At Toyin Falola Interview Series, stakeholders recall Ama Ata Aidoo’s greatest accomplishments

Stakeholders from all over the world, at the weekend, recalled some of the greatest accomplishments of Ghana’s foremost author, poet, playwright, and politician, Ama Ata Aidoo, who died earlier in the year.

The convener of the forum, Professor Toyin Falola, through the Toyin Falola Interview Series, led manyliterary giants, academics across Africa and beyond in recalling the Aidoo’s varied accomplishments and contributions to African literature and humanity.

Ghanaian diplomat and renowned poet, Professor Abena Busia told the gathering that “There are many stories so many of us could tell, even me about how she came to rouse us through the encounters we had at various conferences. But for me, the one that stands out, which for me is the most important one to encapsulate one of the things that were so central to us as African women writers and scholars, that is the spirit of generosity with which she embraced us. Those of you who know my collection, Testimonies of Exile, will know that Aunty Ama wrote a review which appeared on the back cover and I want to read what she says because I want to talk about how that came about. She wrote: ‘In Testimonies of Exile, Busia brilliantly exposes exile as an almost living creature, cruel and omnivorous. In these poems, we encounter this particular beast in his dimension, especially exile from land, language, those we love and ourselves. The testimonies span continents and stretch across time from our very beginnings to our endings. Indeed, in their profundity, clarity and force of language and distilled as they are from a wealth of living, exile itself and dying, so many of these poems should be ‘the work of a mature poet at the peak of its life work. It is the mock of both the current tragedy and the uniqueness of Africa and her peoples both at home and abroad that the collection is from a young woman in her prime. Read them and wonder too.’ When I read that tribute, it stunned me. This is just an edited version of the letter she wrote. For me, personally as an endorsement of my first collection, it was so very profound. But I reference it here not so much for what the tribute itself says, wonderful as it is, but the story behind it been written at all which is the story of my first, individual, one on one, face to face conversation that I ever had with Aunty Ama. I had seen her before but in crowds, in conversations, dinners. This was the first time I was witnessing her alone in her hotel room.

“Because back in 1989, when we were preparing Testimonies of Exile for press, my publisher at the African World Press was wondering who could write endorsements for the back of the book. And we wanted an American, as I was living in the United States, an African American and an African. For the African, we agreed that there was only one person who we wanted to hear from. At the time, the only other Ghanaian poet already published by an international press and that was Ama Ata Aidoo. So we sent her the manuscript and waited and waited. 1989 was the eighth triennial Association of Commonwealth Literature, Language Studies’ silver jubilee conference which was held at the University of Canterbury, England. And Aunty Amawas one of the featured invited speakers. So off we went to track her down. Someone we knew already had an appointment to meet her that day, so he took me along. As soon as she saw me, she greeted me, smiled, and acknowledged that she knew why I was there. Then she did a surprising thing. She asked me to come and see her for that private conversation. When I arrived in her room, what she did astonished me even more. She asked me if I knew who she was. A question to which of course I smiled and asked if she knew any Ghanaian literature scholars and writers who did not know her. But it was not her literally but her ideological identity that she was alluding to. She wanted to be clear that I understood the history of her political affiliations, explaining to me that she would call me for a tour to make sure I knew she was a die-hard Nkrumahist, and that this was never going to change. I responded by telling her I taught her work including Our Sister Killjoy and confessed to her that there was a page or two which I prayed no student would ever ask me about because I found them painful to read even after all these decades.

“Those of you who know that book would know that I am referring to the scene in which she satirises a conversation My Father had with Edward Heath of the United Kingdom. It is a very biting satire in true AmaAta Aidoo style. When I mentioned that she laughed and said she was pleased I understood. But then she asked me if I knew that why I had sent my manuscript to her anyway. To me, the answer was simple. I was a young Ghanaian poet about to publish my first collection. I needed an honest assessment from someone from within the community to which I felt I belonged. So I finished by asking her the question if I cannot ask you then who else? She thanked for the clarity and forthrightness of my answer. I refrained from saying I had had good mentors on that issue and said that on the basis of that informed trust she would indeed send a comment to my publishers.

“I tell this story because I was very touched by the interview. She did not have to do that. She could have ignored us as you know this happens to a lot of manuscripts or she could have returned the manuscript, saying she was too busy which she really was at the time. But she did neither of those things. She chose to speak with me, to make clear the ground on which we both stood. By doing that she established a basis of trust between us which lasted to the very end. And I have always treasured that. As I value the way that meeting ended, as I turned to me she said to me: ‘You do know, don’t you that both you and I will probably be in trouble with our friends and colleagues if I do this and my name appears on the back of your book. By that time I was standing in the doorway of her hotel room and I say ‘Yes, probably.’ We both burst out laughing. The letter containing the review arrived within weeks of the end of that conference. When the letter arrived, I was so very touched by what it said. Her willingness to be bold in her support of other up-and-coming writers, especially women, and her commitment to mentoring us wherever she found us was wonderful. There is good reason why a whole generation or two of writers and scholars have been in grief these last few weeks, sending messages of tributes and solidarity to the Pan-African Writers Association, a whole lot of literary associations to which she belonged, and her family of whom she was so very proud. I am proud to be one of her literary daughters.”

For Egyptian cultural journalist, Ashraf Aboul-Yazid,  Aidoo was a sparrow from Africa. “The relationship between the East and West, and the conflict between Eastern values and Western values, have been, and will remain, a subject of questioning, research, and a theme that stories, plays, novels, and travel literature deal with. Perhaps I could start with the year 1938, that is 85 years ago, when Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim published his play ‘A Sparrow from the East’. He embodied part of his autobiography, in addition to his expected handling of the clash between East and West in more than one aspect.

“For Tawfiq al-Hakim, the West was France or Paris in particular, which is self-evident, because the relationship with the other begins with the former coloniser. We see the same theme after three decades in the novel by Sudanese writer Tayeb Sali’s Season of Migration which was published in Hewar magazine in 1966, before being published as an individual book in Beirut, in the same year, but Tayeb Saleh chooses another coloniser: Britain.

“While the mentioned above authors were all men, who travelled to the West, and narrated their experiences, we have a different situation that is the west is coming to the east; the north is living in south in Ama Ata Aidoo’s play, The Dilemma of a Ghost published in 1965, which is considered one of Ghana’s first and most influential postcolonial literary works that followed Ghana’s independence from the British colonisation in 1957. The play came out to light in a critical period in which the postcolonial Ghanaian identity was being formed on all levels: psychological, social, political, etc. Some critics consider that its exceptional importance in the history of Ghana in particular and Africa at large. Though Ghana, as a historical fact, was not the first African nation to get its independence, both Egypt of Tawfiq al-Hakim and Sudan of Tayeb Salih preceded it in 1956, its liberation from the British imperialism was a landmark in the history of the whole continent.

“As such, the emergence of the new nation-state of Ghana was at the centre of attention of all those concerned with the historical conflict between colonialism and anti-colonialism, the West and the East, and tradition and modernity. In other words, Ghana has become a major field of postcolonial studies.

“I see Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo an outspoken woman who resists and subverts traditional literary boundaries. Aidoo’s long, varied and prolific literary career publishing poems, plays, short stories, essays and novels—garnered much attention from critics and after teaching fir several years at various institutions in Africa and the USA, earned the respect and recognition of the African American writer, Alice Walker.

“Aidoo advances the complex lives of women who act in contradictory ways haunted by African traditions, but caught up in the disintegration of postcolonial Africa. She is just one of the many female voices that urgently needed to be heard after being silenced for so long. Aidoo’s recurring themes are, ‘marriage, motherhood, emotional and economic dependence, women’s education, their political and economic marginalisation, and resistance to oppression’. With an unconscious Western feminist agenda always in mind, Aidoo insists that she did not learn her notions of feminism outside of Africa, and that her vocal women simply come from her Akan-Aidoo side,” he recollected.

Creative writer and philanthropy professional, Dr. Akwasi Aidoo told the audience that Aidoo’s creativity was always expressed through her knowledge production, her attitude, her values, her beliefs and her practices. While reliving beautiful memories of the literary giant, Dr. Aidoo stated that “She had an equity focus. When in 1982, Ama Ata became the Minister of Education, I returned to Ghana from the United States where I was doing PhD. I met her a few times, she was all about equity. She pushed very hard to see that every person is educated, and especially for women. She also pushed for free meals for all students. That didn’t work out very well. At a point she resigned and went to Zimbabwe. She was dedicated to Africa’s liberation; this was simply incredible. She went to Zimbabwe when the genocide occurred. At that time, I was teaching at the University of Dar’ Salam in Tanzania. She was at Arare. I went there for a conference. We met. I asked her why she moved to Zimbabwe given the genocide. Her response was ‘if there is one reason you’ve got to die, it should be for Africa’s liberation. We need to be liberated from colonialism, neo-colonialism, imperialism and all.’ Aidoo was a close friend of the First Lady at that time, Mrs. Mugabe. But when the governance of Zimbabwe worsened under the dictatorial Mugabe, she left.  She was a very inspirational person. She also never wanted to work alone. She had a wonderful team spirit.”

Others who spoke glowingly about Ama Ata Aidooincluded dramatist and poet, Professor Mofola Ajayi, acclaimed novelist, Bisi Adjapon, Ghana’s former Minister of Information, Kojo Yankah, among many others.

The event which was streamed across various social media platforms, television and radio stations had members of the audience from Ghana, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, University of Cape Town, Uganda, England, Nigeria, and several others

Aidoo’s plays include The Dilemma of a Ghost, produced at Legon in 1964 (first published in 1965) and Pittsburgh in 1988, and Anowa, published in 1971 and produced at the Gate Theatre in London in 1991.

Her works of fiction particularly deal with the tension between Western and African worldviews. Her first novel, Our Sister Killjoy, was published in 1977 and remains one of her most popular works. It is notable for portraying a dissenting perspective on sexuality in Africa, and especially LGBT in Africa. Whereas one popular idea on the continent is that homosexuality is alien to Africa and an intrusion of ideas of Western culture into a pure, inherently heterosexual “African” culture, Aidoo portrays the main character of Killjoy as indulging in lesbian fantasies of her own, and maintaining sympathetic relationships with lesbian characters.

Many of Aidoo’s other protagonists are also women who defy the stereotypical women’s roles of their time, as in her play Anowa. Her novel Changes: A Love Story won the 1992 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book (Africa). She was also an accomplished poet—her collection Someone Talking to Sometime won the Nelson Mandela Prize for Poetry in 1987—and the author of several children’s books.