Literature is History: Ama Ata Aidoo Awards Reinforce Need to Protect Africa’s Storytelling Heritage

The Ama Ata Aidoo Creative Writing Competition and Awards, held at the National Theatre Exhibition Hall in Accra, has once again stirred conversations about the future of African literature, storytelling, and cultural preservation.

The event, organized by the African University of Communication and Business (AUCB) in partnership with Gemspread Publishing and the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA), honoured winners of the competition and brought together literary giants, publishers, cultural leaders, and enthusiasts from across the continent.

AUCB’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Isaac Abeiku Blankson, praised the initiative and stressed the need to give creative writing and literature the recognition and resources they deserve.

“This is the first event within this partnership, and so we hope that it will continue to grow and become bigger and bigger and bigger. And AUCB is committed to supporting it and making sure that it grows and grows,” he pledged.

Prof Blankson lamented that in Ghana and other parts of Africa, the art of writing literature had not been given the due attention and resources it deserved.

“It is so sad because if you don’t write, you lose your history. Oral tradition can take us far, but who owns it becomes a very difficult thing to prove. We have been in parts of the world where foreigners came, took our oral stories, wrote about them, patented them, and they became their own. Living in the United States, I was surprised to see that some of the stories that have been shared for centuries by our ancestors, forefathers, and mothers, all of a sudden, some people claimed them, though they had nothing to do with the continent. That is because they put it on paper, wrote it, and registered it. And now we have to seek permission to talk about our own story.”

He warned that Africa’s stories risk being lost or misrepresented if they are not written by Africans themselves. “If you do not write about you, somebody else will, and it will not be your story,” he said. He expressed concern that oral traditions, though powerful, are vulnerable to distortion and appropriation.

The Acting Pro Vice Chancellor, Dr. Kemi Wale-Olaitan, reinforced this call by urging young talents to seize opportunities to hone their skills through workshops and collaborations. She stressed that literature remains marginalized compared to science and technology, yet it plays a vital role in nurturing creativity and critical thinking. She described literature as the “Cinderella of academia,” noting that while science and technology receive widespread support, literature is often overlooked despite its ability to inspire, broaden minds, and shape cultural identity.

Dr Wale-Olaitan lamented the lack of investment in literature but expressed confidence that consistent advocacy and initiatives such as the Ama Ata Aidoo Awards would one day turn the tide.

Adding a sharp cultural dimension, AUCB lecturer and writer, Nana Sandy Achampong, highlighted the urgent need to reclaim African languages in literature. “I am ashamed that we are actually having this conversation in English. Ideally, this should have been in our own languages, especially since this year’s publishing fair was themed inclusive publishing,” he said. He argued that Africans must begin writing in their own languages, reflecting realities children and young readers can relate to. “People do not read because we are not writing what they want to read. If we start writing about their realities, in their own languages and terminology, I promise they will read.”

Nana Achampong also noted that one of the major setbacks to literary development is the absence of a structured publishing industry. Until recently, there was no data on the number of publishers, bookshops, or books produced in Ghana. Research by UNESCO and the British Council has now provided baseline statistics to guide the growth of a formal literary industry. “Out of this will emerge a vibrant industry, because it starts from the writer, to the agents, to the publishers,” he explained.

The award ceremony did more than recognize winners. It reignited a collective call to action for institutions, governments, and cultural organizations to preserve Africa’s storytelling heritage. It also challenged writers to produce works that not only safeguard history but also resonate with today’s generation.

In the words of Prof Blankson, “If you do not write, you lose your history.” That warning, coupled with Nana Achampong’s plea for stories told in African languages, underscored the evening’s central message: literature is history, and its survival depends on Africans writing, publishing, and owning their narratives.

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