Dr. Kofi Awoonor, was born George Awoonor-Williams on a Friday, March 13th 1935 in the Gold Coast, now known as Ghana. Awoonor was closely tied to the first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah. Shortly after Nkrumah was driven out by a coup in 1966, Awoonor went into exile.
During the time he was abroad, he completed graduate and doctoral studies, receiving a Ph.D. in literature from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1972. He returned to Ghana in 1975. Soon thereafter, he was detained for his alleged involvement with an Ewe coup plot. The House by the Sea (1978), a book of poetry, recounts his jail time.
His work was based on African oral poetry, his early works were inspired by the singing and verse of his native Ewe people.He sought to incorporate African vernacular traditions into modern poetic form. He was a Poet, author, academic and a diplomat.
His works include:
Poetry: Rediscovery & Other Poems
Night of My Blood
The House By the Sea
The Promise of Hope: Now and Selected Poems (to be published in 2014
Novels: This Earth my brother
Comes the Voyager at Last
Non Fiction: The Breast of the Earth
Ghana: A Political History from Pre-European to Modern Times
He travelled to Kenya to do what he does best, the “science”
of oratory, storytelling at the Storymoja Hay Festival, where he was caught up in a tragedy and unfortunate crossfire that lead to his passing.
AIM Magazine asks that #africansinmotion pay tribute to Dr.
Kofo Awoonor, by seeking his voice and reflecting on all that he did to inform our imagination and culture.
GRAINS AND TEARS by Dr. Kofi Awoonor
“.... Go and tell them I paid the price, I stood by the truth, I fought anger
and hatred on behalf of the people.
I ate their meagre meals in the
barracks, shared their footsteps and
tears, in freedom’s name. I promised
once in a slave house in Ussher, to
postpone dying until, the morning after freedom.
I promise. ”