ghana), Central Region of Ghana, Ghana. It is located about from Sekondi-Takoradi and approximately from Ac ...

. After high school, she enrolled in 1961 at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Ayawaso West Municipal District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. ...

, where she obtained the degree of

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and wrote her first play, '' The Dilemma of a Ghost'', in 1964. The play was published by

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publisher, publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman ...

the following year, making Aidoo the first published female African dramatist.

Career

After graduating, Aidoo held a fellowship in creative writing at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

before returning to

in 1969 to teach English at the

. She served as a research fellow at the Institute of African Studies there and as a lecturer in English at the

University of Cape Coast The University of Cape Coast (UCC) is a public collegiate university located in the historic town of Cape Coast in the central region of Ghana. The campus has a rare seafront and sits on a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It operates on two ...

, where she eventually rose to the position of professor. Aidoo was appointed Minister of Education under the

Provisional National Defence Council The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) was the name of the Ghanaian government after the People's National Party's elected government was overthrown by Jerry Rawlings, the former head of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, in a coup ...

in 1982. She resigned after 18 months, realizing that she would be unable to achieve her aim of making education in

freely accessible to all. She has portrayed the role of African women in contemporary society. She has opined that the idea of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

has been deployed by recent leaders as a means of keeping people oppressed. She criticized those literate Africans who profess to love their country but are seduced by the benefits of the developed world. She believed in a distinct African identity, which she viewed from a female perspective. She held strong Pan-Africanist views on the necessity of unity among African countries and was outspoken about the centuries of exploitation of the Africa's resources and peoples. In 1983, she moved to live in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, where she continued her work in education, including as a curriculum developer for the Zimbabwe Ministry of Education, as well as writing. While in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

, she published a collection of poems in 1985, ''Someone Talking to Sometime'', and wrote a children's book entitled ''The Eagle and the Chickens and Other Stories'' (1986). In

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, in 1986, she delivered the

Walter Rodney Walter Anthony Rodney (23 March 1942 – 13 June 1980) was a Guyanese historian, political activist and academic. His notable works include '' How Europe Underdeveloped Africa'', first published in 1972. He was assassinated in Georgetown, ...

Visions of Africa lecture organized by the support group of

Bogle-L'Ouverture Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications (BLP) is a radical London-based publishing company founded by Guyanese activists Jessica Huntley (23 February 1927 – 13 October 2013)Margaret Busby"Jessica Huntley obituary", ''The Guardian'', 27 October 2013. a ...

publishing house. Aidoo received a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

award in 1988, was writer-in-residence at the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in 1989, and taught various English courses at

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

in Clinton New York in the early mid-1990s. In 1991, she and African-American poet

Jayne Cortez Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist. Her writing is part of the canon of the Black Arts Movement. She was married to jazz saxophonist ...

established and co-chaired the Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA), and board members of OWWA have included J. E. Franklin, Cheryll Y. Greene,

Rashidah Ismaili Rashidah Ismaili, also known as Rashidah Ismaili AbuBakr (born 1941),"Rashidah Ismaili"

Louise Meriwether Louise Meriwether (May 8, 1923 – October 10, 2023) was an American novelist, essayist, journalist and activist, as well as a writer of biographies of historically important African Americans for children. She is best known for her first novel, ...

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...

, Rosamond S. King,

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...

, Gabrielle Civil,

Alexis De Veaux Alexis De Veaux (sometimes as Alexis DeVeaux) (born 1948) is an American writer and illustrator. She chaired the Department of Women's Studies, at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Biography De Veaux was born in Harlem on September 2 ...

, LaTasha N. Diggs,

Zetta Elliott Zetta Elliott (born October 26, 1972) is a Canadian-American poet, playwright, and author. Her first picture book ''Bird'', won many awards. She has also been recognized for other contributions to children's literature, as well as for her essays, ...

, Donette Francis, Paula Giddings, Renée Larrier, Tess Onwueme, Coumba Touré,

Maryse Condé Maryse Condé (née Marise Liliane Appoline Boucolon; 11 February 1934 – 2 April 2024) was a French novelist, critic, and playwright from the French Overseas department and region of Guadeloupe. She was also an academic, whose teaching car ...

