40-Page Excerpt of Serwa Akoto’s Diary by Mary Ashun. Giveaway

Ghanaian writer, and Canadian resident, Dr Mary Ashun has a new book out: Serwa Akoto’s Diary. However, that is not the news since she is well known for her prolific writing.

Dr Mary Ashun

Mary Ashun is giving out a 40-page excerpt of her book through a mini project in partnership with the Writers Project Project of Ghana. She is scheduled to appear on Ghana’s flagship radio programme for writers in Ghana, Writers Project on Citi FM, on Sunday, 8 December 2013, from 8.30 – 9.30 PM. Call in or tweet your questions and comments to her on the day of the show!

How to get your hands on a copy? Tweet your email address to @writersPG ; or email to radio@writersprojectghana.com; or drop your email address on their wall on Facebook “Writers Project on Citi” (like the page if you have not already). On Twitter, look up the hashtag #SerwaAkotosDiary for more details.

We are lucky to have landed a copy. Download the pdf version of the excerpt here: SerwaTeaserfor WPG

Here is a message from the author herself:

Hello Readers
I'd love for you to get started right away reading Serwa Akoto's Diary so working
with WPG, we have a 40-page excerpt for you! Download the excerpt (and the cover!)
read away and then call in with your comments and questions on 8th December when I
will be in the studio. As well, there's a Pinterest Secret Board that I'd love for
you to be part of - its the Serwa Fan Club and on there, you'll see images of
Serwa-related stuff for the upcoming Webisodes and you'll have a chance to Pin
images to the board yourself. Just email asabeaashun@gmail.com and answer the
question..."On what day did Tunde propose?" to be invited to the Serwa Akoto Fan
Club! Happy Reading....

Cover of Serwa Akoto Diary

The Palmwine Drinkard is Book for June #WPGHBOOKCLUB

The Book Discussion Club of the Writers Project of Ghana has selected the stunning novel “The Palmwine Drinkard” by Nigerian Amos Tutuola as book for their June discussion. The main discussion is scheduled for Tuesday, 25 June 2013, 6 – 7 PM, at the University of Ghana, Legon.

As you may be aware, the Twitter version of the physical meet-up is a week before 25 June. We anticipate the date for the Twitter discussion of “The Palmwine Drinkard” will be on Thursday, 20 June from 6 – 7 PM.

In line with the format which the Writers Project announced the May event, we can expect the date of the discussion, among other details, to be announced on Twitter via the organisation’s Twitter page (@writersPG). If you are on Twitter, be on the look out for this, or search the hashtag #wpghbookclub and #TPD (for The Palmwine Drinkard).

Already, we have seen the hashtags flying around on Twittersphere, with many readers talking about venues for the sale of the books. Only today, we saw a tweet from @mnhye which quoted the opening sentence of the classic novel. Another tweep and #wpghbookclub-er @amma_konadu was caught talking about how her mother loved this incredulous book.

You can pick up your copy of “The Palmwine Drinkard” from the University of Ghana bookshop at Legon (and its annexes at the Jones Quartey Building JQB at Legon and Accra City Campus) and Sytris bookshop at Osu. Hurry, we hear it’s running out. The book is available on Amazon and Kindle too.

To participate on Twitter: tweet your intention to @writersPG (they will reserve a tweet reminder for you) or simply tweet quotes from the novel or your impressions about it using the hashtags #wpghbookclub and #TPD.
To participate in the meet-up at Legon: email the coordinator edzordzi@gmail.com

We wish you a happy reading and discussion.

Writer for the Month at Ghana Voices Series – Boakyewaa Glover

The Ghana Voices Series is a monthly book reading series organised by the Writers Project of Ghana, in partnership with the Goethe Institute Accra. The series is always on the last Wednesday of each month (March – November), from 7 – 8 PM at the premises of the Goethe Institute, Cantonments Accra (adjacent NAFTI). It is a free event.

For May, the reading is scheduled for 29 May 2013. We received the following release from Writers Project.

