AMA ATA AIDOO (March 23, 1942) is a Ghanaian writer whose work emphasises the paradoxical position of the modern African woman. She began to write seriously while an honours student at the University of Ghana and won early recognition with the play, The Dilemma of a Ghost (1965), in which a Ghanaian student returning home brings his African American wife into the traditional culture and the extended family that he now finds restrictive. Their dilemma reflects Aidoo’s characteristic concern with the “been-to,” voiced again in her semi-autobiographical experimental first novel, Our Sister Killjoy; or, Reflections from a Black-Eyed Squint (1966). Aidoo herself won a fellowship to Stanford University in California, returned to teach at Cape Coast, Ghana (1970–82), and subsequently accepted various visiting professorships in the United States and Kenya. In No Sweetness Here (1970), a collection of short stories, Aidoo exercised the oral element of storytelling, writing tales that are meant to be read aloud. These stories and Anowa (1970), another problem play, are concerned with Western influences on the role of women and on the individual in a communal society. In 1982–83 she served as Ghana’s minister of education. Her books include Someone Talking to Sometime, a collection of poetry, The Eagle and the Chickens (1986; a collection of children’s stories), Birds and Other Poems (1987), the novel Changes: A Love Story (1991), An Angry Letter in January and Other Poems (1992), The Girl Who Can and Other Stories (1997), and Diplomatic Pounds and Other Stories (2012).

KHADIJATU IDDRISU was born and raised in the heart of Mamobi-Accra, Ghana. She describes herself as a simple, optimistic, and determined lady and is currently pursuing a MSc in Procurement and Supply Chain Management at the University of Cape Coast. In 2018, she was a beneficiary of the Africa’s Promise Initiative with the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA). She has strong desire to bring about change in her immediate community through communication, education and networking. She loves to read, travel and volunteer for the betterment of all.

Fragile Heart

"Anowa" By Ama Ata Aidoo Read by Khadijatu Iddrisu(Ghana)

Library. Literary Salon. Literature House.

"Anowa" By Ama Ata Aidoo Read by Khadijatu Iddrisu(Ghana)

Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora