Dichter
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Ama Ata Aidoo 1946 land: Nederland taal: Engels |
Ama Ata Aidoo (1940) was born in Abeadzi Kyiakor in Ghana. She was the daughter of a chieftain and grew up in a rich family. From 1961 to 1964 she studied at the school of drama at the University of Ghana in Legon (on the outskirts of Accra). During that period, she wrote her first work, a play: The Dilemma of a Ghost (1964). From 1964-66 Aidoo was attached as a researcher to the Institute of African Studies at the same university. As a writer/researcher she made, via her many written opinions and readings, an important contribution to the development of African literature and literary criticism. Aidoo has also been actively involved in Ghanaian politics. In the years 1983-84, she was Minister of Education, under Prime Minister Jerry Rawlings. She was one of the founders of the Organization of Women Writers of Africa. Apart from her written opinions and plays, she has also published novels, stories and collections of poetry. For her second novel, Changes (1991), she received in 1993 the Commonwealth Writers Prize for the African region. She has so far published two collections of poetry: Someone Talking to Sometime (1985) and Birds and Other Poems (1987). As an adolescent girl, she experienced her country gaining its independence in 1957. She was also influenced by the pan-African and socialist ideas that flourished during the 1950s and 1960s. Involvement is very much to the fore in Aidoo’s work; she reflects critically on the neo-colonial tragedy, usually from a feminist point of view. In her novel Our Sister Killjoy (1977), the dramatic influence of post-colonialism on African women is one of the main themes. In her prize-winning novel Changes she describes the development of a woman who emancipates herself from her marriage to an exacting, aggressive husband. She also displays her social involvement in her poetry. In the cycle ‘Talking about the Hurricane’, Africa’s tragic history is constantly present. She brings up the issue of slave-trading and complains at the fact that African women still occupy the lowest positions on the labour market, and exist in many different kinds of ‘civilised slavery’. In the poem ‘A modern African story’ she talks with disillusionment about the fate of her country, where political cynicism reigns supreme now that the fervent struggle for freedom is a thing of the past. Although she is often capable of adding an ironic touch, a gentle gloss to her poetry. In the midst of all misery there is sometimes also suddenly a ‘Silk shirt in the sun’. Jabik Veenbaas De informatie over deze dichter is nog niet gedigitaliseerd. In het archief van de Stichting Poetry International bevinden zich gedichten en gedichten in vertaling, fotomateriaal, bio- en biografische informatie, alle uit het jaar van optreden van de dichter op het Poetry International Festival. De Wereldomroep beschikt over bandopnames van de voordracht van deze dichter op het festival. Voor meer informatie kunt u mailen naar info@poetry.nl |