Nancy Morejón Nancy Morejón (born August 7, 1944 in Havana) is a Cuban poet, critic, teacher, and essayist. She was a recipient of the Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath Award and has been called "the best known and most widely translated woman poet of post ...

, and

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

. From 2004 to 2011, Aidoo was a visiting professor in the Africana Studies Department at

. She chaired the Ghana Association of Writers Book Festival from its inception in 2011. Aidoo was a patron of the

Etisalat Prize for Literature The 9mobile Prize for Literature (formerly the Etisalat Prize for Literature 2013–16) was created by Etisalat Nigeria in 2013, as "the first ever pan-African prize celebrating first-time African writers of published fiction books".

(alongside

Dele Olojede Dele Olojede (born 1961) is a Nigerian journalist and former foreign editor for ''Newsday''. He is the first African-born winner of the Pulitzer Prize in International Journalism for his work covering the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. He s ...

, Ellah Wakatama Allfrey,

, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, and

Zakes Mda Zanemvula Kizito Gatyeni "Zakes" Mda () (born 1948) is a South African novelist, poet and playwright. He has won major South African and British literary awards for his novels and plays. He is the son of politician A. P. Mda. Early life and ...

), created in 2013 as a platform for African writers of debut novels of fiction. At ''Yari Yari Ntoaso: Continuing the Dialogue'', the symposium of African writers held in Accra, Ghana, in 2013, Aidoo was a plenary speaker, alongside

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American Marxist and feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness at the University of ...

and others.

Writings

Aidoo's plays include '' The Dilemma of a Ghost'', produced at Legon in 1964 (first published in 1965) and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

in 1988, and '' Anowa'', published in 1971 and produced at the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Gearóid Ó Lochla ...

in London in 1991. Her works of fiction particularly deal with the tension between Western and African worldviews. Her first novel, '' Our Sister Killjoy'', was published in 1977 and remains one of her most popular works. It is notable for portraying a dissenting perspective on sexuality in Africa, and especially

LGBT in Africa LGBTQ, Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Africa are generally lacking, especially in comparison to much of the LGBTQ rights in the Americas, Americas, LGBTQ rights in Europe, Europe and LGBTQ rights in Oceania, O ...

. Whereas one popular idea on the continent is that homosexuality is alien to Africa and an intrusion of ideas of

Western culture Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the Cultural heritage, internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompas ...

into a pure, inherently heterosexual "African" culture, Aidoo portrays the main character of ''Killjoy'' as indulging in

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

fantasies of her own, and maintaining sympathetic relationships with lesbian characters. Many of Aidoo's other protagonists are also women who defy the stereotypical women's roles of their time, as in her play ''Anowa''. Her novel '' Changes: A Love Story'' won the 1992

for Best Book (Africa). She was also an accomplished poet—her collection ''Someone Talking to Sometime'' won the

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Prize for Poetry in 1987—and the author of several

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

. Aidoo contributed the piece "To be a woman" to the 1984 anthology '' Sisterhood Is Global: The International Women's Movement Anthology'', edited by

Robin Morgan Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key Radical feminism, radical feminist member of the American Feminist movement, Wom ...

. Her story "Two Sisters" appears in the 1992 anthology ''

Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora ...

'', edited by

. In 2000, Aidoo founded the Mbaasem Foundation, a non-governmental organization based in Ghana with a mission "to support the development and sustainability of African women writers and their artistic output", which she ran together with her daughter Kinna Likimani and a board of management. Aidoo was editor of the anthology ''African Love Stories'' (Ayebia, 2006), a collection of 21 stories by writers including

Chika Unigwe Chika Nina Unigwe (born 12 June 1974) is a Nigerian-born Igbo novelist who writes in English and Dutch. She was the winner of the Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2012 for her novel '' On Black Sisters' Street''. In April 2014, she was selected ...

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born Grace Ngozi Adichie; 15 September 1977) is a Nigerians, Nigerian writer of novels, short stories, poem, and children's books; she is also a book reviewer and literary critic. Her most famous works include ''Purple ...

