Storymoja Hay Festival Pays Tribute to Celebrated Ghanaian Poet Killed in Westgate Mall Attacks
The organizers of the Storymoja Hay Festival, Occupy Nairobi poets and friends of the literary community will host a tribute honoring the late Ghanaian poet and diplomat, Kofi Awoonor who was killed on Saturday during the terror attacks at Westgate Mall here in Nairobi.
Professor Awoonor was in Nairobi for the Storymoja Hay Festival and was slated to conduct workshops and readings.
“We are devastated by the loss of Professor Awoonor, but hope must prevail,” said Storymoja founder, Muthoni Garland, in announcing the tribute. “Although we miss him, we are stronger because during his life’s journey, he so generously shared his wisdom with us.”
The event, which will feature readings and remembrances by writers and artists will take place today 23rd Sept at the National Museum at 6:00 PM. In attendance will be two of Ghana’s leading poets, Kwame Dawes and Nii Parkes who were to share a stage with Professor Awoonor.
“This is devastating news, but we are grateful for his mentorship, brilliance, and embrace,” said poet and publisher, Kwame Dawes, who was at Storymoja to help promote the publication of Awoonor’s new collection of poems.
Awoonor was Ghana’s representative to the United Nations under the presidency of Jerry Rawlings from 1990 to 1994. He was also president of the Council of State, an advisory body to the president, a post he left earlier this year.
He was most noted for his poetry inspired by the oral tradition of the Ewe people, to which he belonged. Much of his best work was published in Ghana’s immediate post-independence period, part of which he spent in exile after the first president and post-colonial icon Kwame Nkrumah, to whom Awoonor was close, was overthrown in a coup. His books included “Rediscovery and Other Poems”, published in 1964.
The announcement of Awoonor’s death has led to tributes from around the world including stories on the BBC, Al Jeezera, The Daily Telegraph, and the Wall Street Journal about the tragic circumstances of his death and his life.
In Ghana a statement was released by the President of the republic, John Dramani Mahama, who described the country as being in shock at the loss. “such a sad twist of fate,” he said. The announcement of his death led to an outpouring of grief in his home country.
Professor Awoonor served as Ghana’s Ambassador to the UN in the early 1990s and was ambassador to Brazil and Cuba in the 1980s. He has held academic positions in Ghana and the US, and is renowned for his fiction and poetry.
In 2014′, the University of Nebraska Press and the African Poetry Book Fund will publish Awoonor’s Promise of Hope: New and Selected Work edited by fellow poet Kofi Anyidoho.
Storymoja expresses its regrets and condolences to Awoonor’s family, and is committed to find ways to honor the work and spirit of this great African author and intellectual.
