Authentic Authorship: In Conversation With Three Female Ghanaian Writers
Christmas is almost upon us! As some of us contemplate yet another Amazon raid for those impossibly lengthy Santa stockings, we seek inspiration from three female Ghanaian authors for some must-reads this festive season. Linda Arthur, Grace Ecklu and Ayesha Harruna Attah all in their thirties and accomplished in their own right, write from their unique vantage points of children’s literature, spiritual growth and fictional history, respectively. Yet having spoken with all three, there is a common theme: that female, African, voices matter, and here we’ve captured a snapshot as to why.
Mothers on a Mission
Linda Arthur, an actuary by trade and a writer by night (or early morn!) is a yummy mummy of three princesses, who currently lives in Kent but will be starting the new year with her new life in Egypt. In the midst of packing and feeding her brand new “mini me” of three months, Linda shares that “it’s not been easy” but the drive to write was born out of the need to fill the glaring vacuum in children’s literature for Black girls. Both she and her co-author, Ailisha Ogunmefun were compelled to start to fill the shelves with narratives that not only have black heroic characters but also create stories which normalise cultural differences. In their customisable and interactive book, “Where in the World Next?” readers embark on a voyage of discovery across the globe in search of the perfect hair-do, only to find that the best hairstyle is their very own. It’s a beautiful way of “helping children to like what they have…[and by so doing], you’re validating them”, Linda shares. This has become all the more important as the discussion of race and identity has been in the glare of the media, so there hasn’t been a better time to help to educate children and parents about other cultures because “racism is very subtle. You may not have mean things being said about you” but without representation, those who are excluded are subconsciously being told that “they are quite different” and therefore, don’t fit in.
Spiritually Grounded
For Grace Ecklu, author of Guilty as Grace, Next Door to You and Lemonade, writing comes to her naturally and fully embracing of her gift, she finds fulfilment in connecting her readers to very real, everyday issues and to hope. Her faith is at the core of her gift and unapologetically, says that her “perspective is from the overarching grace and love of Jesus”, which is what helps her to make “many unmatched moving parts work” from her base in the mountains of Pokuase, in Accra. The daughter of missionaries who grew up in Nigeria as well as Ghana, Grace is a non-conformist who has refused to kow-tow to religiosity in the name of “keeping up appearances”: Grace prefers to keep it real. Acknowledging that there is a certain prejudice against her style of writing from two book-ends – the mainstream Western publishers on the one hand and local publishing houses on the other – there’s a need for something different. Grace believes that the former don’t tend to gravitate towards faith-based, fictional African literature while local publishing houses prefer a more conservative stance, so therein lies the opportunity. Grace has her sights set on a new breed of continental publishing house, which would give African, female writers the freedom to “tell their own stories”, without having to fit a particular mould.
Not His, but Our Story
Coming from a family of writers and storytellers – both parents were journalists – Ayesha Harruna Attah is a Ghanaian writer who has been based in Senegal for the past six years. The author of four novels, Harmattan Rain; Saturday’s Shadows; The Hundred Wells of Salaga; and The Deep Blue Between, Ayesha’s work has mostly been a blend of fiction and historical narratives. She’s motivated by the aim of “shining a light on areas that people like to keep hidden”, which sometimes hold “the answers to our continent’s problems”. But she’s now adding non-fiction and romance to her repertoire for her next books, currently under construction.
As talented and as committed as she and other writers are, key inhibitors for writers to reach the summit of their potential are financial and supply-chain oriented. All three writers have shared the difficulties in getting their ideas from the rough manuscripts onto the shelves, which inspired both Grace and Linda to turn to self-publishing as an option. Earlier this year, fantasy author LL McKinney sparked a wave of protests on Twitter (#publishingpaidme) over inadequate pay for writers, which also exposed the racial pay disparity within the industry. As it stands, Ayesha speaks of how she juggles several creative ventures such that she can pursue writing, but the ideal would be to “make a living as a writer”.
The publishing industry on the continent is valued at USD1bn and is said to be growing at 6%[1], yet a major constraint lies with distribution. Poor transportation and communications channels have amplified the difficulty in writers being able to reach their market and for the African reader to readily access novels by local authors. Initiatives such as the African Book Collective, which has brought together 154 publishers from across the continent to market and distribute home-grown literature is an example of a concerted effort to recalibrate the historical distortions in Africa’s publishing industry[2]. For Ayesha, that is precisely why there must be “more noise about our work” because the work of Black, female writers “is valid, important and should be paid”.
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[1]https://thenewpublishingstandard.com/2018/05/09/africas-book-industry-worth-1-billion-growing-6-despite-piracy-challenges/
[2]https://www.one.org/international/blog/african-book-publishers/