Panel discussion: Who tells our ancestral histories?

Registration is free, but places are limited. Please visit https://bit.ly/RILA_Events to book your free place.

Africa’s history goes far beyond the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and its colonial history. There is evidence that many contributions to language, technological invention, modern inventions and the resistance to slavery and colonialism have been wrote out of the history books. But now, there is a growing call and a need to write and tell Africa’s story in full. The question though is who qualifies to tell Africa’s Histories?

Join Gameli Tordzro as he hosts a conversation between Prof Kofi Anyidoho and Kojo Yankah, two of Ghana’s prominent academics, whose work has a particular focus on Africa and its heritage.

Biographies:

Kojo Yankah

Kojo Acquah Yankah is the founder of the Pan African Heritage World Museum. He a former Member of Parliament in Ghana. He also served as a Minister of State in the Rawlings government. He is the founder and President of the African University College of Communications and is also a former editor of the Daily Graphic, the widest circulation newspaper in Ghana.

Prof Kofi Anyidoho

Distinguished poet, literary scholar, educator, and cultural activist Kofi Anyidoho is Professor of Literature and Director of the CODESRIA African Humanities Institute Programme at University of Ghana, where he has also served as 1st Occupant of the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies, Director of the School of Performing Arts and Head of the Department of English. He has been a visiting professor, guest lecturer and external examiner at various universities across the world. Outside the university, he is deeply involved in various initiatives designed to promote African culture and history, among them Ghana Television’s African Heritage Series, for which he was host and executive producer. Well-known for his unique style of performance-poetry and CD recordings of his poetry in English and Ewe, Anyidoho has published several books of poetry, numerous journal articles and book chapters and has edited a number of major books on African literature and the humanities. He was President of the African Literature Association, based in the United States, and has served on various boards, including the Executive Committee of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa [CODESRIA]-Dakar, the National Commission on Culture, and the University of Ghana Council. He has been a member of the Sponsoring Committee for UNESCO’s special project devoted to the ideals of Tagore, Neruda, and Cesaire (three of the greatest poets of the 20th Century). He was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Film &Television Institute [NAFTI] and Chairman of the founding Governing Council of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho [UHAS].

He has won many prizes for his poetry, including the Valco Fund Literary Award, the Fania Kruger Fellowship for Poetry of Social Vision, the Langston Hughes Prize, the Davidson Nichol Prize, the BBC “Arts and Africa” Poetry Award, Le grand Prix de poesie en langue nationale [in Togo, for his poetry in Ewe], and the 2015 Millennium Excellence Award (Literature Prize). He has also author of Akpokplo (a play in Ewe and Engilsh) and GhanaNya and Agbenoxevi, CD & Cassette recordings of his poetry in Ewe. GhanaNya presents Kofi Anyidoho as a singer-poet whose voice alternates with that of his late mother, Abla Adidi Anyidoho, herself a poet-cantor in the Ewe oral tradition.

He holds a B.A. Honours in English & Linguistics [University of Ghana-Legon], an M.A. in Folklore [Indiana University-Bloomington] and a PhD in Comparative Literature [University of Texas at Austin]. He is a Fellow & current Vice President (Arts) of Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr Gameli Tordzro

Dr Gameli Tordzro is a Ghanaian multiple arts professional and a Creative Arts (CA) researcher, consultant and lecturer in Glasgow. He is Artist in Residence with UNESCO RILA, and a Research Associate on The MiDEQ Hub. His research is in creative arts and translating cultures, language and education with a focus on African diaspora music, video film production, story and storytelling.

Gameli is founder, composer and Creative Director of Ha Orchestra and the AdinkraLinks Poetry Network. In 2015 he received the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) Music and Sound for his role in Kai Fischer’s Last Dream (On Earth).