Doreen Baingana Doreen Baingana (born 1966) is a Ugandan writer. Her short story collection, ''Tropical Fish,'' won the Grace Paley Award for Short Fiction in 2003 and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for best first book, Africa Region in 2006. Stories in it we ...

Nawal El Saadawi Nawal El Saadawi (, , 22 October 1931 – 21 March 2021) was an Egyptian feminist writer, activist and physician. She wrote numerous books on the subject of women in Islam, focusing on the concerns of third-world women pertaining to sexuality, p ...

Helen Oyeyemi Helen Oyeyemi FRSL (born 10 December 1984) is a British novelist and writer of short stories. Life Oyeyemi was born in Nigeria and was raised in Lewisham, South London from when she was four. Oyeyemi wrote her first novel, '' The Icarus Girl' ...

Leila Aboulela Leila Fuad Aboulela (Arabic:ليلى فؤاد ابوالعلا; born 1964) is a fiction writer, essayist, and playwright of Sudanese origin based in Aberdeen, Scotland. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and moved to Scotland in 1990 where she be ...

, Molara Ogundipe, Monica Arac de Nyeko, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Sefi Atta,

Sindiwe Magona Sindiwe Magona (born 27 August 1943) is a South African writer. Early life Magona is a native of the former Transkei region, South Africa. She grew up in Gugulethu, a Cape Town township, and worked as a servant (domestic), domestic while complet ...

, and

Véronique Tadjo Véronique Tadjo (born 1955) is a writer, poet, novelist, and artist from Ivory Coast, Côte d'Ivoire. Having lived and worked in many countries within the African continent and African diaspora, diaspora, she feels herself to be Pan-Africanism, ...

. In 2012, Aidoo published ''Diplomatic Pounds & Other Stories'', a compilation of short stories.

Death

Aidoo died on 31 May 2023 in

. Praising her as "an outstanding writer, advocate for women's cause, the cause of Africans and the progressive people around the world", President

Nana Akufo-Addo William Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the 13th president of Ghana from January 2017 to January 2025. He previously served as Attorney General of Ghana, Attorney General from 2001 to 20 ...

announced that she would be given a state funeral, with rites held from 13 July to 16 July, On 13 July, her funeral took place in the forecourt of the State House, followed by lying-in-state at her home town of Abeadze Kyiakor on 15 July, and a thanksgiving church service and burial on Sunday, 16 July. According to a tribute from the

Caine Prize The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. Founded in the United Kingdom in 2000, the £10,000 prize was named ...

council, Aidoo had been working on a new novel for some years before her death.

Honours and recognition

Aidoo received several awards, including winning the

Mbari Club The Mbari Club was a centre for cultural activity by African writers, artists and musicians that was founded in Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1961 by Ulli Beier, with the involvement of a group of young writers including Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe.

prize in 1962 for her short story "No Sweetness Here", and the 1992

for Best Book (Africa) for her novel ''Changes''. In 2012, the volume ''Essays in honour of Ama Ata Aidoo at 70'' was published, edited by Anne V. Adams, with contributors including

Atukwei Okai Atukwei John Okai (15 March 1941 – 13 July 2018) was a Ghanaian poet, cultural activist and academic. He was Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers' Association, and a president of the Ghana Association of Writers. His early work was pub ...

, Micere Mugo,

Toyin Falola Toyin Omoyeni Falola (born 1 January 1953) is a Nigerian historian and professor of African Studies. Falola is a Fellow of the Historical Society of Nigeria and of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, and has served as the president of the Afric ...

, Biodun Jeyifo,

Kofi Anyidoho Kofi Anyidoho (born 25 July 1947) is a Ghanaian poet and academic who comes from a family tradition of Ewe poets and oral artists.

, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Naana Banyiwa Horne, Nana Wilson-Tagoe,

Carole Boyce Davies Carole Boyce Davies is a Caribbean-American professor of Africana Studies and English at Cornell University, the author of the prize-winning ''Left of Karl Marx: The Political Life of Claudia Jones'' (2008) and ''Black Women, Writing and Identity: ...

