Selected Bios

In Alphabetical Order
*Continuously updated*

Presently finding liminal grounds between artistic practice and the curatorial, Abbey IT-A is increasingly interested in the proverbial discursiveness inherent in Contemporary Art and how it holds in praxis. They explore this concern through experimental, multi-vocal, curatorial interventions with text and conversation as likely points of departure in an independent practice. Additionally, as an associate at the Foundation for Contemporary Art-Ghana, they help promote contemporary Ghanaian art practices and discourses through research, workshops, seminars, exhibitions, interventions, and labs. Educated in Ghana, they earned a BFA in Painting from the Department of Painting and Sculpture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where they are currently a candidate for an MFA. Abbey lives and works in Accra and Kumasi.

Abdul Raafi Mohammed, known as Rafiu fishbone is a film producer, director, creative consultant and founder of Sanatu Zambang Studios. Rafiu fishbone documentary on access to clean water received a nomination at the Water Film Festival and the Golden Movie Awards Africa 2016. He worked for Countrywise Communication Ghana, as a film producer, director and video editor between 2013 to 2016. Producing agricultural documentary films for organisations and institutions such as Savannah Agriculture Research Institute, AGRA, IPA , IFDC, Cabi plantwise Access Agriculture, and a drama with UNICEF. Between 2016 to 2017, he produced StarX TV, an entertainment show which featured trending videos from both Northern and Southern parts of Ghana.

Since 2017 to date Rafiu fishbone notable works for NGOs and Institutions include; International Trade Centre, World Food Programme, Wateraid, WASH United, Oxfam, Actionaid, Kofi Annan IT Centre for Excellence, Star Ghana foundation active citizenship, HERPol-Africa, African Women's Development Fund, Norsaac, Swida-Ghana etc.

Abdul-Hakim Zakaria is a writer, freelance Journalist; Blogger; Social and Climate Activist. He is currently a Field Supervisor with School for Life. He is fondly called Abdul-Hakim Genius.

Genius has worked with several youth groups and initiatives and facilitated many creative projects, symposia and workshops. Genius holds a bachelor's degree in Biotechnology and Molecular Biology from the University for Development Studies. Some of his literary publications include a poem featured in Afridiaspora's Ghana @60 Anthology of new writings from Ghana Obibini Te-Ase. His works are featured in other publications such as Poetrysoup foundation's PS: it's poetry anthology, Word Peace Anthology titled peace be upon you Davos and other online magazines such as Azahar magazine and Kulturers Publication.

Dr Abdulai Toyin Peregrino-Brimah is a Gold Coaster born in Accra. After completing his basic education at Nsawam Road Government Primary Boys School at Adabraka and St. James Preparatory School at Larterbiorkorshie, he attended Winneba Secondary School in 1970, and furthered his education at Ain Shams University Medical School in Cairo, where he received a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBCh).

Dr Abdulai Toyin Peregrino-Brimah worked at the premier hospital of Ghana, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, and Mamobi Polyclinic, now Mamobi Hospital, and graduated at the West African Post-Graduate College of Surgeons as an Ophthalmologist (Eye Specialist) in 1998. He is married with two children.

Abena Kwatemaa Karikari is half of the writing duo Kwatemaa Tweneboah, authors of The Kelewele Connection and co-host of 2 Hearts in a Pod, a romance podcast. She is an avid reader and champion for African and Diasporan writing. She blogs about books on her Youtube channel Bookworm in Gh and on her Instagram @bookwormingh. She is a medical anthropologist who focuses on reproductive health and her PhD focused on social media and literary representations of infertility in Ghana and Nigeria.

Abu Ibrahim, popularly known as IB, is a socially conscious poet whose work has had a tremendous influence and impact both locally and internationally. In 2021, he was part of a select group of poets who advocated for the Recording Academy to create a distinct category for spoken word poetry at the Grammys. This effort bore fruit, leading to the establishment of the "Best Spoken Word Poetry Album" category in 2022. His debut spoken word album, "Music Has Failed Us," received acceptance from the Grammy committee and was in consideration for a potential nomination at the 2022 Grammy Awards. His genius has severally been recognized by the media, and some of his works have been published in literary publications in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

He has also performed at prestigious events such as the Lagos International Poetry Festival, Say It Out, Lagos Talks Town Hall Meetings, Nigeria National Chess Championship, and the Global Poetry Meet organized by Poets of Bangalore, India, among others. When he is not writing or performing poetry, he collaborates with brands and individuals from various sectors as a photographer and brand strategist/storyteller.

Agnes Titriku is a parliamentary development expert with fifteen years of experience in active engagement in the field of Parliamentary Democracy and Governance. She is the Programs Manager for the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) where she is involved in the design and implementation of various programs for several African Parliaments and parliaments outside the continent, with a focus on capacity building, institutional development, strategic planning, parliamentary oversight, gender and poverty reduction. She holds a Master of Arts in Social Policy Studies from the University of Ghana and is very passionate about the Arts and Literature.

Akpa Arinzechukwu is an English Grad Fellow at Chapman University. A 2023 Oxbelly Writing Retreat Fellow, and a winner of the 2021 Poetry Archive Worldview Prize, a Best of the Net nominee, Pushcart, and Geoffrey Dearmer Prize, shortlisted for the FT/Bodley Head Prize, and a finalist for the 2020 Black Warriors Review Fiction Prize, his works appear in Kenyon Review, Adda, Transition, Prairie Schooner, The Nation, Poetry Review, and elsewhere. He is the curator of Muqabalal, a bilingual conversation series, co-host of Muqabalal’s Poem-a-Day in Translation, and the Church of Poetry.

Albert Tetteh Amafu is a performance poet and the founder & Executive Director of PAL Foundation Ghana which has for 9 years been working with over 80 orphanages & special homes in Ghana. He the founder of Verbal Transformers and the National Core Subjects Quiz. He is also the Project Director/Acting Chief Operating Officer of Parables Animation Studios, Producers of Ghana's first-ever animated feature film and Creators of Ghana/Africa’s first Environmental Superhero animated series called 'MIGHTY JOO'.

Alice Johnson is a Ghanaian theatre producer and filmmaker with experience in radio, TV and digital media.She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A in Theatre Arts from the University of Education, Winneba. She has since been involved in a plethora of creative fellowships and courses, including the Re-imagining Folk(lore) for now by Institute Francais and Terra Alta and the Multichoice Talent Factory. At PaGya 2021, she directed the stage reading of “The Secret lives of Baba Segi’s wives” with her team of mostly alumni from her University, which received a standing ovation from the author Lola Shoneyin and present. In 2022 she directed yet another stellar stage reading of “His Only Wife” by Peace Adzo Midie. This year, she is spear-heading a tribute performance at the opening of the Festival with a reading of “Changes, a Love story” by the late Ama Ata Aidoo. She is passionate about impacting society and telling stories that project the African continent, thus writing and producing theatre and film projects to that effect and continues to explore her creativity in various creative media.

Alycia Pirmohamed is a Canadian-born poet based in Scotland. She is the author of Another Way to Split Water, as well as the pamphlets Hinge and Faces that Fled the Wind, and the collaborative essay "Second Memory". She is the co-founder of the Scottish BPOC Writers Network, a co-organiser of the Ledbury Poetry Critics Program, and she currently teaches on the MSt. Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge. Alycia has held post-doctoral positions at University Edinburgh and at the University of Liverpool, and she received an MFA from the University of Oregon and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh. She is the recipient of several awards, including the 2019 CBC Poetry Prize, a Pushcart Prize, and the 2020 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award. Find her online at alycia-pirmohamed.com, on Twitter @a_pirmohamed, and on Instagram @alyciap_.

Ama is an aspiring art curator, writer and photographer based in Accra, Ghana. She is published in Aperture Magazine's Fall 2023 Issue 'Accra', the The Sole Adventurer (TSA) Art Magazine’s Collectors Series: Artists & Cities, Contemporary Ghanaian Writers Series, Write Ghana and the Nubuke Foundation’s New Dawn Online. In December 2021, she made her art curating debut with Ian Kwakye’s My Nose Is Bleeding.

Ama relives some of her childhood every chance she gets and believes strongly Tea bread is the best bread there is in Ghana. She has no desire to argue this.

Amanda Thomson is a writer and visual artist who lives and works in Strathspey and Glasgow and lectures at the Glasgow School of Art. She’s written for BBC Radio 3 and 4 and her essays are in several anthologies including Antlers of Water, writing on the nature and environment of Scotland and Gifts of Gravity and Light, A Nature Almanac for the 21st Century. She has published three books: A Scots Dictionary of Nature (Saraband Books); microbursts, a collaboration with Elizabeth Reeder (Prototype); and most recently, Belonging, Natural Histories of Place, Identity and Home (Canongate). She’s a regular contributor to the Guardian newspaper’s Country Diary. She was a commissioned artist for the Edinburgh Art Festival in 2022 and Boundary Layers, a dual-screen filmwork and spoken-word essay about nature’s reclamation of the former steelworks at Ravenscraig, Motherwell, is part of A Fragile Correspondence, Scotland’s collateral exhibition for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023. Insta: @dr_amanda_thomson w: www.passingplace.com

Anakwa Dwamena is writer and researcher focused on justice, culture, climate change, and traditional practice. He is currently a reporting fellow with the Luce/ACLS Program, doing work on traditional religious practices in Ghana. His work has been published in Africa is a Country, The New Yorker, New York Times, Aperture, amongst others.

Angelina Boakye is a graduate from the University of Education Winneba. While in school, she took on several leadership roles and was recognized and awarded the best supporting actress of the year 2019. With over a decade of experience in the Arts industry, Angelina specialises in acting and voice over while she occasionally utilises her expertise in the coaching of other young individuals in the Arts industry. Aside from her passion for the Arts, Angelina is also a developmental communicator and has embarked on several developmental projects to create awareness mostly in rural areas and less privileged communities in Ghana which has and is still transforming many lives as of today.

Anietie Isong is a researcher and creative writer. He completed his PhD in New Media and Writing at De Montfort’s University’s Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, a centre that undertakes research on the actual and potential impacts of computing and related technologies on society and its citizens. Isong’s thesis explored the influence of new media technologies on African literature. His debut novel, Radio Sunrise, won the Mckitterick Prize, and was listed for other prizes including the 9mobile Prize for Literature. The book has also been adapted into a movie. Isong’s second novel, News at Noon, was published in the UK, in 2022. His collection of short stories, Someone Like Me, won the inaugural Headlight Review Chapbook Prize for Prose Fiction. His essay is included in the anthology, Of This Our Country (published by Borough Press), a collection of essays by acclaimed Nigerian writers on the home, identity and culture they know.

Anni Domingo is an Actress, Director and Writer, working in Radio, TV, Films. and Theatre. She has appeared in many shows in the UK including in Inua Ellam’s ‘Three Sisters’ set in Nigeria during the Biafran War, at the National Theatre. She has just finished touring Jane Austen’s ‘Mansfield Park’. She is currently Lecturing in Drama and directing at St. Mary’s University in Twickenham, Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama and at RADA. Anni’s poems and short stories are published in various anthologies and her plays produced in the UK. Her first novel, Breaking the Maafa Chain, was published in 2021 by Jacaranda Book in UK and Pegasus in USA last year. An extract from this novel won Myriad Editions First Novel competition and is one of the contributions in the New Daughters of Africa Anthology edited by Margaret Busby. Anni recently won a place at Hedgebrook Writers Retreat and Norwich National Writing Centre’s ‘Escalator’ programme. Anni is now writing her second novel ‘Ominira’, as part of her PhD programme.

Instagram: annidom4

Twitter: DomingoAnni

Facebook: AnniDomingo

Mrs. Anyele Perbi is the founder and CEO of Perbi Cubs. She is an Economist by training, with a first class honors B.A in Economics from the University of Ghana and a Master’s degree in the same field from McGill University, Canada. She also holds certifications in Accounting and Statistics and worked as a Financial Security Advisor with World Financial Group for a few years. She was the Chief Operating Officer at Adeshe Real Estate with operations in three countries on both sides of the Atlantic and serves as a Board Member of The HuD Group Canada. Anyele has ample experience in church and charity work in both Africa and North America and has a deep passion for child literacy. She is championing the cause of leisure reading among children of African descent as she believes that is a great catalyst for the emergence of many more successful African families. She is a blessed mother of seven children and enjoys spending family time with her husband and children.She is the founder of Perbu Cubs, a library service that recognizes that a well-structured reading initiative is crucial to efforts at tackling declining reading levels and ensuring a fulfilling educational experience for children.

Apiorkor [Seyiram Ashong-Abbey] is a Ghanaian Poet, Writer/Author, Literary Scholar and Critic, Media Practitioner, TED Speaker, Activist and Versatile Creative. She is the author of the poetry collections The Matriarch’s Verse and When the person who is called COVID came. She performs within West Africa’s most sophisticated spaces and has been featured on two TEDx platforms.

She has also been a speaker at Re:publica and has been a conversationalist as well, at the Reykjavik Global Forum, having spoken about The Power of Poetry and is an active member of TED's Red Circle Community for TED Speakers.

She was in Vancouver, for the 2023 TED Conference, as a TED Speaker Ambassador. Over the past four years, Apiorkor has led a campaign to have Ghanaian (and African) Poets, Poetry, and Artists properly documented in local media sources and on Wikipedia.

