There are many authors, who are gifted with poetic skills and very knowledgeable when it comes to writing short plays for theatre stage performances in Ghana.
These authors through their artistry works portrayed a positive image of Ghana and Africa to the world.
Their works touched on the social life of people, the economy, and the environment.
Past and current students in various Senior High Schools in Ghana such as Wesley Grammar School, St. John’s Grammar Senior High School, St. Mary’s Senior High School, Accra Girls Senior High School, Asanteman Senior High School, Effiduase Senior High/Technical School, Yaa Asantewaa Girls Senior High School, Adisadel College, Ghana National College, and others always chant and celebrate the legacy of these great authors and playwrights.
Some of these names that posterity can never write off when it comes to remembering some great authors and playwrights in Ghana are the late Efua Theodora Sutherland, Ayi Kwei Armah, the late Professor Ama Ata Aidoo, the late Margaret Sarfo known as Peggy Oppong, Kofi Anyidoho, Kofi Awoonor, Amma Darko and the late Efo Kodjo Mawugbe.
- Efua Theodora Sutherland
Efua Theodora Sutherland commonly known as Efua Sutherland was one of the earliest writers in Ghana whose works were recognized, mostly in African and European countries.
Her line of storytelling in literature focused on social issues that can not be overlooked in the contemporary world.
She is known for the famous book titled ‘The Marriage of Anansewa’ which highlights how wealth influences people’s decisions in choosing life partners.
Efua Sutherland was a playwright, director, dramatist, and children’s author as well as a poet, educationalist, researcher, child advocate, and cultural activist.
Some of the well-known books written by the late Efua Sutherland are ‘The Marriage of Anansewa’, ‘Tihinta(Rhythm Book for children)’, ‘Playtime In Africa’, ‘Foriwa(A Play In Three Acts)’, ‘Vulture! Vulture! Two Rhythm Plays’, ‘Edufa’, ‘The Original Bob: The Story of Bob Johnson, Ghana’s Ace Comedian (Makers of Ghanaian Theatre)’ and more.
Accra’s Children’s Park or Ridge Park now known as Efua Sutherland Park was renamed after the great author and this name will forever bring her into memories.
The late Efua Sutherland after completing her studies at the Teacher Training College in Ghana went to England to do further work at Homerton College, Cambridge, and at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.
Upon her return to Accra, Ghana, she assisted to establish the literary magazine Okyeame and founded the Experimental Theatre, which became the Ghana Drama Studio.
She also served as the director of the University of Ghana’s traveling theatre group.
Efua Sutherland was born on June 27, 1924, in Cape Coast, Gold Coast now Ghana, and joined the ancestors on January 21, 1996, in Accra.
- Ayi Kwei Armah
Ayi Kwei Armah is another renowned novelist whose piece of art or writing focuses on corruption and materialism in contemporary Africa.
The 83-year-old man always comes to mind when the novel, titled ‘The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born” is mentioned in a conversation.
Ayi Kwei Armah is a writer and poet.
Ayi Kwei Armah before heading to the United States in 1959 to complete his secondary education at Groton School and his bachelor’s degree at Harvard University was attending Ghana’s famous Achimota College.
He also worked as a scriptwriter, translator, and English teacher in Paris, Tanzania, Lesotho, Senegal, and the United States, among other places.
Other books by Ayi Kwei Armah are ‘Why Are We So Blest?’, ‘Fragments’, ‘The Healers, ‘OsirisRising’, ‘Two Thousand Seasons’, ‘The Eloquence of The Scribes: A Memoir On The Sources and Resources Of African Literature’, ‘The Resolutionaries’ and many more books.
Ayi Kwei Armah is a mentor for most writers in Africa and till now he puts together works that can help reshape the destiny of the African continent.
- Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo
Professor Ama Ata Aidoo born Christina Ama Ata Aidoo is another great and proud African author, poet, and playwright whose writings were able to bring hope to children and women.
The Award-winning Ghanaian poet, author, and playwright died on May 31, 2023, at age 81.
The late Prof. Ama Ata Aidoo is a true representation of an intellectual African woman.
Over the seven decades of her career, Ama Ata Aidoo published award-winning novels, plays, short stories, children’s books, and poetry, and influenced generations of African women writers.
She is known for books such as ‘Changes: A Love Story’, ‘Our Sister Killjoy’, ‘No Sweetness Here’, ‘Dilemma of a Ghost and Anowa’, ‘Diplomatic Pounds’, ‘After The Ceremonies,’ ‘The Girl Who Can’, ‘Someone Talking To Some Time’ and more.
In 1991, she was adjudged the winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Changes as a novelist.
She was raised in a Fante royal household, the daughter of Nana Yaw Fama, chief of Abeadzi Kyiakor, and Maame Abasema. She grew up at a time of resurgent British neocolonialism that was taking place in her homeland.
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.