Emmanuel Akyeampong Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong (born 1962) is a professor of history and African and African American studies, and the Oppenheimer Faculty Director of the Harvard University Center for African Studies at Harvard University. He is a faculty associate f ...

, James Gibbs, Vincent O. Odamtten, Jane Bryce,

Esi Sutherland-Addy Esi Sutherland-Addy is a Ghanaian academic, writer, educationalist, and human rights activist. She is a professor at the Institute of African Studies, where she has been senior research fellow, head of the Language, Literature, and Drama Section ...

Femi Osofisan Babafemi Adeyemi Osofisan (born June 16, 1946), known as Femi Osofisan or F.O., is a Nigerian writer noted for his critique of societal problems and his use of African traditional performances and surrealism in some of his plays. A frequent theme ...

, Kwesi Yankah,

Abena Busia Abena Pokua Adompim Busia (born 1953) is a Ghanaian writer, poet, feminist, lecturer and diplomat. She is a daughter of the former prime minister of Ghana, Kofi Abrefa Busia, and is the sister of actress Akosua Busia. Busia is an associate pro ...

Yaba Badoe Yaba Badoe (born 1954) is a Ghanaian-British documentary filmmaker, journalist and author. Career Yaba Badoe was born in 1954 in Tamale, northern Ghana. She left Ghana to be educated in Britain at a very young age.Beti Ellerson"A Conversatio ...

, Ivor Agyeman-Duah,

Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi (born 1939) is a Nigerian academic, a literary critic and writer. She taught at Sarah Lawrence College and she is best known for her articles and books concerning the theory of Womanism and the African Diaspora. Career ...

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o Ngugi or Ngũgĩ is a name of Kikuyu origin that may refer to: * Ngugi wa Mirii (1951–2008), Kenyan playwright *Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (; born James Ngugi; 5January 193828May 2025) was a Kenyan author and academic, who has ...

, Kinna Likimani, and others. Aidoo was the subject of a 2014 documentary film, '' The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo'', made by

."The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo – a film by Yaba Badoe"
, official website. The Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize, awarded by the Women's Caucus of the African Studies Association for an outstanding book published by a woman that prioritizes African women's experiences, is named in honour of Ama Ata Aidoo and of Margaret C. Snyder, who was the founding director of

UNIFEM The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, , ) was established in December 1976 originally as the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women in the International Women's Year. Its first director was Margaret C. Snyder. U ...

. In 2016, Aidoo's plays ''The Dilemma of a Ghost'' and ''Anowa'' were included as African Drama selections in the

Cambridge International Examinations Cambridge International Education (abbreviated CIE, informally known as Cambridge International or simply Cambridge and formerly known as CAIE, Cambridge Assessment International Education and CIE, Cambridge International Examinations) is a pro ...

. Launched in March 2017, the Ama Ata Aidoo Centre for Creative Writing (Aidoo Centre), under the auspices of the Kojo Yankah School of Communications Studies at the African University College of Communications (AUCC) in

Adabraka Adabraka is a town in the Korle-Klottey Municipal District, located in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It was the first affluent neighborhood in Ghana during the British era. The town's economy is dominated by trade, which includes the Adab ...

, Accra, was named in her honour—the first centre of its kind in West Africa, with

Nii Ayikwei Parkes Nii Ayikwei Parkes (; born 1 April 1974), born in the United Kingdom to parents from Ghana, where he was raised, is a performance poet, writer, publisher and sociocultural commentator. He is one of 39 writers aged under 40 from sub-Saharan Afric ...

as its director.