She is a member of the Poetry Association of Ghana Executive Board and a member of a newly-formed standing committee of the Creative Arts Agency (Ghana) Initiative on developing Creative Arts Education in Ghana, under the auspices of Ghana's Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture. Apiorkor is the Head of Programmes Production at Accra-based Citi 97.3 FM and Citi TV.

Dr. Asangba Reginald Taluah is a senior lecturer at AAMUSTED, the erstwhile Kumasi and Ashanti Mampong campuses of the University of Education Winneba. His research areas include: Literary Linguistics, English Education, African Studies and Liberal Studies. His works have been published in both national and international anthologies. His poem, Mother was awarded the Castello Di Duino Poetry Prize in 2014, Italy.

Asmaila Rahinatu is a budding writer and spoken word artist who is currently teaching English in Junior High School in the Savannah region for her national service. She has collaborated and performed some of her pieces within and outside Tamale. She currently holds a bachelor of education in Junior high education form the university of Cape Coast. In March this year she collaborated with Cactus Junges theatre and the Tamale youth Culture Center and the Tete Adeheyemma dance theatre from Accra on a play on empowering the youth at the youth center in Tamale. She loves to write and most especially do spoken word because it gives her the opportunity to express herself . She is a YALI RLC alumni and a very passionate volunteer. She currently volunteers for the African students for inter faith tolerance in the North East region working around peace building. Nassam as she is known on stage, draws inspiration from her surroundings, nature and reality.

Professor Ato Quayson is the Jean G. and Morris M. Doyle Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Stanford University. He did his BA (First Class Honors, English and Arabic) at the University of Ghana, then went to the University of Cambridge to take his PhD after which he proceeded to the University of Oxford for a JRF (post-doc) then back to Cambridge as Assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of English and Fellow of Pembroke College in 1995. He got tenure 3 years later (the first Black person to achieve this in the history of Cambridge) then rose to become Reader in Commonwealth and Postcolonial Literature. He was also the Director of the Centre of African Studies at Cambridge, a post he held from 1997-2005.

In 2005, Professor Quayson was recruited to the University of Toronto to be the founding Director of the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies and Professor of English. In 2016 he was appointed University Professor at the University of Toronto, a distinction that is reserved for not more than 2% of the Professoriate. He moved to the Department of English at New York University in 2017 and then to Stanford University in 2019.

Professor Quayson has written 6 single-authored monographs and edited 8 essay collections. His monographs include Strategic Transformations in Nigerian Writing (Indiana University Press, 1997; from his PhD dissertation), Aesthetic Nervousness: Disability and the Crisis of Representation (2007), and Oxford Street, Accra (Duke University Press, 2014; co-winner of the Best Book Prize of the Urban History Association (non-North America) and also named by The Guardian newspaper as one of the best 10 books on cities in 2014). His most recent monograph is Tragedy and Postcolonial Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2021).

Professor Quayson is an elected Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of Canada, and of the British Academy.

Born in Los Angeles, Audrey Shipp is an essayist who came to creative writing as a poet. Her writing has been published in various literary journals including Brittle Paper, Isele Magazine, A Long House, Sapphire Hues, Pure Slush, Another Chicago Magazine, LitroNY, A Gathering Together, and Linden Avenue Literary Journal. Her bilingual and trilingual poetry appeared in Americas Review (Arte-Publico Press) which was formerly published by the University of Houston. She was the 2023 winner of the Barbara Abercrombie Scholarship from the UCLA Extension Writers Program and is currently writing a memoir focusing on writing and (un)writing in Los Angeles. Audrey is founding and managing editor of the literary journal Decolonial Passage. She holds both a B.A. in English and Masters in Education from UCLA, an M.A. in English from Cal State L.A, and a Certificate in Creative Writing from UCLA

Aziza is a multi-lingual UK and Ghanaian qualified corporate and commercial lawyer and development consultant with over 25 years of work experience. She studied Law at the University of Manchester and the Ghana School of Law. Aziza received a Masters in Law from University College London and a Diploma in Legal Practice from London Guildhall University. She worked in London, Belgium, Dubai and West Africa for the International Law Firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Norton Rose Fulbright for many years. Aziza speaks English, French, Spanish, German and Ebira.

Aziza is on the board of various NGOs in West Africa, Central America and Europe. She is currently involved in running workshops for the youth in underprivileged areas of Accra. She ran a Literacy project (Eduquemos a La Nina) initiated by the Ministry of Education in Guatemala for the Mayan Q’eqchi Indians for Proyecto Ak’tenamit, which is still in operation as well as a vocational training project for youths in the Niger Delta. Aziza completed a course in Script Writing/Screen Plays at London College of Communication and course in Film-Making at New York Film Academy. She has since worked on various scripts and documentaries internationally. She is part of the BBC Media Action Writers that write for the Development Radio Drama Series Nebor my Nebor that is widely broadcast and seeks through stories to reduce the instances of infant mortality. She co-founded the Saturday School Literacy, Numeracy and Mentoring Project in London in 1999 that now has various branches in the UK. After conducting extensive field trips and research, she wrote the first comprehensive report on the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme in collaboration with the Partnership for Child Development and Imperial College London that was run in Kano and hopes to spread to other states and other countries in Africa. The project seeks to encourage states to provide one balanced meal a day to primary and secondary school students to encourage them to attend school.

Aziza consults on legal matters globally and writes numerous articles, scripts, delivers numerous workshops and speaks at several conferences and seminars worldwide.

Babeth Fonchie Fotchind is a lawyer and poet. She has published in Kluger Hans, De Revisor, De Groene Amsterdammer, DW B, De Gids, and ELLE Magazine among others. She was also the in-house poet of online feminist magazine Lilith Mag. She was selected for the writing residency of deBuren and the Fellowship of the Dutch Foundation for Literature. She was chosen by VOGUE as the next talent to watch and also nominated for Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Award. In June 2022, her debut collection of poetry titled Plooi was released at Publishing House De Geus.

Photo Credit Natascha Libbert

Bernard Akoi-Jackson (PhD), is a Ghanaian artist, writer, curator and educator who lives and works from Tema/Accra/Kumasi. He interrogates hybrid post-colonial identities, through ephemeral make-shift memorials and performative rituals of the mundane. His interests cut across forms and media. Using critical absurdity, he becomes the proverbial jester or Eṣu moving between genres. His multi-disciplinary, audience implicating installations and performative “pseudo-rituals”, have featured in exhibitions like An Age of Our Own Making (Reflection II), Roskilde Denmark, (2016); Silence Between The Lines, Kumasi, Ghana (2015), Material Effects, East Lansing, USA (2015), WATA don PASS: Looking West, Lagos and Malmö, Sweden (2015) and Time, Trade and Travel, Amsterdam and Accra, Ghana (2012 and 2013). He has co-curated exhibitions with blaxTARLINES, most prominent being The GOWN must go to TOWN (2015), Cornfields in Accra, (2016) and Orderly Disorderly, (2017). Akoi-Jackson holds a PhD in Painting and Sculpture from the College of Art and Built Environment, (KNUST), Kumasi, where he also lectures with particular interest in disruption and the revolutionary potential in contemporary art practice.

He is drawn to the politics of such vestiges of colonialist encounter as the overtly bureaucratic rituals that lead to absurdist stalemate in society. By means of paintings, performances, videos, murals, installations and texts, he creates immersive, absurdist interventions and situations that are both atmospherically dense, yet permeable to critical audience reactions. Within his works a plurality of the senses are engage, initiating processes of action, reflection with a penchant for the disruptive. He curated the inaugural exhibition: “Galle Winston Kofi Dawson: In Pursuit of something ‘Beautiful’, perhaps...” at the Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA), Tamale, Ghana. He co-curated the inaugural Stellenbosch Triennale in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Akoi-Jackson is a member of the Ghanaian Artist Collective Exit Frame. He also leads the performative lab, eX-para-Mental.

Mrs. Bertha Setor Adom is a retired music educationist and an independent researcher. She has a professional Teachers’ Certificate ‘A’ from Jasikan Training College, a diploma in music education from the National Academy of Music (now the Department of Music Education) at the University of Education, Winneba, a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Ghana, Legon, and a master’s degree in African Studies from the same institution. She served as Principal Research Assistant at the International Centre for African Music and Dance (ICAMD), School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Legon under the directorship and mentorship of the late Emeritus Professor J.H. Kwabena Nketia. Bertha was a member of the team at the ICAMD that organized symposia for Ghanaian composers and Music Educators worldwide.

She taught several African Music courses at the Department of Music, University of Ghana and held a part-time voice teaching position at the University of Education, Winneba. For eight years, she was the coordinator of a joint music project established by the Department of Music, University of Ghana and The Royal Hague Conservatory of Music, Holland. This project involved Theory and Composition Workshops for students, and symposia for Musicians Association of Ghana (MUSIGA) as well as faculty from the Universities of Legon, Cape Coast, Winneba and The Hague.

Bertha spent her career teaching at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of education in Ghana. She is currently the Vice President of Our Birthright Ghana, a non-governmental organization that focuses on counselling and supporting young, distressed pregnant girls. In addition to writing biographies, she enjoys singing, gardening, reading, and listening to music. She is also the author of The Life and Testimony of Rt. Rev. Winfred Yao Ametefe.

Bisi Adjapong is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Daughter in Exile (HarperCollins 2023) and The Teller of Secrets (HarperCollins 2021). The latter, her debut, has been named a best book by The American Library Association, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Globe and Mail, Pop Sugar, Essence, and Ms Magazine. The short story version, titled Of Women and Frogs, was nominated for the Caine Prize for African Literature. Her second novel, Daughter in Exile, is a New Yorker Magazine best book and has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal, Book Browse, World Literature among others. It has been selected by Amazon Editors as best fiction literature, a must-read by many publications including The Root. Adjapon’s writings have appeared in journals and newspapers including The Guardian, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, The Sun Magazine, Aljazeera, New York Time, Washington Times and Brittle Paper. A former International Affairs Specialist for the US Foreign Agricultural Service, she won the Civil Rights Award for Human Relations. As an educator, she won An Excellence in Teaching Award in Fairfax County, Virginia. She divides her time between America and Ghana.

Blessing Tarfa is an award winning writer of children’s literature, an educator and a research consultant. She is also an Abuja Global Shaper of the Global Shapers community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. As a Shaper, she chairs the editorial team and the Library4Education project where they make books and learning resources available for marginalised schools in Nigeria. Her research efforts as the program officer at the Riplington Education Initiative are focused on evaluating the difficulties of maintaining an education in contexts of conflict and attacks on education. As a teacher, Blessing wants to change the narrative of the punitive way learning is presented to children.

Boakyewaa Glover is a Ghanaian Writer, Organisational Psychologist, Human Resources Professional and Media/Communications Strategist. She is the author of Circles (2009 -- romantic drama), Tendai (2013 -- science fiction), and The Justice (2013 -- political thriller), as well as a plethora of articles, short stories, poems and other works. Boakyewaa’s essay, God’s Plan, was featured in Relations, an Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices, published in 2023 by Harper Collins. She was a 2014 finalist for Africa’s Most Influential Women (organized by CEO Communications, South Africa), the 2018 winner for Ghana’s 40 Under 40 Awards (Authorship & Creative Writing category) and a 2020 nominee under the category of English/Literature/Poetry for the prestigious Ghana Millennium Excellence Awards. Boakyewaa’s current book project is Commitment. Commitment tells the story of the thousands who sacrifice personal lives and careers and choose to prioritise family. Commitment also tells the story of the particular way that women in Ghana get by – through the benevolence of older, predatory men and the physical and psychological abuse these women tolerate in order to protect their lifestyles. In Ghana, this has become a known and accepted way of life. Commitment is a passion project that Boakyewaa hopes to publish in 2023. Boakyewaa Glover has also worked in diverse and multi-faceted roles in the Corporate world in Ghana, UK and the US for over twenty (20) years. Some of these roles include, TV Presenter, Newscaster, TV Script Writer, Consultant, HR Vice President, Director, Media and PR Strategist, and Project Manager Boakyewaa is also the Founder and Group Director for Minds on Fire Group, a Human Capital Consulting company, that also provides media, editorial and publishing services.

Bronia Humble (MA, MRes, PhD) is a writer, editor and book coach based in Accra. Bronia worked in-house at an academic publisher for seven years and has recently launched her own freelance consultancy offering her editorial experience to those writers wrestling with unfinished manuscripts. Bronia works across fiction and non-fiction. In 2022, Bronia’s first novel was shortlisted for the Cheshire Novel Prize. Bronia then worked for the prize in 2023 as a reader and editor.

Chief Moomen (Abdul Moomen Muslim) is a poet and playwright, and Chief Creative Officer of Bambu Center, a creative communications company with interests in theatre and multimedia productions, publishing and education. He is the creator of The Mansa World, an ambitious storytelling project exploring African and black diaspora history and heritage through theatre, film, publications and other derivatives, in well curated and exciting content for the global market. Chief Moomen is also one of the most recognisable faces of performance poetry from Ghana, having been performing for the past 15 years on various corporate, social, entertainment and international platforms. He is the recipient of The 2015 Excellence Leadership Award’s Young Achiever for Arts, Culture and Entertainment and the 2017 Coca Cola Big Six Young Achiever in Media and Entertainment.

Chika Jones is a performance poet and writer who lives in Southeastern England. He lived most of his life in Lagos, Nigeria and writes about the city, gender based violence, the Biafra war and the pursuit of joy. He won a national poetry slam in Lagos in 2013, and has performed at the Lagos International Poetry Festival and several others. He attended the Farafina Creative Writing workshop in 2016 curated by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and has been commissioned by MacArthur Foundation to write and perform poems creating awareness for voters. Since moving to England in 2021, he has performed at Jawdance, Sunday Papers Live in London and other spaces. He was part of the Lyrici Arts production - Soul Food, which toured the Medway in October 2022. He is currently working on his first collection of poetry and other projects He posts about his work on Instagram under his name. Visit https://www.instagram.com/chika_jones

Crystal Boateng was born and raised in Kumasi, Ghana. She moved to Massachusetts, USA, at a young age with her family. She is a proud alumna of Mount Holyoke College and holds a law degree and MBA from the University of Connecticut. Crystal has three children, Afia Whitney, Kwabena Leo, and Kwaku Lenny. They are her inspiration for all the books she has written. Her first children’s picture book, Afia the Ashanti Princess: A Visit to the Motherland, was featured on the BBC Culture list of The 100 Greatest Children’s Books in May 2023. Her other works include, Cooking Jollof with Nana in Ghana; Afia the Brave Swimmer; Saturday Morning Cuddles with Mommy; and Where Will I Go? What Will I See: A travel journal for boys and girls who like to explore. Her hope is to inspire readers to develop an interest in learning more about Ghanaian culture and history. Crystal recently launched a publishing company, Boat & Co. Publishing Agency, to help other individuals just like herself become published authors.

D. Othniel Forte is a Liberian educator, author and publisher. He is the Publisher at FORTE Publications International, a 100 percent Liberian owned publishing house and the largest in the country. He edits KWEE, the Liberian Literary Magazine, and is Team Leader at Monrovia READS, a reading literacy NGO that encourages reading across Liberia.

Daniel Dazam is an actor, a theatre director, a teacher, and an academician with a first-class Bachelor of Theatre Arts degree from the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Education Winneba. He is well-known for his ability to completely enthral his audience with the depth of his acting. He has featured in so many theatrical productions and has won awards such as Best Actor on stage for three consecutive times in the Department of Theatre Arts (UEW), to mention a few: "The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives", by Rotimi Baba Tunde; "Firestorm", by Sackey Sowah; "The Placenta of Death", amongst others. Daniel has also directed stage plays such as; "Dasebre", by Asiedu Yirenkyi; "The Exodus", by Tom Omara; "Guilty?", by Mensah Raphael Junior; and "Once Upon Four Robbers", by Femi Osofisan.

He is yet to pursue an MPhil in Theatre Arts at the University of Education, Winneba.

Dannabang Kuwabong hails from Nanvilli in the Nadowli-Kaleo District of the Upper West Region. He a professor of English and teaches Caribbean, African, and African Diaspora Literature at the University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA.

His published books include Naa Kɔnga and Other Dagaaba Folktales; Visions of Venom (Poetry); Echoes from Dusty Rivers (Poetry); Caribbean Blues & Love’s Genealogy (Poetry); Voices from Kibuli Country (Poetry); and Sargasso Sea Scrolls (Poetry). His poetry has also appeared in several literary and creative magazines such as The Caribbean Writer, Eleven Eleven, The Prairie Schooner, Interviewing the Caribbean, Creative Contradictions, The Mouth, Contemporary Ghanaian Poetry, etc. He has numerous academic articles and chapters published in peer-reviewed academic journals and books. He co-authored Myth Performance in African Diaspora Drama: Ritual, Theatre, and Dance. His edited books include Confluences III: Essays on the New Canadian Literature; Mothers and Daughters, etc. His forthcoming study of Lasana M Sekou’s poetry and prose, titled Rhetoric of Resistance, Labor of Love: The Eco-Poetics of Nationhood in the Poetry and Prose of Lasana M Sekou, is scheduled for release next year.

David Agyei-Yeboah is a writer and artist from Accra, Ghana. He holds an MA in Communication Studies from the University of Ghana. He graduated with first-class honors in English and Theatre Arts for his BA. He has published poetry, fiction and hybrid work in many literary magazines and journals including Mag 20/20, Juste Literary, Mister Magazine, trash to treasure lit, Literally Stories, Corporeal, Poetry for Mental Health, Deep Overstock Publishing, Freshwater Literary Journal, The Quilled Ink Review, Decolonial Passage, The Lumiere Review, GUEST (above/ground press), Ethel Zine & Micro Press, Afritondo magazine, Tampered Press, Ta Adesa, Icefloe Press, Journal of the Writers Project of Ghana (JWPG), Contemporary Ghanaian Writers Series (CGWS), Writers Space Africa - Ghana and elsewhere. He has been long listed twice for the Totally Free Best of the Bottom Drawer Global Writing Prize, he enjoys everything art.

Computer Engineer and fan of literature.

Diana is a writer, poet, performance poet and storyteller. Her work has been published in various collections and some serve as prescribed texts for high school learners. Diana completed her Bachelors at the University of the Western Cape as well as a postgraduate degree in Women’s and Gender Studies. In 2012 Diana received the inaugural Mbokodo Award for poetry. She has published 3 books, Ons Komvandaan in 2004, I've come to take you home in 2010, Die vrede kom later was launched on 27 July 2019.

In 2020 Diana received “The freedom of the town” from the Breede River Valley Municipality in Worcester, her birthtown. In 2022 Diana received an honorary doctorate from the University of Stellenbosch. Diana is internationally known and acclaimed for the poem that she wrote for the indigenous South African woman Sarah Baartman who was taken away from her country under false pretences and paraded as a sexual freak in Europe. This poem touched the heart of the French Senate and upon hearing it they voted unanimously that her remains should come home. This poem is published in the French Law, a first in French History. Diana’s work has had and still has a bearing and influence on matters of race, sex and reconciliation.

Divine Fiave works as an operations assistant at GLICO Pensions Trustee Company Limited and is also an intern at Guide Radio 91.5 FM. His ultimate goal is to establish a creative hub that nurtures architects, musicians, actors, writers, and all other creatives alike. Additionally, he is passionate about creating a formative children’s village.

Dora Owusu is originally from Ghana but now resides in the United States. She has a degree in Social Work, and also enjoys African and African-American history. Her interest in these subjects led her into story-telling by writing beautiful stories for children. Her stories focus on connecting people of African descent to their continent, as well as having children see characters that look like them in books.

Jackie Owusu will read on behalf of Dora Owusu.

Image: Jackie Owusu

Edem Torkornoo is the Founder and Reader-in-Chief at Booksie, a pan-African online children’s bookshop and literacy centre for 3-12 year-olds. Through the bookshop, Booksie makes it easy to find African books for children of all ages (0-18-years). It also helps children fall in love with books through the hosting of book clubs that teach them how to read, storytime events, holiday reading camps and more. Prior to Booksie, she served as a Communications Teaching Fellow at MEST-Africa where she taught and mentored aspiring software entrepreneurs communications for business and how to pitch. She was also on the Founding Team at the African Leadership University (ALU) in Mauritius and built the university’s digital media presence.When she’s not writing lesson plans or reviewing books, Edem loves to read African fiction, try out new eateries in Accra or watch a good thriller.

Edwige Renée Dro is a writer, literary translator, and literary activist from Côte d’Ivoire. Her short stories and articles have been published in anthologies such as New Daughters of Africa, Africa39, the Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies, This is Africa, etc. As a literary translator, she has mentored emerging literary translators as part of the Bakwa Literary Translation workshop that birthed the anthology: Your feet will lead you where your heart is / Le crepuscule des âmes soeurs. She is also the translator of the anthology Les oiseaux d’eau sur la rive du lac / Water birds on the lakeshore (English and French), the children’s book: Rêve d’oiseau by Shenaz Patel (A Dream of Birds -- English), the short story: Petit Pa by Hemley Boum (Little Pa -- English), etc. In 2020, she founded 1949: the library of women’s writings from Africa and the black world in Abidjan. Visit https://edwigedro.wordpress.com.

Efe Paul Azino is one of Nigeria’s best-known performance artists and poets. In 2015, he co-founded West Africa's first international poetry festival, the Lagos International Poetry Festival, which he currently directs. He is the author of the poetry collection For Broken Men Who Cross Often. His poems have been translated into Afrikaans, French, German and Mandarin.

Dr. Eghosa Imasuen is a Nigerian writer and cofounder of Narrative Landscape Press Limited. He graduated in 1999 with a medical degree from the University of Benin. Eghosa's second novel, Fine Boys, a coming-of-age novel, was received to wide acclaim in 2012 and was published in America by the Ohio University Press’ Modern African Writers Series in 2021.

Eghosa Imasuen teaches creative Writing at the annual Chimamanda Adichie Creative Writing Workshop. He lives in Lagos with his wife and their twin sons. Image Credit: Dirk Skiba.

Ekow Manuar is an award winning African Futurist writer from Accra, Ghana. He won the UN Economic Commission for Africa’s climate fiction short story award in 2021 for his short story ‘Beans without Korkor.’ His works have been published in literary magazines across the planet, including: The Dark Mountain Project, Decolonial Passage, Writers Project of Ghana, Kalahari Review and many more.

Ekow Manuar has a Masters’ in Sustainability Science from Lund University. Currently, Ekow Manuar works in Ghana for a German-Based solar financing company called ecoligo, developing projects across the sub-region. Aside from his formal employment, Ekow Manuar is a Director of the NGO the Ghana Food Movement, which is a grass-roots organisation focused on the celebration of West Africa’s cuisine and ecology, youth empowerment, and building a network across the food value chain. He recently self-published his first book The Men from StayWell and has sold over 200 copies to date. The book can be found on Amazon and his stories can be found on his medium page abdallahsmith06.

Elizabeth Johnson works with the Writers Project of Ghana (WPG) as a media and programs coordinator as well as the Manager for the annual literary festival, Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra. Elizabeth is currently a resident with Oroko Radio where she produces and hosts the MnR Show, a show dedicated to Highlife Music and Creatives. She is the co-creator of Art and Thought Conversation. Elizabeth is a 2022 participant of the AKO Caine Prize writing workshops. She works as a Teaching Assistant at Ashesi University and moderates panel discussions and conversations for cultural organizations from time to time.

Elizabeth is a leader with a passion for the business of art. After graduating top of her class in BSc accounting at the United States International University, she spent over three years in the banking sector working for top banks that include KCB group and CitiBank after which she brought her skills and experience to Avandu Studio in 2018 where she built up the company’s systems and structures that has enabled the studio to execute projects and form partnerships, including the Ignite Culture Grant, Apple Music, MARVEL Anatomy, Alliance Francaise and more that have taken the company to greater heights.

Elizabeth is the Chief Executive Officer of Avandu Vosi Ltd.

Elizabeth-Irene Baitie is a clinical biochemist and the founder and director of Patholab Solutions Medical Laboratory in Accra. She is an internationally-published, multiple award-winning writer of entertaining novels for and about children and young adults. Each of her novels leads page by page to the discovery of the hero buried within her characters.

Elizabeth-Irene is working on her ninth novel. She lives in Accra with her husband Rami. They have 3 adult children.

Elvira Bonafacio is a Curaçao native and a teacher. She holds a master's degree in education of Papiamentu - the Creole language unique to the ABC islands. As the general coordinator of Arte di Palabra, an annual Papiamentu literary festival, she inspires high school students in Curaçao to proudly express themselves in their own language. In 2018, she won an 8-week writer residency in Ireland offered by "In Other Words" for the promotion of minority languages. This young writer is one of the winners of the Transatlantic Relatives Writers contest for the residency in Ghana. Besides pursuing her passion for writing, teaching, and culture, she also guides young talents in achieving their writing goals.

Emma Ofosua is the freestyle Poet and author of the debut I wish you courage in the Night Season; is a creative entrepreneur, Board Chair for the Poetry Association of Ghana and founder of the All African Women Poetry Festival.

Empi Baryeh is a Ghanaian author of sweet and sensual African, multicultural and interracial romance and women’s fiction. Her published novels include: Most Eligible Bachelor (2012, 2020), Chancing Faith (2012), Forest Girl (2018), His Inherited Princess (2018), Expecting Ty’s Baby (2019), Unwrapping Hanie and The Illegitimate Prince (2021).

Empi has won several awards and recognition for her novels, including First Prize in the Novel Category for The Illegitimate Prince in the 2023 Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) Literary Awards. In 2018, she won Third Prize in the same category with her book, Chancing Faith. She has also won the Ufere Awards Book of the Year for Most Eligible Bachelor and Expecting Ty’s Baby.

Ese Emmanuel is a writer, culture worker and curator, among other things. Their work prioritises the radical imaginary, making space for collaboration, play, care, and rest. Ese coordinates the We Make Books project, an initiative of Goethe-Institut Nigeria focused on capacity building, fostering international exchange and establishing networks among small/medium-sized art publishers and art writers across Africa.

Esther Davis Eshun is a professional actress and serial entrepreneur. Graduate of the University of Education, Winneba theatre Arts Department on a mission to live life beautifully while making memories and would not trade these two professions for anything.

Farai Mudzingwa is a Zimbabwean writer whose debut novel, Avenues by Train, has been recently published by Cassava Republic Press. His work has been published in Weaver Press anthologies, Kwani?, Short Story Day Africa, New Frame, Chimurenga Chronic and Mail & Guardian. He is represented by Laxfield Literary Associates.

Fatima Sumani is a fashion designer and fashion consultant. Affectionately known as Fatsu Garments, she founded Fatsu Fashion House, a bridal and bespoke clothing brand.Fatsu Garments also offers weekdays and weekends training for interested persons. She featured on Joynews business segment titled " An entrepreneur's resilience: UDS graduate abandons professional studies; ventures into fashion design". Fatsu Garments holds a B A in development studies from the University for Development Studies. Since 2022, Fatsu Fashion House has collaborated with Sanatu Zambang Studios to organise two fashion workshops. Fatima has also collaborated with Rafiu fishbone since 2022 to work on her professional branding as a fashion designer and consultant. Fatima Sumani and Abdul Raafi Mohammed, known widely as Fishbone are again collaborating to produce a body of works for the next three years. One of the works was presented at this year's Norsaac Norgha Norgha2023 conference titled Piece.

Femi Elufowoju is British born, Nigerian raised performance practitioner working across the creative industries. He is the second theatre director of African descent to establish a national touring company in the UK. Elufowoju's stage work has been seen across most key flagship production houses in the UK, and has collaborated extensively with notable creatives within the film, television and radio sectors.

Elufowoju was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Image Credit: Tyler Fayose

Frances is a Ghanaian-British author with seven novels and two non-fiction books to her name. Her debut novel, the romantic comedy From Pasta to Pigfoot (2015) which follows underachieving PA Faye Bonsu in her search for love and identity, went straight to no. 23 of WH Smith Travel’s Top 100 Summer Reads. It was followed by a sequel From Pasta to Pigfoot: Second Helpings (2016) which continued Faye’s story in London and Ghana. After the Pasta series, Frances’s subsequent books - the novel Imperfect Arrangements (2020) and a novella series, the Marula Heights Romances - were set in contemporary Ghana.

In 2022 Frances’s novel The Second Time We Met hit No. 1 on Amazon’s bestseller charts. Her latest novel, Strictly Friends, (March 2023) went straight to the top of Amazon’s Black African American Kindle Books chart upon release. As a freelance writer, Frances has contributed feature articles to numerous print and online publications including The Voice, The Big Issue, The Irish Times as well as short stories for My Weekly, Hello! Magazine, and S (Daily Express) Magazine. Frances has also published two non-fiction books: Everyday Heroes: Learning from the Careers of Successful Black Professionals and I Want to Work in Africa: How to Move Your Career to the World’s Most Exciting Continent. Frances is also the CEO of Interims for Development Ltd and the founder and Managing Editor of ReConnect Africa, a careers portal for African professionals in the diaspora.

She is an experienced professional whose entrepreneurial business and international skills development projects in the UK and Africa have earned her numerous awards, culminating in a CBE from Queen Elizabeth II in 2020. Alongside her writing, Frances is currently a Consultant and Executive Coach.

Dr. G. Edzordzi Agbozo is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. His interdisciplinary research investigates the critical dimensions of discourse, technical and professional writing, and rhetoric of health and medicine. He also writes poetry, and his poem was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2019. He co-edited Resilience: A Collection, published by the Writers Project of Ghana, and two academic books on science communication and discourses of election.

Gabriel Awuah Mainoo is a Ghanaian creative practitioner, a part-time tennis junkie & an author of books of poetry. He won the 2021 Africa Haiku Prize, 2022 Singapore Poetry Prize, 2022 Ghana Association of Writers Literary Awards (Poetry), 2022 Samira Bawumia Literature Prize (poetry), 2021 LFP/ RML/ Library of Africa and the African Diaspora chapbook prize and others. He’s a recipient of the 2022 West African Writers Residency and the 2023 Wintertuin Curacao Residency. Mainoo edits poetry for Goat Shed Press, UK. His craft can be found in the London Reader, FIYAH, Prairie Fire, Olongo Africa, Ex-Puritan, Other side of hope, Wales Haiku Journal, EVENT, Africa Haiku Journal, Best New African Poets Anthologies (2018, 2019, 2020), Old Love Skin among others. Mainoo is represented by Chandler Crawford, USA.

Gabriel Gbadamosi is an Irish and Nigerian poet, playwright and critic. His London novel Vauxhall (Telegram, 2013) won the Tibor Jones Pageturner Prize and Best International Novel at the Sharjah Book Fair. He was AHRC Creative and Performing Arts Fellow at the Pinter Centre, Goldsmiths in European and African performance; a Judith E. Wilson Fellow for creative writing at Cambridge University; and Writer in Residence at the Manchester Royal Exchange. Plays include Stop and Search (Arcola Theatre, London), Hotel Orpheu (Schaubühne, Berlin), and for radio The Long, Hot Summer of ’76 (BBC Radio 3) which won the first Richard Imison Award. He presented BBC Radio 3’s flagship arts and ideas programme Night Waves and is the founding editor of WritersMosaic.

Image Credit: https://www.thebookseller.com/

Gary Raymond is a novelist, critic, editor and broadcaster. His third novel, Angels of Cairo, was published in the UK in June 2021, and is selected to our 2021 Bookcase. He is the presenter of The Review Show for BBC Radio Wales and is editor of Wales Arts Review. He is the author of three novels, The Golden Orphans (2018), For Those Who Come After (2015), and Angels of Cairo. He has also written one non-fiction title, How Love Actually Ruined Christmas (2020).

He has edited a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books, from short story anthologies to political memoir. In 2019, he edited Renegade Wales: 13 Short Stories from New Voices in Welsh Fiction for Bee Books of Kolkata, India. As a critic, he has been seen in the pages of The Guardian and can be heard on BBC Radio Four’s Front Row and Radio 3’s Sunday Morning Show. In the last ten years he has written about film, music, theatre, dance, literature and politics. He is also writer and presenter of BBC radio documentaries How Tom Jones Conquered America (2020) and How Great Was How Green Was My Valley (2021).

His novel, The Golden Orphans (Parthian, 2018), was chosen to our 2018 Bookcase, and Gary attended the launch of the Arabic translation of this novel in Cairo Book Fair in Janurary 2020. The novel has also been translated into Turkish by Yeni Insan Publishing House.

Image and Bio credit: https://waleslitexchange.org/authors/raymond-gary

Gerður Kristný was born on June 10, 1970 and brought up in Reykjavík. She graduated in French and comparative literature from the University of Iceland in 1992. She won the Icelandic Literature Awards 2010 for her book of poetry Bloodhoof (Arc Publication, 2012) which is based on an ancient Nordic myth, told in the Eddic poem Skírnimál, about the attempt of the Nordic fertility god Freyr to fetch the poet's namesake Gerdur Gymisdóttir from her far away home as his bride. Bloodhoof was also nominated to the Nordic Council Literature Prize. Gerður Kristný is one of the most prolific contemporary writers in Icelandic, writing poetry and short stories, novels, books for children and a biography, for which she received The Icelandic Journalism Award. Other awards for her work include The Icelandic Children's Choice Awards, The Halldór Laxness Literary Award and The West-Nordic Children's Literature Award. Last year Gerður won the Jónas Hallgrímsson Award for her contributions to the Icelandic language.

Heather Parry is a Glasgow-based writer, editor, and publisher. She is the co-founder and Editorial Director of Extra Teeth magazine, co-host of the Teenage Scream podcast and the Scottish Senior Policy & Liaison Manager for the Society of Authors, a trade union for writers. In 2021 she created the free-access Illustrated Freelancer’s Guide with artist Maria Stoian. Her short stories and nonfiction have been published internationally, and her debut novel, Orpheus Builds a Girl, was published in October 2022 with Gallic Books. Visit https://heatherparry.co.uk/.

Henneh Kyereh Kwaku is a poet and health educator from Gonasua/Drobo in the Bono Region of Ghana. He's the author of Revolution of the Scavengers (African Poetry Book Fund x Akashic Books, 2020). He was a 2022 resident at the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD) and a two-time recipient of the Samira Bawumia Literature Prize (2020, poetry and 2022, Nonfiction). He is the founder and co-host of the Church of Poetry on Twitter Spaces. His poems/essays/hybrids have appeared or are forthcoming in the Academy of American Poets’ A-Poem-A-Day, Poetry Magazine, Prairie Schooner, World Literature Today, Lolwe, Agbowó, Tupelo Quarterly, Air/Light Magazine, Tampered Press, Poetry Society of America, Praxis Magazine, IceFloe Press, Random Photo Journal, Lunaris Review, CGWS, New South Journal, and Olongo Africa. He lives in Orange, CA, where he studies Creative Writing at Chapman University. He shares memes on Twitter/Instagram at @kwaku_kyereh.

Hondred Percent is a storyteller that writes poetry and raps emotion. He is the founder of the Lorgorligi Locomotion Poetry Show #LLPS, a monthly poetry event that happens every 2nd Friday at Kukun, Osu. He is also the President of the Poetry Association of Ghana (PAG); a published author of a poetry book, “Lorgorligi Locomotion”; a two time Ehalakasa SLAM Champion and has an album and EP available on all major streaming platforms. He is a lover of baseball caps, sunglasses and hakamas and currently working on a new studio album to be released later this year.

I.O. Echeruo is a writer. He spends his time between Lagos, Nigeria and Accra, Ghana. He is the author of the short story collection Expert in All Styles and Other Stories. His short stories have appeared in Transition Magazine and Eclectica Magazine. His short story “Aishatu’s Dinner” was selected as one of Eclectica Magazine’s Top Thirteen Stories of 2013. Echeruo is currently at work on his first novel.

Itumeleng Qhali is a South African bilingual writer, editor, sustainable development practitioner and social justice activist. She is a 2022 Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity and the founder of Loss-iLahleko which has produced South Africa's first multilingual book series on gender-based violence. Qhali holds a master’s degree in creative writing, obtained with distinction, from Rhodes University and she holds qualifications in public policy, development studies and economics. Her work has appeared in literary magazines and journals including The Red Wheelbarrow, Agbowo Magazine, The Kalahari Review, and The New Contrast Literary Journal. She currently heads up research and development at Qhama Social Housing Institute and the Steve Biko Precinct in the Eastern Cape Province, a living memorial development combining housing, art and heritage preservation. She is the creator of the precincts’ book series titled, My Story-Your Heritage, created to archive the untold stories of the fallen and living freedom fighters from the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Her debut poetry collection, Crying in my mother tongue: Ukulila, is set to be released in 2024 under the APFB Chapbook series. Qhali is a mother of two and currently lives between the Eastern Cape province where she was born and Johannesburg.

Ivana Akotowaa Ofori is a Ghanaian storyteller. Known also by the alias of "The Spider Kid," she is a weaver of words in many forms, including fiction, non-fiction and spoken-word poetry. An alumna of the Clarion West writing workshop, Akotowaa has been nominated and shortlisted for various awards, including the Miles Morland Writing Fellowship and the Nommo Awards. Her work has appeared in anthologies such as Writivism’s And Morning Will Come (2021), Tor.com’s Africa Risen (2022), and Clinamen Editions’ Daring Shifts (2023). Her work also appears in online magazines such as Jalada Africa and AFREADA. Her debut novella, The Year of Return, will be published in 2024 by Android Press. She lives in Accra, Ghana.

Jacob A. Osae was born in Ghana and attended the University of Ghana where he studied Physics and learned Creative Writing. He is a poet, a screenwriter, and a sci-fi and fantasy writer. He studied with the Writers Project of Ghana Creative Writing Café and some of his published works include; Oaks of Definition (2016), A Walking Rainbow (2019), The Raven (2020), and DNA: Origins (2023). He is also the founder and member of TEAM VOLVOX - a creative writing hub on the University of Ghana Campus.

In 2019, his short sci-fi story titled "Iron Boy" was published in the Larabanga: Short Stories from the Savannah by the Ama Ata Aidoo Center for Creative Writing, of the African University College of Communication (AUCC), Accra. In 2022, his short fantasy story titled “The Kingdom Of Mahara,” was published in the anthology, Voices that Sing Behind the Veil: An Anthology of Short Stories from Africa and the Diaspora, edited by Ivor Agyeman- Duah. He has numerous articles written and published on www.medium.com and www.ghscientific.com a STEM social media platform based in Ghana and the UK.

Jakky Bankong-Obi is a media consultant and poet living and writing in Abuja, Nigeria. Her chapbook What Still Yields was chosen by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani for publication in the New-Generation African Poets box sets, by Akashic Books and APBF (Spring/Summer 2022). Jakky has a BSc. in International Relations and is a Co-Editor at Ice Floe Press. Her work is forthcoming and in London Grip, The Kalahari Review, Reliquiae Journal (Corbel Stone Press), Pipewrench Magazine, Hobart Pulp, Gutter Magazine, The Poetry Review, Pigeonholes and Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poetry etc. Jakky is on twitter as @jakkybeefive.

Nairobi, Kenya-based James Murua is a blogger, journalist, and podcaster who has written for a variety of media outlets in a career spanning print and web. His online space WritingAfrica.com, formerly founded as JamesMurua.com in 2013, focuses on literary news and reviews is the number one blog on African literature in the world today. He was an editor for The Star newspaper in Kenya for five years and a columnist for nine where he was voted “Columnist of the Year” in 2009. He has also been a contributor to Management Magazine (Kenya), The Daily Nation (Kenya), The Nairobian (Kenya), DigifyAfrica.com (South Africa), Johannesburg Review of Books (South Africa), and Africa Independent (South Africa). He has been nominated for “Best Creative Writing Blog” for the 2018 Bloggers Association of Kenya Awards. He was also announced as Best Writer “Theatre, Art and Culture” at Kenya’s Sanaa Theatre Awards and listed as one of the top men in digital in Kenya in 2018. James Murua has conducted workshops on blogging and social media in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi and has been a media consultant for the Goethe Institut, Nairobi.

Jay Kophy is a Ghanaian poet and the author of Maceration (African Poetry Book Fund / Akashic Books, 2023) and Walking on Water (Library of Africa and the African Diaspora / Light Factory Publications, 2021). His poems have been featured and are forthcoming in literary magazines such as AGNI, Lolwe, FourWay Review, Indianapolis Review, Glass Poetry, Tampered Press, and many others. He is also the first prize recipient of the 2020 Samira Bawumia Literature Prize in poetry and a co-founder and managing editor for the Contemporary Ghanaian Writers Series (CGWS).

Jeff Atuobi is a writer based in Accra, Ghana. They are interested in African artistic and literary productions as sites for revolutionary praxis. An alumnus of the Caine Prize for African Writing Workshop, Goethe-Institut Lagos Art Writing and Criticism Workshop and an Ebedi Fellow, Jeff prioritises collaborative, collective thought. Their work aims to build connections between art practitioners, writers and thinkers on the continent committed to decolonising Africa's cultural output. Their work can be found (or is forthcoming) in Jalada Africa, A Mind to Silence: The Caine Prize Anthology, Art From Africa: Its Place in our Life and Time, Za! Magazine and elsewhere.

Jeffrey Abban is founder & CEO of Modin Comics, a Ghana-UK based graphics agency that uses graphic novels and animation to tell the world a whole newer and truer story about Africa. 'Modin' in the Ga language of Ghana means 'Black Person'. Modin are creators of the upcoming African Defenders comics.

Born in Accra, Ghana, Jesse Sunkwa-Mills is a filmmaker, animator, creative director and entrepreneur with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design from the University of Education, Winneba. Jesse’s passion for animation, comics, games and design led him to found Mills Media in 2016, a full-service creative firm that offers services such as animation, illustration, graphic design, web and game development.

Jesse is so passionate about the Ghanaian and African culture and is therefore on a mission to use animation, comics and games to project the African culture, while providing creative digital solutions to individuals, corporate institutions and empowering young creatives. In 2019 Jesse and his company produced and launched the Asantewaa comic book which depicts the life of Asantewaa in a beautiful graphic representation, an Asantewaa game, two other mobile games based on the Ghanaian culture and several kids’ books subsequently.

Under the Mills Media umbrella, Jesse has produced and directed several creative productions for individuals and top institutions both locally and internationally, including but not limited to, the recent release of the most talked about 3D animated film about the legendary Nana Yaa Asantewaa, which features Ghana’s award-winning actress Nana Ama Mcbrown in December 2022, which was a big cinema hit, selling over five cinema halls on the day of the premiere, the first of its kind for a local production premiere and also getting a lot of international attention.

The movie was recently selected for the Annecy Film Festival for 2023 in France which happens to be the biggest animation film festival in the world. It also recently won the award for the best animation at the just-ended Accra Indie Film Festival and also won best animation at the African Indigenous Language Film Festival recently held in Nigeria. The movie also has other reputable international festival nominations and several international screening requests at festivals.

Kataru Yahya is a Ghanaian writer, poet and medical sonographer. Her poetry has been published in Ta Adesa and Writer’s Space Africa-Ghana. Outside of writing, Kataru loves to read or rewatch her favourite shows. Home Is a Silhouette is her debut novel. You can find her on social media using @kforkataru.

Born on 8 March 1982 in Vinnytsia, Kateryna is a Ukrainian poetess, translator, author of poetry collections and prose works. The works of Kateryna Kalytko has been printed in periodicals, including journals: "World-View", "Ukrainian Problems", "Moloda Ukraina", "Courier of Kryvbas", "Radar"; anthologies and almanacs: "Pryvitannia Zhyttia", "Hranoslov", "Beginnings. Anthology of Young Poetry" (1998), "Molode Vyno" (2000), "Collection" (2001), "Ukrainian Poetry of the XX century" (2001), "Polyphony. Poetry of Podillia of the XX century" (2002), "Best Poems about Love. Man’s Copy" (2007), "Two Tons" (2007), "Black and Red: A hundred Ukrainian poetesses of the XX century" (2011), "The Pulp: Anthology of Ukrainian Gustatory Poetry" and others.

Kinna Likimani is a Director of Special Programs and M&E at Odekro, a Parliamentary monitoring organization that works to promote transparency, effective representation and accountability of Ghana’s Parliament. She is also a board member of Mbaasem Foundation. Mbaasem supports the development and sustainability of Ghanaian and African women writers and their creative output.

Kinna is a feminist and is a member of the Women’s Manifesto Coalition. She is a literary and literacy activist. Her literary blog Kinna Reads, is one of the go-to locations online for dialogue on African literature. In 2012, she began an online based literacy challenge - the Africa Reading Challenge - which encourages participants to read, discover and discuss African literature for one year. In 2018, she founded and launched Nsona Books which publishes fiction by emerging and established writers in Ghana.

In election years, Kinna leads Ghana Decides – A BloggingGhana Elections Project, which aims to encourage informed youth participation in the Ghana’s elections. Prior to her move back home, Kinna worked at the Department of Medical Informatics at Columbia University for 10 years, where she worked on technology transfer of research from higher education to the private sector.

She and her brood of boys live in Lashibi.

Kobby Ben Ben was born and bred in Ghana. No One Dies Yet is his first novel.

Kobina Ankomah-Graham is a Ghanaian lecturer, writer and DJ who is passionately curious about African arts, counterculture and digital media.

Kofi Akpabli is an academic, journalist and travel writer whose repertoire oozes creativity and inspiration. His scholarly interests include researching and communicating key values of African art and culture. Whether he is covering a 9/11 memorial on Ground Zero in New York or discovering traditional taboos in Ghana’s Upper West Region, human interest is ever his soft spot.

Kofi teaches African Studies as well as courses in Communication Studies at Central University. As a Communication Specialist He has executed script projects for Fidelity Bank, University of Ghana, Vodafone Ghana, National Lotteries Authority and DANIDA.

Kofi’s latest work ‘Young Africans Supporting European Leagues – the Case of Soccer Fans from Accra, Ghana’ has just been published in Critical African Studies Journal. His fictional piece has also been featured in the Obsidian 2019 African Art and Literature Edition published by Illinois State University.

His research interests are Narratology, Media Studies, Inter-Cultural Communication and Destination Marketing. Kofi is a two-time CNN African Journalist Award winner and a Ghana Journalist Association Laureate. In 2021 he was voted Travel Writer of the Year by the Ghana Tourism Authority. He writes a weekly column ‘Going Places’, in The Mirror which focuses on cultural and tourism issues. He is a founding member of Ghana Cultural Forum and has participated in Xplore Frankfurt Rheinemann; Tallberg Forum , Sweden; World Travel Market, UK; KOFTA, South Korea; Berlin Art Festival; and the Dusseldorf Art Preview, Germany.

Kofi has authored eight books, contributed three chapters to three other books and published journal articles. Kofi Akpabli has served as a Distinguished Member on the Millennium Excellence Awards. He is a founding member of the Ghana Culture Forum. His activism include assisting to mentor teenagers in writing at Albert & Comfort Ocran’s Springboard Programme.

Kofi lives in a village outside Accra with his wife and children.

Bi-Lingual Poet, literary scholar, educator, cultural activist Kofi Anyidoho is Professor of Literature and Director, CODESRIA African Humanities Institute Programme, University of Ghana. He was the first occupant of the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies; Ag. Director, School of Performing Arts; Head, English Department. Well-known for his unique style of performance-poetry and audio-visual recordings of his poetry in English and Ewe. Has lectured and performed his poetry globally; published several books of poetry, journal articles, book chapters and edited major books on African literature and the humanities.

He was President of the US-based African Literature Association (ALA). Winner of several awards, including the 2015 Millennium Excellence Award (Literature Prize); Le grand Prix de poesie en langue nationale [Ewe], by RICEP Lome, Togo 2012; Distinguished Membership Award for outstanding service to the African Literature Association and for Contributions to Scholarship and Teaching of African Lit (2008); Golden Key of Smederevo Award (Republic of Serbia’s Highest Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry 2022); Fonlon-Nichols Prize of the African Literature Association for Excellence in Poetry (2023).

Notable works of poetry include Elegy for the Revolution (1978); A Harvest of Our Dreams (1984/1985); AncestralLogic and CaribbeanBlues (1992), PraiseSong for The Land (2002); The Place We Call Home (2011). The last three collections come with audio recordings. Two other collections with Audio recordings – GhanaNya and Agbnoxevi – present Anyidoho’s poetry written in Ewe. GhanaNya features Anyidoho as poet and singer with his mother Abla Adidi Anyidoho, a singer-poet in the Anlo-Ewe oral tradition. Anyidoho has also written two plays for children: Akpokplo [in Ewe and English] and The Phone Call (2018). Video recordings of his poetry include He Spoke Truth Quietly; PraiseSong for TheLand, and Through the Stampede into SoulTime, Twin Brother, (English-Serbian bi-lingual selected poems, 2022), Africa, the Sad Tropical Continent-Selected Poems in Korean Translations by Lee Seok Ho, Seoul, 2012; Some of his poems have also been translated into Bengali, Chinese, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.

Kofi holds a PhD in Comparative Literature (Univ of Texas-Austin, 1983); an Honorary Doctorate (University of Glasgow 2022); an Honorary DLitt, (University of Ghana (2023), He is a Fellow and past Vice President (Arts), Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Corresponding Fellow, Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Kofi Dzogbewu is a Ghanaian storyteller. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology and English from the University of Ghana, where he read Creative Writing. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Central University in Ghana. He works with words in many forms including non-fiction, fiction, playwriting, and poetry. He is an alumnus of the Mo Issa Writing Workshops. His works have been featured in the Kalahari Review and other online literary journals. He is the author of the novel, Adze. When he is not writing, he spends most of his time performing, reading, or watching movies. He is a producer and director at Dzomoko Productions – a film and theatre organization. His writings explore African culture, ambition, Afro-futurism, and modernity.

Kwabena Okyere is a graduate of the University of Education, Winneba theatre Arts Department who majored in Acting. He is currently with the National Drama Company at the National Theatre of Ghana as an actor and continues on an artistic and creative journey to greater heights.

Kwaku-Sakyi-Addo is a communications consultant, telecoms policy advocate and journalist based in Accra, Ghana. He was a full-time broadcaster and journalist for 26 years, winning many awards, including Journalist of the Year on two occasions. He was a freelance correspondent for Reuters from 1998 to 2007 and the BBC World Service from 1993-2007, making him a household name among radio listeners in Africa. He received the Order of the Volta, one of Ghana’s highest decorations, from the government of Ghana in 2007.

He was executive producer and host of Kwaku One-on-One, a face-to-face personality interview programme, which ran between 1998 and 2010 on both private and state television. He also hosted Front Page, a weekly current affairs programme on Joy FM for 16 years. Kwaku has conducted interviews with various world leaders including the last three UN Secretary-Generals.

Kwaku made a foray into the telecom industry in 2011 as Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, and resigned in early April 2017 to accept an appointment as Chairman of the National Communications Authority (NCA), the telecom industry regulator. Kwaku is a Chevening Scholar, a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Global Leadership Network, and a Director of the Africa Leadership Initiative West Africa.

Kwaku loves the arts. He believes the world should be run by writers.

Kwame Brenya is a Ghanaian multi-disciplinary artist, whose practices are strongly influenced by AKƆM; Akan philosophy. Kwame Brenya has four (4) studio albums that inculcate Spoken word, Highlife, Hip-life and Palm Wine Music.

His recent album BRƐNYA NE BARIMA was presented to Agya Koo Nimo, the palm wine music connoisseur after its release and the Legend expressed impression. Kwame's works are contemporary birthed from the desire to sustain the oral traditions and history of his community where he uses the Akan language in the fields of music, spoken word, video performance, teaching, translation and voice-over.His poem was selected as the best spoken word in the 2023 Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora, Accra (LOATAD) Adinkra poetry prize. In 2022, Kwame Brenya was invited by African University College of Communication, Accra to speak about his philosophy, art and lifestyle.

Brenya was a speaker at the third Pan African Museum Heritage conference (2023) where he presented a paper on the importance of African languages titled EDIN, KASA, NIMDEƐ NE NYANSA: ETYMOLOGY AND MEMORY IN SOCIAL CONNECTION.Kwame Brenya’s collaborative song was selected by GEDP/EU for the 2020/2021 campaign against child abuse which made him and his partner Kpodo, official ambassadors for the campaign against Child Abuse. Kwame has poems published in AKE Review 2020, Ghana Association of Writers, Legon 2019. He has been published in many Ghanaian newspapers including Business and Financial times (16 December, 2022), and the Ghanaian Chronicle (2017).

Kwatemaa Tweneboah is the joint pen name of Abena Kwatemaa Karikari and Nana Adwoa Tweneboah Amponsah-Mensah, two friends and sister-writers who love reading and writing romance.

Abena is a Medical Anthropologist with a specialisation in reproductive health. She loves reading novels especially romance which feature black women experiencing amazing happily-ever afters. She is an advocate for diverse representation in books particularly for better representation of black people on the continent and in the African diaspora. She promotes diverse reading through book reviews on her bookstagram and booktok @bookwormingh and YouTube – Bookworm In Gh.

Nana Adwoa is a Lawyer and entrepreneur with a particular interest in Tech Law. She is the co-founder of Zuputo, a legal tech platform and also co-founder of the Poka app, a women’s reproductive health and wellness App which seeks to provide African women with improved access to knowledge and resources of their reproductive health. She loves reading romances filled with lots of angst and well-earned happily-ever-after. She shares book reviews on her Instagram @ahope.lessromantic.

Abena and Nana Adwoa contributed stories to the Flash Fiction anthology Kenkey for Ewes and Other Very Short Stories published by DAkpabli & Associates in 2018. Together they co-host 2 Hearts in a Pod, a bookish romance podcast available on all podcast platforms. The Kelewele Connection is their debut novel. Their social media is - @kwatemaatweneboah on Instagram and TikTok.

Kwesi Yankah is a humanities scholar of international repute, (former) professor of linguistics, public intellectual, and university administrator. He is a product of Winneba Secondary School, University of Ghana and Indiana University, USA. At Legon, he held several positions including Dean of Students, Head of Linguistics Department, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, and Pro-Vice Chancellor in charge of academic and student affairs.

As an academic, Yankah has several award winning books to his credit, including the Esther Kinsley award by Indiana University for his outstanding doctoral dissertation, the first by an African student. In 1990, he was honored by the Ghana Book Development Council with the Ghana Book award; and in 1996 his formidable book entitled, Okyeame: Speaking for the Chief, also attracted the Gold Book award by the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Yankah has held fellowships and visiting professorships in several universities including, Stanford University, Indiana University, University of Pennsylvania, University of California at Berkeley, University of Michigan, Northwestern, University of Birmingham, etc. From 2009 till 2017 Kwesi Yankah was also Associate Director of the African Humanities Program, established by the American Council of Learned Societies.

In Ghana here, Yankah is known also as a public intellectual, having written regular columns for several newspapers on contemporary national issues since he was only 27. Since 1987, he has won several literary and journalistic awards, including the columnist of the year award 1987 by the Ministry of Information; Valco Literary award, 1990; the WEB Du Bois award for Ghanaian literature by Ghana Association of Writers 1991; and in 1996 honored by Ghana Journalist Association, for significant contribution to Ghanaian journalism. GJA also referred to his remarkable feat as writing the longest running column in the history of Ghanaian journalism.

After retiring from Legon in 2011, Professor Kwesi Yankah in 2012 was appointed President and later Vice Chancellor of Central University until 2017, when he was appointed as Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education during the first term of the Akufo Addo government. Yankah is currently Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Media, Arts and Communication (a merger of GIJ, NAFTI and GIL).

Professor Yankah has been a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1997, and as recently as 2022 last year, was inducted into the prestigious fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of very few Africans thus honored.

Late 2021 Kwesi Yankah launched a 325 page book Beyond the Political Spider: Critical Issues in African Humanities, which is his intellectual biography. This paved the way for his full length autobiography released last month entitled, The Pen at Risk: Spilling my Little Beans. It is his latest book which brings him here today, and from which he is going make his presentation and readings.

Prof Kwesi Yankah is married to Daavi Victoria; they have three adult girls, all products of Wey Gey Hey and University of Ghana. Professor Yankah says his hobby is dancing to brass band music.

Leonard is a highly acclaimed professional with a distinguished career as an award-winning film-maker and public health nutritionist. He is the founder of OBL studios, where he serves as the director, writer, and producer of some of the most memorable films of the past decade, including Gonda Sheje, Biegni, Pieli, and Gangdu. Leonard's passion for filmmaking is evident in his work, where he is constantly exploring new and innovative ways of telling African stories. He is a multi-talented artist, skilled in shooting, directing, editing, and VFX, and is known for his unwavering dedication to perfecting his craft.

Lloyd G. Adu Amoah lectures at the Dept. of Political Science, University of Ghana, Legon and is founding and first director of the Centre for Asian Studies (CAS) at the same university. He was also former acting director of the Centre for European Studies at the University of Ghana. Dr. Amoah taught for close to a decade at Ashesi University. He is a fellow of the African Studies Centre and the International Institute of Asian Studies (where he did his postdoctoral work) both in Leiden, the Netherlands. Dr. Amoah is a member of the Ghana Studies Association, World Economics Association, Association for Heterodox Economics and the African Urban Planning Research Network.

His research focuses on political theory, administrative theory, strategy in government, Africa-Asia relations, technopolitics and ICT policy in developing countries and the political-economy of infrastructure, space, spatiality and architecture in developing polities.

Author of four books (three new ones are under publication), he has published several book chapters, journal articles and reviewed scholarly works for leading publishers and journals. His views have been sought by the BBC World Service (World Today, Newsday, Network Africa, and Mandarin Service), Japan Broadcasting Corp., and other local and international media outlets.

Lordina is a passionate HR Manager, and a versatile entertainer bringing joy through arts and performance. A first class directing major from the department of Theatre Arts University of Education, Winneba, dedicated to fostering a positive workplace culture and creating memorable moments wherever the spotlight shines.

Mamle Kabu, a writer of Ghanaian and German parentage, was born in Ghana, and raised in Ghana and the UK. Her short stories have been published internationally in various anthologies and journals. In 2009, she was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing for her story The End of Skill, on which her as yet unpublished full-length novel is based. She is a graduate of the universities of Cambridge and Lancaster in the UK, and an honorary fellow in writing of the University of Iowa. In 2023 Mamle served as a visiting Mellon fellow in creative writing at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. She is a director of the Writers Project of Ghana (WPG) and co-editor of two WPG anthologies, The Sea has drowned the Fish (2018), and Resilience (2021).

Margaret Chideme is an author and a blogger. She has a blog called Maggie’s Diary where she pours out her thoughts and memories about her life. She is an author of the book called First Thirty which is a collection of a woman's poems about love and lust, pain and abuse, womanhood, divorce, searching and rediscovery. She has worked with different organizations to bring awareness to human rights and the plight of the girl child. The embassy of Palestine awarded her a certificate of achievement for winning the International Solidarity Writing Competition- Zimbabwean Chapter and her poem The Holy Land features in their anthology “A cry for hope and freedom – Solidarity with Palestinian women”. Her poem Silent Cries is also featured in an anthology called Mwala: Poems by Women Human Rights Defenders. She is also the founder of Lifeline Publishing House that is dedicated to helping self publishers in Zimbabwe to create high quality books, market and distribute internationally and to also enrich lives through the power of literature. | SoundCloud : Margaret Chideme-Author | Facebook :Margaret Chideme The Author | Amazon Author Central : Margaret Chideme | Blog: maggiesdiary.com

Mariska Araba Taylor-Darko is a published writer, poet and youth motivator. She has published several books, The Secret to Detoxifying your Life and Love, Rhythms of Poetry in Motion (Vol 1), The Iced Water Seller, an eBook titled A Widow must not Speak, The Deer Hunt, King Goat Aponkye, I love Ghana and The Proud Peacock.

Her poems are featured in anthologies such as According to Sources (ed. Martin Egblewogbe and Mawuli Adjei), Ellas (Tambien) Cuentan (ed. Federico Vivanco), Inspiration African Voices, Door of [No] Return, Our Spirits carry Our Voices, and Sisters Across Oceans and various blogs, including an online poetry site www.oneghanaonevoice.com. Her short story, “The Proud Peacock” was selected among 12 stories out of 80 submitted for an anthology in “Story, Story, Story Come” published in East and West Africa and another short story “Escaped” was featured in the Writers Project anthology Resilience. She has also been published, in Jambo, an East African magazine. Mariska has performed on stage and at Festivals in Ghana and the United Kingdom. She is a long time collaborator with The Women Poets International Movement (Mujeres Poetas Internacional, MPI Inc.) in partnership with the Grito de Mujer®. She is also a member of the Ghana Association of Writers.

Mariska also has two blogs, www.africanwomanspoetry.blogspot.com and www.fantimaame.wordpress.com .

Martin Egblewogbe is a senior lecturer in Physics at the Department of Physics, University of Ghana. He is the author of the collection of short stories, The Waiting (lubin & kleyner, 2020) and Mr Happy and The Hammer of God and other Stories (Ayebia, 2012). His writing has appeared in a number of collections, such as The Gonjon Pin (2014 Caine Prize anthology), PEN America’s Passages Africa (2015), All The Good Things Around Us (Ayebia, 2016), Litro #162: Literary Highlife (2017), Between The Generations (2020), and Shimmering At Sunset (2021). Martin was the commissioning editor for the anthology Resilience: A Collection (2021), and also co-edited the anthology of short stories, The Sea Has Drowned the Fish (2018) as well as the anthologies of poetry Look where you have gone to sit (Woeli, 2010) and According to Sources (Woeli, 2015). He is a co-founder and a director of the Writers Project of Ghana, and director of Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra in the 2017 - 2023 editions. He also hosts the radio show, Writers Project on Citi FM. Photo credit is due Jane Akomea-Agyin.

Ghana-based Mohammed (Mo) Issa is an innovator in the world of business. His current focus is sharing that savvy with other entrepreneurs, as a Certified Business Coach. In the role, his mission is to combine business savvy and coaching techniques to help other business leaders realize their greatest potential. Mo is also a Certified Life Success Facilitator and certified as an NLP practitioner providing seminars With nearly three decades of successful career experience as an entrepreneur, Accraand empowering individuals to change their lives and ultimately reach their “higher selves.” He infuses those techniques and strategies throughout his coaching and public speaking gigs.

Mo loves to write (usually when the clock hits 6 in the morning), and visualizes himself as an author one day soon. As a first step, his posts have been published in websites such as: “Rebelle Society” and “Elephant Journal”. He blogs and writes poetry at mo-issa.com. He earned a Master’s of Law degree from the London School of Economics.

MoAfrika wa Mokgathi is a poet, singer, curator, teaching artist and a serial civic leader. She is co-founder of Hear My Voice NPO based in South Africa, the author of My Tongue is a Rainbow (2019) and co-curated the Nobel Peace Prize Week (Stockholm 2022). wa Mokgathi has co-curated multiple HMV partner programmes including the EUNIC spaces of culture: Right to speak project lead by Goethe Institute (JHB 2022); and is co-founder and co-curator of the South African Saxophone Symposium (2020). She was named one of the Mail & Guardian's 2020 Top Young 200 South Africans, completed an Honours Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Writing from Wits University (2019); and is an alumni of YALI RLC (2017) and the VANSA Cultural Leadership Programme (2021/2022).

wa Mokgathi has shared her poetry physically and online in China, Sweden, Nigeria, Mozambique and the USA – where she launched her collection, My Tongue is a Rainbow , in Washington DC during the 2019 Azania to DC Tour. Music collaborators include Nduduzo Makhathini and Gabi Motuba. She is currently working on a music and poetry album.

Image Credit: Michael Blacks

Moshood is a writer who photographs. His work has been published in a number of publications, both online and in print. He lives in Tutu-Akuapem, in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

My name is Nana Adwoa Tweneboah Amponsah-Mensah. I am a writer at heart. I consider writing to be my first love and I hope to write someone’s favourite story soon. I love to create worlds of fiction while reading voraciously between bites of chocolate and mugs of tea. In between reading, writing, and co-hosting 2 Hearts in a Pod, a romance fiction podcast, I am also a corporate lawyer and an entrepreneur working in tech. I live in Accra with a lovely man and 2 little girls.

Nana Akosua Hanson An artistic activist, Akosua Hanson is the creator of the graphic novel series, Moongirls, an exciting graphic novel series following the adventures of four women superheroes. She is also a radio host on the Y Lounge on weekdays at Y 107.9 FM.

Nana Asaase is a Ghanaian Poet, Writer, Literary Coach, Cultural Practitioner, multi artist and Storyteller. His works are mostly rendered in a blend of English and Twi (one of the dominant Ghanaian languages).

He has served audiences from all walks of life, including all Presidents of Ghana’s fourth republic, the current King of England, to corporate giants, academics and art lovers in general, within and beyond the borders of Ghana, having practised his art for 23 years. He is a former student of the University of Ghana, and was under the tutelage of Prof Kofi Anyidoho, a giant in Ghanaian and African literature, and many more Ghanaian literary greats afterwards.

He has been interviewed on both local and international media, including the BBC and CNN’s “African Voices” program. He is currently serving his second term as the Secretary of the governing board of Ghana’s National Folklore Board. Nana Asaase is the CEO of Asaase Inscriptions, Ghana’s first Literary Coaching Agency and Cultural Consultancy.