Aidoo attended Wesley Girls’ Senior High School in Cape Coast, from 1961 to 1964. After high school, she enrolled at the University of Ghana, Legon, where she obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English.
- Margaret Sarfo(Peggy Oppong)
Margaret Safo, widely known as Peggy Oppong was a novelist who depicted the happenings in African settings in her story.
Most 20th and 21st-century people and current students might have all heard the name Peggy Oppong because her books were studied in most Literature and English classes.
Peggy Oppong is known for romantic fiction novels like ‘No Roses for Sharon’, ‘Lemon Suitcase’, ‘End of the Tunnel’, ‘Beneath the Cover’, ‘The Lady Who Refused to Bow’, ‘The Green Sunset’, ‘Echoes of the Past’ and more.
Other books she wrote for children are ‘Crocodiles in the Pillow’, ‘The Little Blue Bell’, ‘The Red Shoes’ and more.
The late Margaret Sarfo once served as an Editor for The Mirror Newspaper.
She is an alumnus of Okuapeman Secondary School in Akropong-Akwapim in the Eastern Region.
Peggy Oppong sadly passed on May 8, 2014, at the 37 Military Hospital.
She died at age 57.
- Professor Kofi Awoonor
Prof. Kofi Anyidoho is a great and proud African poet, literary scholar, educator, and cultural activist.
He has been with the English Department, University of Ghana-Legon for a while and continued to be resourceful for other English Departments in various tertiary institutions in the country.
Anyidoho is known for works such as ‘The Harvest of Our Dreams’, ‘The Place We Can Call Home’, ‘Ancestral Logic and Caribbean Blues’, ‘Elegy For The Revolution’, ‘FonTomFrom’ and more.
Prof. Kofi Anyidoho has won several awards including the Valco Fund Literary Award, the Fania Kruger Fellowship for Poetry of Social Vision, the Langston Hughes Prize, the Davidson Nichol Prize, and the BBC Arts and Africa Poetry Award, and Le Grand Prix de Poesie en langue national (Ewe).
- Professor Kofi Awoonor
Kofi Awoonor born George Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor-Williams was another blissful author and poet whose works often highlight the traditions of his native Ewe people and religious symbolism that depicted Africa during decolonization.
He was the epitome of African prowess and intelligence.
In September 2013, Awoonor was among those killed in an attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. He was in Kenya as a participant in the Storymoja Hay Festival, a four-day celebration of writing, thinking, and storytelling, at which he was due to perform on the evening of his death.
He died at age 78.
The late Kofi Awonoor is known for books such as ‘The Earth’, ‘My Brother’, ‘The Promise Of Hope’, ‘Guardians of the Sacred’, ‘Latin American and Caribbean’, ‘The Breast of the Earth’, ‘Ride Me Memory’, ‘The African Predicament’ and the list goes on.
- Efo Kodjo Mawugbe
Efo Kodjo Mawugbe was a celebrated Ghanaian playwright and director who worked with the National Theatre for several years before his demise.
In the early 90s, the theatre works of Efo Kodjo Mawugbe and his crew brought much fun to the entertainment industry.
His insight into Ghanaian culture made him a consistent judge of TV3’s Ghana’s Most Beautiful Television show aimed at educating views on the rich Ghanaian culture.
Efo Kodjo Mawugbe started a theatre company called Theater Kilimanjaro which was into live drama series.
The late Efo Kodjo Mawugbe is known for his famous drama book titled “In The Chest Of A Woman”.
Other works the late Efo Kodjo Mawugbe is always remembered for are ‘Prison Graduates,’ and ‘My Father’s Song’.
- Amma Darko
Amma Darko is another contemporary author doing magic within the literary space.
Her writings normally focus on the social ills of modern Ghanaian society.
The award-winning author is known to have written books such as ‘Faceless’, ‘Beyond The Horizon’, ‘The Housemaid’, ‘Not Without Flowers’, ‘Between Two Worlds’, ‘The Necklace of Tales’ and more.
Her books are used in most senior high schools in Ghana and other African countries.
Amma Darko’s first novel Der Verkaufte Traum (Beyond the Horizon), was first published in Germany in 1991.
‘Beyond the Horizon’ won the Ghana Book Award in 1998 and Darko was named Author of the Year by the Africa-themed German literary group Afrikahaus.
She is a mentor to the most passionate young authors and bookworms in Ghana and across the globe.
- Lawrence Darmani
Lawrence Darmani is a Ghanaian novelist and publisher whose artistry works have been of great value to students and bookworms.
His first novel, Grief Child, which most students used in senior high school won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize as the best first book from Africa in 1992.
Lawrence Darmani’s writings are based on personal experiences, reading, testimonies, and observing the world around him.
Mr. Darmani has stories on Africa titled ‘Stories from Africa Part 1, 2, and 3″.
He is another great African writer Ghana can boast of in this contemporary era.