Today marks the end of the 2nd Annual Ghanaian Literature Week. And what a week it’s been. And what fun we’ve had. It was definitely an improvement on last year’s event. The highlights for me were:
- The level of participation both in terms of blog posts and the level of interest on Twitter.
- Undoubtedly, Nii Ayikwei Parkes was the writer of the week. The twitter chat was a lot of fun. Well, I’m sold on social media! The chat has ignited an interest in his work and we here in Ghana are anxious to see and hear him speak about his writing. There will be a post on the chat tomorrow.
I thank all my participants. I would like to acknowledge the support of my community of book bloggers. You know who you are :). This event would not have worked without your posts, your comments, your presence at the tweetchat, your retweets and your encouragement. Book bloggers are a passionate lot and I’m glad to be a part of this global community.
Here are the posts that were submitted as part of the week’s events:
- Water Wahala by Isaac Neequaye (ANZ Litlovers LitBlog)
- A wonderful Intro to Ghana Lit Week by Amy Reads
- Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo (Rebecca Reads)
- Mr Happy and the Hammer of God by Martin Egblewogbe (here at Kinna Reads)
- Meeting Ama Ata Aidoo (at BuriedInPrint)
- The Eloquence of the Scribes by Ayi Kwei Armah (at Multilogue: mind and matter)
- Proverb Monday #48 (at ImageNations)
- Mallam Sile by Mohammed Naseehu Ali (at The Reading Life)
- Tail of the Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes (at ImageNations)
- A Plea for Mercy by Kwesi Brew (at African Soulja)
- The Housemaid by Amma Darko (at Amy Reads)
- The Reader in Ghana (here at Kinna Reads)
- The Other Crucifix by Benjamin Kwakye (ImageNations)
- Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Armah (Amy Reads)
- No Sweetness Here and Other Storiesby Ama Ata Aidoo (at The Feminist Texican)
- Tickling the Ghanaian – Encounters with Contemporary Culture by Kofi Akpabli (at ImageNations)
- Ordained by the Oracle by Asare Konadu (at Winstonsdad’s Blog)
- The Second Life of Samuel Tyne by Esi Edugyan (at A Striped Armchair)
- Mallam Sile by Mohammed Naseehu Ali (at Wandering in the Stacks)
- The Other Crucifix by Benjamin Kwakye (at Amy Reads)
- Yaba Badoe’s Short Story, The Rival (at BuriedInPrint)
- Fiona Leonard on writing her novel, The Chicken Thief (here at Kinna Reads)
- Quotes for Friday from Nii Ayikwei Parkes’ Tail of the Blue Bird (at ImageNations)
- African Love Stories edited by Ama Ata Aidoo (at Amy Reads)
- Tail of a Blue Bird by Nii Ayikwei Parkes (at Opinions of a Wolf)
- A Bird In Me Heart by Agana Agana-Nsire (at African Soulja)
- The Association of Foreign Spouses by Marilyn Heward Mills (at Accra Books and Things)
- Ananse Stories: Adwoa Badoe’s Pot of Wisdom (at Buried In Print)
- Dilemma of a Ghost and Anowa by Ama Ata Aidoo (at Amy Reads)
- Mistress of the Game by Asabea Ashun (here at Kinna Reads)
- The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayikwei Armah (at Farm Lane Books Blog)
- Between Sisters by Adwoa Badoe (here at Kinna Reads)
- Esi Edugyan wins Canadian Literary Prize (at Geosi reads)
- Ghanaian Writers – Lets Gear Up to the Final Call for Entries (at Geosi Reads)
- On Tales from Different Tails by Nana Awere Damoah (here at Kinna Reads)
- Ghana Lit Week 2 Wrap Up (at Amy Reads)
- Koku the Cockerel by Franka Maria Andoh (here at Kinna Reads)
My sincere thanks to the participants! Check back this coming week for your prizes.
I will continue to use the Twitter hashtag #GhanaLit for book-related Ghanaian issues. I’m hoping to host another Twitter chat in the coming months.
Let’s keep reading Ghanaian, African and world literature. Let’s just keep reading!
A big thanks to all the readers. Please subscribe (by email) to Kinna Reads if you like what I”m doing here .
Until next year everyone. Thank You.
Kinna Reads 
[…] 2011 Wrap-up […]
LikeLike
[…] Ghanaian Literature Week is back this year! My dear friend, Kinna of Kinna Reads will be hosting the 3rd rendition having started it in 2010, ran it again in 2011. […]
LikeLike
[…] Literature Week is back this year! This will be its 3rd rendition; I started it in 2010, ran it again in 2011, and skipped it, regrettably, in 2012. I plan on hosting the week, perhaps expanding it to a […]
LikeLike
[…] It would be charitable to describe 2011 as a mixed year. In truth, personally, it’s been this side of bad. And as I’ve complained countless times, I read less and blogged less as a result. However, wonderful things happened when I did show up as a blogger. Highlights of the year at Kinna Reads include 21 Days/21 Poems in April to celebrate National (US) Poetry Month and Ghanaian Literature Week. […]
LikeLike
Delighted to discover in today’s mail my copy of Ordained by the Oracle, which Stu from Winston’s Dad reviewed for Ghanian Literature Week. I found it second-hand at BetterWorldBooks, and I’m going to save it for next year’s Ghanian Book Week. That’s being well-prepared, eh?