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond is the author of the children’s picture book BLUE: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sea and as Wide as the Sky , illustrated by Caldecott Honor Artist Daniel Minter. Named among the best books of 2022 by NPR, New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, Kirkus Reviews, The Center for the Study of Multicultural Literature, and Bank Street College of Education, BLUE was honoured with the 2023 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award® recognizing excellence in the writing of non-fiction for children, included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List, and nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Brew-Hammond also wrote the young adult novel Powder Necklace, which Publishers Weekly called "a winning debut", and she edited RELATIONS: An Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices, of which Kirkus Reviews said in a STARRED review: "This smart, generous collection is a true gift." Every month, Brew-Hammond co-leads a writing fellowship whose mission is to write light into darkness.

Nana Yaw Sarpong is an artist, writer, radio producer and Ghanaian diplomat. He is also a Director of the Writers Project of Ghana. He is a promoter, activist and organiser of literary activities in Ghana and has been involved in building the literary scene in Ghana since 2006. His poetry has been widely published in anthologies and literary platforms, including One Ghana One Voice, pan-African platform Badilisha Poetry and Prairie Schooner.

He holds a postgraduate degree in International Affairs from the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD).

Nancy Henaku is Chair of the editorial board for the Journal of the Writers Project of Ghana (JWPG). She is currently a lecturer at the Department of English, University of Ghana, Legon.

Dr. Nikitta Dede Adjirakor is a Ghanaian scholar and creative writer. She is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Ghana examining digital African language literature and popular culture. Her creative works explore the intersections between women’s health, trauma, language, and belonging. She is the producer of the award-winning film A Thousand Needles which documents African women’s sexual and reproductive health stigmas. Her recent works include the poetry chapbook Learning to Say My Name (2023) and the children’s book Black and Bold Queens: Women in Ghana’s History (2023). She is the co-editor of the poetry anthology Hɔmɔwɔ: Ga Lalawiemɔi (2022). Her work can be seen on her website: nikittadede.com.

Nolwazi Nene is a South African literary editor, curator, and content creator. She is driven by a deep interest in international Black literature, sound, and exploring freedom through creative expression and imagination. Nolwazi holds a Bachelor of Social Science in Spanish and Politics from the University of Cape Town and has been freelancing as a copywriter and editor since 2018.

She was the co-curator of the 2023 Time of the Writer Festival in Durban, South Africa.

You can find her on Instagram (@radicalwhispers) and YouTube (@radicalwhispersASMR), where she amplifies the work of Black feminist writers from the African continent and diaspora. She is currently based in Cape Town.

Obii Ifejika’s storytelling exists in poetry, performance, design, photography and film. She has been awarded a Canne Young Lion Award for her work in Design, won the first National Poetry Slam and has performed widely across Nigeria as well as Germany. Her poems have been featured in campaigns and projects for United Nations, Heritage Bank, The McArthur Foundation and Creative Africa, respectively. She is a part of the poetry theatre production, Finding Home. Swallow, her one-woman show where she played 8 characters, was commissioned by British Council and performed at the Lagos Theatre Festival. Her photography has been published in News Deeply and Welt-Sichten Magazin. Her poetry films integrate her aesthetic of naturalism and minimalism.

Obii is also a marketing professional who continues to create dynamic content for brands as a content designer.

Born on 9th December 1975 in Oster of the Chernihiv region of Ukraine, Oksana Kutsenko (Rozumna) grew up and studied (at school and university) in Chernihiv. She made her poetry debut with the book of poems "In the Winters of Desires" in 1996 as a laureate of "Smoloskyp" literary award. In 2004 she obtained a PhD in Religious Studies from the National Academy of Science. She has worked at the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and the National Institute for Strategic Studies. She is a Ukrainian diplomat to South Africa since 2018 and a researcher on cultural diplomacy as well as the development of cultural diplomacy institutions.

Oksana Kutsenko launched and curated the project "I’ll be Waiting for You under the Kaїce-drat" to translate African contemporary poetry into Ukrainian. In collaboration with folk theatre "Dyvyna" (Donetsk) and contemporary dance theatre "Black Orange Dance Production" she developed the narrative on internal refugees and global migration within the projects "The Sand" and "The Sand. Coming home".

As a poet-performer, Oksana Kutsenko highlights the ideas of ecofeminism, the movement widespread in African countries ("In Memoriam of a River", 2018-2019). Oksana Kutsenko has been published in anthologies and literature reviews of Ukraine and South Africa, performs at the festival and poetry stages of both countries.

Olusayo Ajetunmobi aka Ajet is a Nigerian artist and illustrator who started practising art in 2013. Their practice began as an exploration of self, however Ajet is now exploring memory, gender, family and cultural continuity through art. Since 2015 she has exhibited her mixed-media art at galleries in Nigeria and Canada. Ajet began working as an illustrator in 2017 and has since illustrated seven published picture books, and over a dozen children’s stories.

Ajet's work is characterised by bold colours, intricate details, and a distinct sense of whimsy. They draw on rich Nigerian traditions while incorporating elements of the contemporary. In addition to their visual art, Ajet crafts new folktales, to make up for ancient oral African folktales that are lost and forgotten, and continue the culture of storytelling. They have published two original folktales, including Just One Bite which was published as a part of the Okada Books Write the Future literacy initiative. They have also published educator resources that explore the socio-political nuances in their folktales, on their website artofajet.com.

Today, Ajet is widely regarded as one of Nigeria's most exciting young artists. She continues to create beautiful, thought-provoking art that inspires conversation, and delights audiences of all ages. With each new work, Ajet invites viewers to engage with the complexities of the human experience and to consider the ways in which art can serve as a powerful tool for cultural transformation.

Onyinye Iwu is an award winning children’s book illustrator and author based in London. She was born in Italy to Nigerian parents and moved to the UK as a teenager. She has practised as a freelance illustrator and designer since 2013 as well as teaching Design and Art for nine years in London. As an Illustrator Onyinye has worked with a range of published and self-published authors to bring their characters and stories to life, these include the notable names of Benjamin Zephaniah, Nnedi Okorafor, Laura Henry-Allain MBE, Dapo adeola.

She has collaborated with a number of publishers such as Walker Books, Candlewick Press, Penguin Random House (Ladybird Books, Puffin Books), Scholastic UK, Otter-Barry Books, CLPE, Booktrust, Open University, Knights of, Cassava Republic, Rebel Girls. Onyinye has also created illustrated educational resources for companies and organisations such as the UK Parliament, Amazon and Alexa UK.

In 2021 Onyinye, along with other illustrators won the UK National Book Award in the category of Children’s book for Hey You! And since publication the early reader series Too Small Tola has been selected, commended and won several awards both in the UK and in the USA. Onyinye loves reading African literature, researching African history, writing and illustrating children’s books and graphic novels. Onyinye is based in London, UK.

Pamela Nichols is an Associate Professor and head of the Wits Writing Programme. Her PhD in Comparative Literature (New York University) was guided by the work of Edward Said. Said’s understanding of the institutionalization of knowledge as well as her experiences of working with major writing teachers in the US, influenced her establishment of the Wits Writing Centre (WWC) in 1998. Nichols also spear-headed Writing Intensive courses at Wits, through the Wits Writing Programme (WWP), formalised in 2018. Her recent publications have focussed on listening, the development of the citizen scholar, and the deepening of critical thinking within WI courses.

Pamilerin Jacob is a Nigerian poet and editor whose poems have appeared in Barren Magazine, Agbowó, Poetry Potion, Ghost City Press, Feed Lit Mag, Neologism, IceFloe Press and elsewhere. He was the second runner-up for the Sevhage Poetry Prize 2019, and co-winner PIN Food Poetry Contest 2018. A Best of the Net nominee, his poems also appear in Memento: An Anthology of Contemporary Nigerian Poets, 2020. He was a mentor in the SprinNG Fellowship 2018, 2019, and 2020. Author of the chapbook, Gospels of Depression, and Curator of PoetryColumn-NND, a poetry column in Nigerian NewsDirect, a national newspaper; reach him on Twitter @pamilerinjacob.

Patron Henekou is a poet and cofounder of Festival International des Lettres et des Arts (www.nimblefeathers.com) at Université de Lomé, Togo. He writes in French and English as well, and translates. His poems have appeared in anthologies such as Palmes pour le Togo, Arbolarium, Antologia Poetica de Los Cinco Continentes, and The Best New African Poets Anthology 2017, and in poetry journals such as AFROpoésie, Revue des Citoyens des Lettres, Aquifer: The Florida Review Online, Asymptote, Better than Starbucks, Zócalo, etc. His published books include Dovlo (2015), Souffles d’outre-cœur (2017), Souffles & Faces (2018), Des cheveux et des ongles (2021) and Vendredi soir sur la 13 (2021). Patron obtained the second prize in the Prix International de Poésie « Sur les traces de Léopold Sédar Senghor 2020 » in Milan, Italy. He is a 2018 African American Fellow at the Palm Beach Poetry Festival in Delray, Florida.

If there is one artist in recent times who embodies artistry with true Ghanaian originality, that is Pure Akan and he is doing this while blending music and culture perfectly.

He has sold out the Alliance Francaise in Accra twice, performed at the Brecht Festival in Germany, won The British Council Creative Enterprise award, performed at the Youth Konnect Africa Summit Accra and various venues across his home country. His collaborator collection, pans across big Ghanaian shots like Sarkodie, Efya, King Ayisoba, FOKN BOIZ and UK based Dj Juls.

Often caught dipping into prodigious fusions of highlife, hiplife and melodious raps to deliver a refreshing sound that is unique to his Ghanaian roots, his sound is contemporary and infectious, picture a mixture of Isaac Hayes and Outkast with a touch of Chance the rapper. The likes of Osibisa, Bob Marley, Obrafour, Okomfour Kwaadee and J.A Adofo are some of the names he mention as musical influence among the wide range of other Ghanaian music that played at home when he was a young boy. He is born Kwabena Appiah and hails from Obo-Kwahu in the eastern part of Ghana.

In 2017, Akan released his debut album Onipa Akoma to swift and awe-inspiring praises, his ability to weave storytelling, poetry, folklore and indigenous Ghanaian rhythms into a culturally significant body of work that resonated with the young and old, secured him a spot in the minds of music lovers and instantly termed the album a classic. His follow up, Nyame Mma, a 16 track thematic masterpiece that is reminiscent of a storytelling by the fireside where African stories were told was released in October 2021 garnering over a million streams since its release.

Akan performs mostly in Twi (a widely spoken Ghanaian language) with unique energy draped in tones and aesthetics of African cultural representation which makes him a sensation to see live.

Racheal Kizza is the cultural coordinator at Goethe-Zentrum Kampala/Ugandan German Cultural Society (UGCS). Racheal is a recipient of the bespoke 2022 Momentum Delegate Programme, which hosts international delegations of producers, cultural leaders, entrepreneurs, government representatives, festival programmers and cultural/funding agencies, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Racheal is the 2022 winner of the Goethe Zentrum Kampala (Uganda German Cultural Society) Small Grant Project for her project, Meet Your Author Series, a podcast spotlighting and celebrating African authors on the continent through collaborative discussions and author interviews.A holder of a BA degree in Humanities and Social Sciences from Makerere University, Uganda, Racheal is an avid reader and blogger, and has for the past five years maintained an active, passion and lifestyle blog, where she regularly shares her insights on books that have inspired her, with more than 50 readers from diverse backgrounds and locations who follow the blog.

Ray NDEBI is a Cameroonian writer, literary analyst, translator and book promoter based in Yaounde. He leads a large number of online and in-person creativity workshops.

His workshops include Literary translation, Creative Writing, Reading and Analysis and aim at helping African literature produce more books that can facilitate quality education; he works with associations, universities and school, hence his continuous research towards the new means of writing, reading and translating. His concept is Natural Writing; with the need to improve authors’ authenticity while preparing their books.

As a literary agent, he works with authors from the first line of their inspiration to the promotion of their literature.

He is also an editor, script proofreader, translation proofreader and guides publishing’s staff towards better ways to receive and treat authors’ pieces.

Ray NDEBI hosts several programs where literary actors and promoters appear to discuss the challenges of the new practices related to writing, reading, publishing and translation. He is co-founder of Ônoan Literature, and a member of Acolitt and Ghosts Universe, three groups that promote Books and Creativity across Cameroon and Africa.

Richeline Christine Joe, born and raised in Curaçao, has lived in the Netherlands for over 15 years where she completed her Masters study in Psychology and PhD in Social Sciences. She currently lives in Curaçao and is amongst others a writer of short stories and poems. She is one of the two winners of the 2023 writers contest of the Transatlantic Relatives digital platform, aimed at connecting Ghana and Curaçao through their common history. She gets her main inspiration for writing during nature walks, hikes, reading and just by observing and listening to people. In 2022 she was awarded a royal decoration as Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau.

Rita Richardson is a Theatre practitioner (Griot/Actor/Filmmaker/Producer/Choreographer/Acting Coach) with an entrepreneurial mindset holding a bachelor’s degree in Theatre arts from the University of Education in Ghana. Her art journey began somewhere in the year 2008 as an aspiring songwriter and singer and found herself quitting - having barely started upon being introduced to poetry and storytelling by an artist manager. By the manager’s suggestion, she went into a two-year artistic apprenticeship program hosted by The Writers Project of Ghana (WPG) to develop her skills in Writing and performance poetry before going to the university to read theatre. It was at the University that she got an experience in radio production leading to her hosting a radio show dubbed “Theatre on Air” which targeted poets and aspiring music artiste on Radio Windy Bay. She did serve voluntarily at the National Theatre of Ghana, with the National Drama company (Abibigroma) as an assistant Director, Actor, and content creator to build her capacity.