The Writers Project of Ghana is happy to present as writer for the month of May, Ghanaian writer and organisational psychologist, Boakyewaa Glover.

Boakyewaa studied psychology both for her first degree at the University of Ghana and her graduate degree at New York University.

Boakyewaa Glover has worked as an organizational psychologist/consultant for a number of consulting firms in New York, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. Prior to that, she was a news anchor for TV3 Network in Accra and a presenter for the show Smash TV on Metro TV, Accra.

Boakyewaa’s passion and love for writing has grown steadily from when she started writing at age 6. Her novel, Circles, was published in 2009. Boakyewaa is also the author of several other novels and short stories including Unspoken Words, published by StoryTime Publishing in 2009.

Boakyewaa Glover has two new books slated for publication later this year.

Boakyewaa also maintains a blog of short stories, articles, poetry and other content such as movie reviews. Beyond writing, Boakyewaa has three other passions: her dedication and commitment to her family and God, her avid interest in psychology, and entertainment – particularly movies, TV, music and books.

Boakyewaa Glover is currently a Change Management Manager with Newmont Ghana Gold Limited.

Three Manuscripts from Ghana Make Kwani LongList

Three Manuscripts from Ghana have made the Longlist of 30 titles in the Kwani? Manuscript Project. The list that appeared on the official website of the Kwani? contained the following titles from Ghana:

Ramseyer’s Ghost (Ghana)

Saturday’s People (Ghana / US)

The Mad Brigadier (Ghana)

The list had submissions from nine other African countries. We thought it best to pick out a few titles we deemed amusing and connotative. So here we go: They are Coming (Zimbabwe / US); Pilgrims from Hell (Tanzania); Carnivorous City (Nigeria); Becoming God (Nigeria); The Haggard Masturbator (Kenya); Diary of a Criminal (Botswana).

For the complete list, please click here.

The Kwani? Manuscript Project, is a new one-off literary prize for unpublished fiction from African writers. The shortlist will be announced at the beginning of June 2013 and the three winners at the end of the same month.

The Managing Editor, Billy Kahora is quoted on the website of the Kwani? as saying “This longlist begins the actualization of a long-held Kwani? ambition – to build a significant novel series of new original voices across the continent.”

The project was launched in April 2012 with a call for submissions. The deadline was extended to 17 September 2012. The Kwani longlisting panel is made up of writers, editors and critics from East, West and Southern Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. The call by Kani Trust received  over 250 qualifying unpublished fiction manuscripts from 19 African countries.

Photo credit: The Kwani? Manuscript Project

Ghanaian Writer Agyei-Agyiri Reads at Ghana Voices Series

Ghanaian novelist and poet, Alex Agyei-Agyiri, was the guest writer for the Writers Project of Ghana’s flagship monthly reading series called the Ghana Voices Series.

Agyei-Agyiri, who authored the award-winning novel Unexpected Joy at Dawn, and poems, including “Passover” and “This Death Call”, read from his most latest novel Rubble. He also read from the novel Coffee Shop and some selected poems.

Speaking at the reading, Agyei-Agyiri opined that writing was a serious business in which “writers should consider what the African would evolve into”. He said it was his observation that Ghana and Africa’s development was stagnant albeit with some pots of growth at certain areas.

The reading attracted a wide-ranging audience that engaged Agyei-Agyiri on topics from his choice of names for his characters to development issues. Turnout for the reading was not massive; however, given that it was the first for the year, it cannot be used as a yardstick.

Co-founder of Writers Project of Ghana, Martin Egblewogbe, announce that the Ghana Voices Series may host Ghanaian writer Taiye Selasie, who’s novel Ghana Must Go was recently published with tremendous reviews. Selasie read her  unpublished manuscript last year at the Ghana Voices Series.

The Ghana Voices Series takes place on the last Wednesday of each month from March to November, at the Goethe Institute 30 Kakramadu road in Cantonments near NAFTI, from 7 – 8 PM. Books by the writer of the month are always available for purchase.