Selected works

* '' The Dilemma of a Ghost'' (play), Accra: Longman, 1965. New York: Macmillan, 1971. * '' Anowa'' (play based on a Ghanaian legend), London: Longman, 1970. New York: Humanities Press, 1970. * ''No Sweetness Here: A Collection of Short Stories'', London: Longman, 1970. New York: Doubleday. * '' Our Sister Killjoy: or Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint'' (novel), Longman, 1977. * ''Someone Talking to Sometime'' (poetry collection), Harare: College Press, 1986. * ''The Eagle and the Chickens and Other Stories'' (for children), Enugu: Tana Press, 1986. * ''Birds and Other Poems'', Harare: College Press, 1987. * ''An Angry Letter in January'' (poems), Coventry: Dangaroo Press, 1992, * '' Changes: A Love Story'' (novel), London:

The Women's Press The Women's Press was a feminist publishing company established in London in 1977. Throughout the late 1970s and the 1980s, The Women's Press was a highly visible presence, publishing feminist literature. Founding In 1977, Stephanie Dowrick cofo ...

, 1991. New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1993.Simpson, Waleska Saltori. What Fashion of Loving Was She Ever Going to Consider Adequate?' Subverting the 'Love Story' in Ama Ata Aidoo's Changes". ''English in Africa'', 34.1 (2007): 155–71. Print. * ''The Girl Who Can and Other Stories'', Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers, ;

Heinemann African Writers Series The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an international audience fo ...

, 1997. * ''Diplomatic Pounds & Other Stories'', Ayebia Clarke Publishing, 2012, .

As editor

* ''African Love Stories: An Anthology'', Ayebia Clarke Publishing, 2006. . Her background

Notes

References

External links

Full-text, searchable works
from the Black Drama database.
"Ama Ata Aidoo and Margaret Busby. The Guardian talks"
Recorded at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 1991-04-10.

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

, Sounds.
"AIDOO, Ama Ata"
''International Who's Who'', accessed 1 September 2006. * Nafeesah Allen

''The Scholar & Feminist Online'', Issue 7.2: Spring 2009 - Rewriting Dispersal: Africana Gender Studies. Barnard Center for Research on Women.
"Interview with Ama Ata Aidoo"
Video interview by Michael Walling, artistic director of Border Crossings theatre company.
"Ama Ata Aidoo on feminism in Africa – BBC HARDtalk"
interview with

Zeinab Badawi Zeinab Mohammed-Khair Badawi (; born 3 October 1959) is a Sudanese-British television and radio journalist, educator, civic activist, and writer. She was the first presenter of the ''ITV Morning News'' (later known as '' ITV News at 5:30''), an ...

, 22 July 2014. Via YouTube. * Kundai Mugwanda-Nyamutenha
"Women's History Month profile: Ama Ata Aidoo"
''This Is Africa'', 30 March 2015. * Suzanne Kamata

''

Literary Mama ''Literary Mama'' (LiteraryMama.com) is a U.S.-based online literary magazine focused on publishing writing about motherhood in a variety of genres. The writings found in ''Literary Mama'' challenge all types of media to rethink its narrow focus of ...

'', February 2016. * Princess Arita Anim
"Ama Ata Aidoo: 'Nobody could tell me writing was a man's job
DVV International.
In Memory "Ama Ata Aidoo (1942–2023)"

African Studies Association The African Studies Association (ASA) is a US-based association of scholars, students, practitioners, and institutions with an interest in the continent of Africa. Founded in 1957, the ASA is the leading organization of African Studies in North ...

. * Bhakti Shringarpure
"Ama Ata Aidoo: Five Decades of Killjoy Feminism"
22 September 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aidoo, Ama Ata 1940 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Ghanaian educators 20th-century Ghanaian poets 20th-century Ghanaian politicians 20th-century Ghanaian women politicians 20th-century Ghanaian women writers 20th-century Ghanaian novelists 20th-century short story writers 20th-century women educators 21st-century Ghanaian women writers 21st-century Ghanaian writers 21st-century short story writers Academic staff of the University of Cape Coast Brown University faculty Feminist writers Ghanaian dramatists and playwrights Ghanaian expatriates in the United States Ghanaian feminist writers Ghanaian feminists Ghanaian twins Ghanaian women academics Ghanaian women activists Ghanaian women novelists Ghanaian women poets Ghanaian women short story writers Government ministers of Ghana People from Central Region (Ghana) University of Ghana alumni Women anthologists Women dramatists and playwrights Women government ministers of Ghana