Professor Ama Ata Aidoo, in the early hours of Wednesday, May 31, 2023, was confirmed dead by her family.
The respected author, who was known for her contributions to literature as well as her activism, passed away after a brief illness.
While they are mourning their loss, the Aidoo family continues to have faith in the resurrection of their loved one and asks that they be given privacy at this trying time.
All You Need to Know about Professor Ama Ata Aidoo
Professor Ama Ata Aidoo was born on March 23, 1942 in the town of Abeadzi Kyiakor, which is located in the Central Region and is close to Saltpond.
Ghanaian author, poet, and playwright Professor Ama Ata Aidoo is also talented in the field of playwriting.
She is also the author of a number of books geared toward younger readers. Her first play, titled “The Dilemma of a Ghost,” was written in 1964 while she was a student at the University of Ghana, which she attended after graduating from Wesley Girls’ High School with a master of arts degree in English.
Her fictional works, in particular, explore the conflict that exists between Western and African points of view on the world.
A significant number of her protagonists are female characters that act in ways that are not typical of women in their day.
Ama worked as a Junior Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana from 1964 to 1966.
In 1974, she was awarded a fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University and began working as a consulting professor for the Ethnic Studies Program of the Phelps-Stokes Fund.
In addition to that, she worked as a Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies and has previously held teaching positions in the English Departments of the Universities of Ghana and Cape Coast, as well as at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York.
Professor Ama Ata Aidoo has taught courses as a Visiting Professor in the Department of African Studies at Brown University in the United States.
Professor Ama Ata Aidoo was named Minister of Education in January 1982, however she resigned from that position after only 18 months. Aidoo started Mbaasem in the year 2000 as a charitable organization with the mission of advancing the careers of Ghanaian and African female authors.
Her body of work includes titles such as “Dilemma of a Ghost,” “Our Sister Kill Joy,” “The Girl Who Can,” and “Changes,” the latter of which was awarded the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (Africa) in 1992.
Other works by this author include An Angry Letter in January and other poetry, as well as Diplomatic Pounds and Other Stories. After the Ceremonies: New and Selected Poems is her most recent collection of poetry.
Awards and acknowledgments of merit
Changes, Aidoo’s novel, was recognized as the best book written by an African author in 1992 and won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book in Africa.
Essays in honor of Ama Ata Aidoo at 70 was a collection of works that was published in 2012 and edited by Anne V. Adams. Some of the authors who contributed to the collection include Atukwei Okai, Margaret Busby, Maryse Condé, Micere Mugo, Toyin Falola, Biodun Jeyifo, Kofi Anyidoho, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, Naana Banyiw
The documentary film The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo, which was directed by Yaba Badoe and released in 2014, focused on Aidoo and his work.
In honor of Ama Ata Aidoo and Margaret C. Snyder, who served as the founding directors of UNIFEM, the Women’s Caucus of the African Studies Association presents the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize annually.
This prize is given to an exceptional book published by a woman that highlights the experiences of African women. It is granted by the Women’s Caucus of the African Studies Association.
In her honor, the Ama Ata Aidoo Centre for Creative Writing (Aidoo Centre), which was established in March 2017 and named after her, is West Africa’s first center of its kind.
It is housed within the Kojo Yankah School of Communications Studies at the African University College of Communications (AUCC) in Adabraka, Accra. Nii Ayikwei Parkes serves as the center’s director.