She continued with the performance arts and theatre after the voluntary service as a freelance artiste and then registered the theatre group she founded while in school, which was first named “ARTS PRINT Edu-Tainment,” now ZAAFI BLACK ARTS and HOME (ZAAFIARTS) in the year 2015. Under Zaafiarts, she organized and produced several projects with the mission to provide job opportunities while addressing social issues with solutions through staging of theatrical performances, drama, educational film/Animation projects, and creative arts workshops (in Schools, Rural communities, Suburbs and Towns). This was seen as a corporate social responsibility as she always gives back to the community with little or no funding. As an Artistic director and producer, she has staged and directed a number of plays like “THROUGH A FILM DARKLY'' by JC DE Graft, “ANANSE IN THE LAND OF IDIOTS” by Yaw A. Asare, “THE BOOR” by Anton Chekov among others. She has also organized theatrical events including arts workshops in schools as well as Theatre for development projects (TFD).

Under the auspices of ZAAFIARTS, she had the chance to collaborate with Jibril Mailafia of Nigeria on a couple of short films, one of which is titled “Grouf Poto” (an experimental film addressing Corruption) which won the 2016 African Movies Academy Awards, besides getting nominated in several film festivals.

Sabata-mpho Mokae is a South African novelist and translator. He writes in Setswana and English. His works include novels Ga ke Modisa and Moletlo wa Manong as well as Sol T. Plaatje: A Life in Letters, which he co-edited with Brian Willan. Mokae teaches Creative Writing at the Sol Plaatje University in Kimberley, South Africa.

Sabukie Osabutey is a Ghanaian writer and performance poet whose love for performance poetry has earned her literary recognition in Ghana and beyond. In 2019, she was honoured by the Russian Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow, Russia for her contributions to African literature. Her first poetry collection A Longed Desire became a headliner to her poetry career in 2018. Her latest collection of poetry, Healess Wound is her second poetry collection in which she deals with the themes of self-love, pain, healing and gratitude.

Samantha Boateng Habadah is a writer, educator, creative and nonprofit leader. she is the Co-Founder of Read 2 Lead, a literacy-focused nonprofit organization that has 3 libraries in Ghana. She is the author of the children’s book If You Give a Girl a Book. She attended the College of William & Mary and is now completing her MFA in Poetry at Emerson College. She works at Amazon as a Social Media Community Manager. In her free time, she teaches writing, offers college and career counselling, and creates content for brands.

Dr Sarah Dorgbadzi is a storyteller, cantor, director, and an actor. She is the former Head of Department of Theatre Arts at the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana, Legon. About fifteen years ago, the events of life awakened her to the reality that the Ghanaian communal storytelling was gradually becoming an endangered art form. She then started a movement to revive and document Ghanaian community Storytelling for posterity. Out of this movement, she established the Lododo Art Foundation which embraces Storytelling, Experimental theatre, Advocacy, Ghanaian Language Proficiency, Cultural Activism and on a whole, as a mentoring organization to help young artists find their voices. She is currently the Artistic Director of the foundation. Dr Dorgbadzi has worked in various communities in Ghana to get the people to revive their storytelling culture. She has documented over one thousand stories in audio-visual format. Her data has supported two PhD research and several MA, MPhil, MFA, and other academic research. Her research area is Folk Aesthetics, and Performance and spirituality. Based on her activities, Dr Dorgbadzi has also given numerous presentations at both national and international conferences, and she has a number of publications to her credit.

Sarpong Osei Asamoah is the author of the forthcoming "YAANOM" a chapbook selected by Chris Abani and Kwame Dawes for the Africa Poetry Book Fund. He was a finalist for the debut Bernardine Evaristo Prize for African Poetry, 2023, and is an alumni of the Obsidian Foundation Poets. His work has featured in SAND Journal, Poetry Ireland, Protean Magazine, Bacopa Literary Review, Tampered Press Magazine, Agbowo Magazine, Lolwe, Olongo Africa Magazine, and elsewhere. He has worked at the L.O.A.T.A.D, Tampered Press, and is the founder, creative director and host of CanonPodcast, a poetry podcast that speculates on Ghanaian poetics and poetry canon.

Selwyn R. Cudjoe is a professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts. In 2019 he won the Anna and Samuel Pinanski Teaching Prize for demonstrated excellence as a teacher. He has taught at Harvard, Cornell, Ohio, and Fordham universities. He is the author of several books, the most recent of which is The Slave Master of Trinidad: William Hardin Burnley and the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World, that was long listed on the 2019 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. He has written for several publications including the New York Times, the New Left Review, and the Harvard Educational Review. Presently, he writes a weekly column for the Trinidad Express.

Simon Sebag Montefiore is an internationally bestselling author whose prize-winning books have been published in 48 languages. Prizes include the British Book Awards’ History Book of the Year for Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, the Lupicaia del Terriccio Prize for The Romanovs, the LA Times Book Prize for Young Stalin and the National Library of China’s Wen Jin Prize for Jerusalem. He is also the author of the acclaimed Moscow Trilogy of novels.

Dr. Stephen Dziedzorm Dadugblor is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. He earned a PhD in English (concentration in Rhetoric) from The University of Texas at Austin. His research and teaching specialties are in cultural rhetorics and public deliberations about democracy. An avid reader of Ewe stories, Stephen is committed to the belief that there is immense value in using African languages to promote African epistemologies.

Tawiah Mensah is a content strategist and creative writer. She is the author of the poetry chapbook Litany on Loss (2023) published by the African Poetry Book Fund. Her works have also been featured in prestigious publications, including Tampered Press, WildPine, CanonPodcast, CGWS and others. Her writing centres on the complex relationship between family, friends, and the myriad challenges that women face in contemporary society. Through her poetry, she explores the intricacies of being a young African woman, grappling with acceptance and the journey of self-discovery. Empowered by her own journey, Tawiah Mensah stands as a compelling voice, uplifting women, advocating for their growth, self-acceptance, and self-love. Hailing from Ekumfi Narkwa in Ghana's Central Region, is a graduate of the University of Ghana, where she studied French and Political Science.

Tolu Agbelusi is a Nigerian British poet, playwright, artist and lawyer. Author of Locating Strongwoman (2020), Agbelusi’s play, Ilé La Wà, opened to a sold-out audience in 2016 and toured the UK between 2018 – 2019. She has performed internationally, including at Cheltenham Lit Festival, Stanza International Poetry Festival, Lagos International Poetry Festival, Poetry Africa & Manchester Literature Festival. Her work has been published widely including in Aké Review, White Review, Pittsburgh Poetry Review, Brittle Paper and Wildness Journal. A lecturer in Writing & Dramaturgy at London Southbank University, she teaches workshops and guest lectures regularly and has collaborated with academics at King’s College University London & Birkbeck University on artistic approaches to understanding academia. Films produced/directed by Agbelusi screened at Toronto Food Film Festival (2022), New York Museum of Food and Drink and Forecast International Festival (2021), and the Zebra Poetry Film Festival (2016). Visit www.ToluAgbelusi.com.

Tristan Hughes was born in Atikokan, a small town in northern Ontario, Canada, where he lived for four years before moving to Anglesey (or Ynys Mon in Welsh), an island off the coast of north Wales. He was educated at Ysgol David Hughes, and went on to study literature at the universities of York and Edinburgh, and King's College, Cambridge, where he completed a PhD on Herman Melville’s South Sea writings. He has taught courses on American literature and creative writing at Cambridge, Leipzig, Bangor and Cardiff. Tristan is the author of four novels, The Tower (2004), Send My Cold Bones Home (2006) and Revenant (2008), are all set on Anglesey and reflect his interest in the landscape and history of the island. His latest novel, Eye Lake, is set in northern Ontario. He also writes short stories and is a winner of the Rhys Davies short story prize.

He currently lives in Cardiff, where he is the AHRC Fellow in Creative Writing at Cardiff University. Outside of writing, Tristan is an often unlucky fisherman and a cricket player of declining powers.

Bio and Iamge credit: http://tristanhughes.co.uk/

Dr. Wale Okediran a Medical Doctor and Former Member of the Nigerian Parliament is a former National President of the Association of Nigerian Authors and the current Secretary General, Pan African Writers Association. He is a Published author of fourteen novels many of which have won local and international Literary prizes such as, American Poetry Association Book Prize (Call To Worship, 1990), Commonwealth Literature Prize Shortlist (The Boys At The Border, 1991), ANA Prize for Children’s Literature (The Rescue of Uncle Babs, 1998), NLNG Nigerian Literature Prize Shortlist (Dreams Die At Twilight, 2004) Spectrum Books Prize For One of the Best 25 Books in Nigeria in the last 25 years (Dreams Die At Twilight, 2004), ANA Best Fiction Prize (Strange Encounters, 2005), and Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa shortlist (The Weaving Looms, 2008) In addition, he has authored six Biographies of some renowned African professionals and political leaders. The Ebedi International Writers Residency in Iseyin, Nigeria, a free facility for the use of writers which he founded in 2010 has hosted over 200 African Writers from 12 different countries since it was established. His book, Tenants of the House which is a factional account of his stay as a Member of the Nigerian Parliament was the co-winner of the 2010 Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature and has now been adapted as a motion picture currently streaming on NETFLIX Global Platform.

Anthony Yeayi Kobina Jackson is a versatile professional with a distinguished career spanning over a decade. He has excelled in various roles within the realm of broadcast journalism, including news anchoring, branding and programming communications, scriptwriting, and content producing. Notably, he served as the lead producer for TV3’s highly regarded morning show, Newday from 2012 to 2021.

Beyond his journalistic pursuits, Yeayi Kobina is also an accomplished writer and a tech enthusiast, particularly passionate about the possibilities of the new generation. He has showcased his creative talents in various art forms, including his latest venture - the historical fiction book ‘The Weaving of the First Gods’.

Yeow Kai Chai is a poet, fiction writer, and editor from Singapore. He has three poetry collections: Secret Manta (2001); Pretend I’m Not Here (2006); and One to the Dark Tower Comes (2020), which was awarded the 2022 Singapore Literature Prize. He has worked as editor-in-chief, entertainment editor and music reviewer in the media, for nearly three decades. He co-wrote The Adopted: Stories from Angkor (2015); Lost Bodies: Poems Between Portugal and Home (2016); and Lilla Torg: A Scandinavian Journey (2023), with three other authors. A co-editor of Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, he was Festival Director of Singapore Writers Festival from 2015 to 2018.

Yves Xavier Ndounda Ndongo is a curator, author and publisher who lives in Cameroon. He co-founded ARTOPIA with Francine Abada in 2022, a Cameroonian company specialising in the publishing of art books, graphic and web design, but also in the production of curatorial projects. Within this institution, he is General Director in charge of editorial policies, administration, financing and accounting. As a curator, his practice revolves around the contextuelogy of art.. He has carried out numerous curatorial projects with important artists from the Cameroonian scene. We can go through some of them in a row.

Subsequently in 2019, he created the digital magazine Critiques d’Arts and is the manager of the visual arts exhibitions of the project The Burden of Memory organized by the Goethe-Institut Kamerun. In 2020, he won the Madrassa 2020 museum and curatorial program in Morocco, organized by L'Atelier de l'Observatoire. In 2021, he is the curator of the multi-site retrospective of Salifou Lindou Fouanta. The same year, he was the scenographer of the “Prospective” exhibition which celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut Kamerun. He is also the Curator of the exhibition "Fractale" by Mohamed Ngoupayou, "Goethe-Découverte" 2021 in visual arts. In collaboration with "Les Ateliers Lindou", ARTOPIA will co-publish the book SALIFOU LINDOU FOUANTA in 2022. In 2023, he is co-editor with Jospeh Omoh Ndukwu of the book ANTHOLOGY: ART FROM AFRICA, ITS PLACE IN OUR LIVES AND TIME. This project is funded by the Goethe-Institut Nigeria.

Zizipho Bam is an award-winning interdisciplinary poet, copywriter and visual storyteller based in Cape Town, South Africa. Using the body and its experience as inspiration, her poems reimagine longing, belonging, loss, and love and turn her stories into works of art. Bam also holds the 2020 New Coin Prize for her poem "Learning to Swim" and the 2021 New Contrast National Poetry Prize for her poem “Silence in Church”. She is the author of the poetry collection, Sunflowers For My Lovers (2022).

vangile gantsho is healer, poet and co-founder of impepho press. She is the author of two poetry collections: red cotton (2018) and Undressing in Front of the Window (2015). She holds an MA, with distinction, from the University Currently Known as Rhodes (2016) and is a graduate of the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Academy (Pioneer Class). She was named one of Mail& Guardian’s 2018 Top Young 200 South Africans. Her poetry has been published in various literary publications, including Years of Fire and Ash – South African Poems of Decolonisation (2021) New Daughters of Africa (2019), The Atlanta Review (2018), and her collection, red cotton, was named City Press Top Poetry Read of 2018, and long-listed for the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences 2020 Award. gantsho has participated in, curated and produced national and international programmes both virtually and in person since 2004. She is Livulile’s mama and is passionate about using the voice as a tool to help build confidence and open doors. As a teaching artist, she has worked with organisations on three continents and continues to dedicate herself to creating and/or supporting spaces that encourage (black) feminine visibility and healing.

Image Credit: Jess Denyschen