WHile I’m here I’d like to wish you all the best for the festive season, Kinna. I always enjoy visiting here and you have enriched my reading choices with some great reviews. Thanks so much for another great year and I look forward to seeing new posts about Africa’s great literature in 2012. Lisa *virtual hug*
LikeLike
Yes, that is being very well-prepared and thanks for the support. A virtual hug back. Thanks for all your kinds words. Enjoy your reading in 2012, Lisa.
LikeLike
[…] is a VERY belated post for Ghanaian Literature Week, organised by the wonderful Kinna. I signed up for it back in October, but since then a few things […]
LikeLike
Thanks so much for the encouragement to add new writers and books to my reading plans; I really enjoyed following the posts of other participants and do hope you’ll be doing this next year. But I’m sure, too, that hosting was very tiring: you did such a great job though! (I didn’t know there were prizes: please leave me aside in that regard.)
LikeLike
Hosting was tiring! But folks were so enthusiastic that the whole week was such fun! I have to be better organized next time, I think :). Thanks for your participation.
LikeLike
Found a couple more blogs here that I will be adding to my blogroll soon. And it was a worhwhile celebration of Ghanaian literature. Thanks for hosting, Kinna. Next year cannot be too far away. I’m glad I participated.
LikeLike
And I am glad that you participated. Keep those your wonderful poetry posts coming :).
LikeLike
thanks for hosting Kinna ,loved discovering new writers to me many thanks stu
LikeLike
My pleasure, Stu. It was really wonderful reading your review of Oracle of the Ordained. We tend to overlook the old stuff with so much more contemporary book around.
LikeLike
Great week, Kinna, well done!
LikeLike
Thank you Fiona. Such hard work and effort it took. I;m now getting round to my comments. Thank you for your guest post.
LikeLike
Thanks so much for hosting! I’m already excited for next year!
LikeLike
And thank you for participating, Amanda. Your enthusiasm, for a first time, made it all worthwhile.
LikeLike
[…] organised a Twitter chat, with the Ghanaian poet and novelist Nii Ayikwei Parkes, as part of Ghanaian Literature Week. We chatted, using the hashtag #GhanaLit, from 8pm GMT to 9:15pm. About 35 people actively […]
LikeLike
Thank you again so much for hosting Kinna, another huge success I think! I can’t wait to see what next year brings and am already scheming about what books to read 🙂
LikeLike
Can we all wait till November? Seems far off into the future. But it will be here before we know it. Kinda scary how fast time is moving. Your participation as always is greatly appreciated, Amy.
LikeLike
I enjoyed reading the posts from this week. I really didn’t have any knowledge of Ghanaian literature beforehand, but I’ve added a book or two to my list!
LikeLike
Thanks for coming by and reading the posts. My objective has been achieved then if I added to your wishlist.
LikeLike
I couldn’t participate this time, but I wanted to say that I really enjoyed these posts. And after reading three stellar reviews for African Love Stories, I *must* get hold of it or perish trying!
LikeLike
Thank you. Yes, do check out African Love Stories, it is an excellent collection.
LikeLike
You did a great job – organizing the event, publicizing it, reminding everyone, getting Nii Ayikwei Parkes to do the Twitter chat – all made it really worth while. Thanks to you for all the work you put into making it all happen!
LikeLike
Thank you, Nina. I hope to get more Ghanaian and African writers to participate in these chats. All the best.
LikeLike
It was fun Kinna, especially the twitter chat with NAP.
LikeLike
And thanks for your support.
LikeLike
I thoroughly enjoyed the chat on twitter & following the lit week on here, so hopefully next time I’ll have more time & can take a more active role.
Thanks for hosting,
Parrish.
LikeLike
Thanks for your participation and hopefully, we’ll have another good time next year.
LikeLike
I read Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey this week and enjoyed it immensely. It was the only Ghanaian writing I could get hold of quickly when I saw you were doing a Ghanaian lit week. I’m not up to reviewing it as I’m laid up with gout right now, although I certainly recommend it as better than average as crime/mysteries go. I’ll have something on hand in time for your next Ghanaian literature week. I am getting Tail of the Blue Bird from the library soon, so am on my way to reading more Ghanaian writing. Hope to join you next time.
LikeLike
Sorry to hear about the gout. Do take it easy and I’m wishing for a speedy recovery for you. I’ve been meaning to but have not yet read Kwei Quartey’s books. Thanks for the recommendation and for your participation in Ghana Lit Week. I hope you will join us next year.
LikeLike
This was a great event-I hope to be back next year and I hope you will be able to join me for Irish Short Story Week in March and Indonesian Short Story Week in March-I learned a lot from this event-to me it shows how great the book blog community is and how diverse.
LikeLike
I will participate in the Irish Short Story Week as well as the Indonesian Short Story Week. I’m going to work very hard and find some Indonesian short fiction on the web. Looking forward to March. Thank you for your participation in Ghana Lit Week.
LikeLike