Ayesha Harruna Attah is the author of the novels, Harmattan Rain, nominated for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Saturday's Shadows, and most recently, The Hundred Wells of Salaga. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Slush Pile , Asymptote, and the Caine Prize Writers’ 2010 Anthology.

She received the 2016 Miles Morland Foundation Scholarship for non-fiction, and shuttles back and forth between Senegal and Ghana.

Nii Ayikwei Parkes is a Ghanaian writer, editor, troubleshooter and curator. He is the winner of 2014 Prix Mahogany & Prix Laure Bataillon (France).

He was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize 2010, A Die Welt Top-10 Crime Book 2010 (Germany) for Tail of the Blue Bird and the Michael Marks Award 2009 for the ballast series, now a section in The Makings of You. He has a collection of short stories forthcoming titled The City Will Love You.

He can be followed online at Twitter: @bluebirdtail, Tumblr: shɛ kɛ ŋmɛ daŋ (in Ga) and www.niiparkes.com.

Bisi Adjapon’s writings have appeared in journals and newspapers including the Washington Times, Mcsweeney’s Quarterly, CitiFMonline, Daily Grapphic and Chicken Bones. As an International Affairs Specialist for the U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service, she won the Civil Rights Award for Human Relations, and a Strategic Objective Award for her work on the Norman Borlaug Capacity Building Fellows targeting women in developing countries. She has worked in several embassies, taught and managed projects in Costa Rica, Mexico, South Africa and Ghana.

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 also the director of poetry at the annual Lagos Book and Art Festival. Efe is the producer of the spoken word poetry theater production Finding Home, a production that explores the question of identity, displacement and African international migration. In 2017 he was named as one of the most powerful people in the Nigerian art and culture space by Ynaija. He published his first collection of poetry in 2015, For Broken Men Who Cross Often, under Farafina Books. He has appeared at the Berlin Poetry Festival, Johannesburg Arts Alive Festival, Spier International Poetry Festival Cape Town, Taipei Poetry Festival and the Ake Book and Arts Festival amongst others. His poems have been translated into Afrikaans, French, German and Mandarin. He is an Osiwa Poetry Residency Fellow. His second poetry collection, The Tragedy of Falling with Laughter Stuck in Your Throat, is due out in 2018.

Empi Baryeh is the award-winning author of the novel Most Eligible Bachelor (winner: Book of the year in the 2017 Ufere Awards). She writes sweet and sensual African, multicultural and interracial romance, which happens to be her favourite genres of romance to read. Her interest in writing started around the age of thirteen after she stumbled upon a YA story her sister had started and abandoned. The story fascinated her so much that, when she discovered it was unfinished, she knew she had to complete it. Her most recent book is Forest Girl. Empi lives in Accra, Ghana, with her husband and their two lovely kids.

Golda Addo is a social, political, and policy reform activist with particular interest in community development, transformative strategies in governance and leadership, and in sustainable initiatives. She is a consultant with expertise in Communications, Knowledge Production and Management, and Turn-around strategies in Monitoring & Evaluation, Gender-based issues, and Policy. She is particularly vested in the welfare and interests of communities in the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West regions of Ghana where she also has several adopted mentees and villages. She has consulted for and worked with include Office of the President of Ghana (for DfID), the World Bank (under IFC), DANIDA, and many more. Her work and experience spans Ghana, Senegal, Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria, Benin, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, and Cote d’Ivoire. Golda was awarded a Future International Leader fellowship in 2015 by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom. Currently, she consults on projects and works with local and Diasporean interest groups and funders to bring viable alternatives to the local political party scene.

Golda Addo is the author of The Shimmer In The Photo Album, published in 2017 by DAkpabli and Associates.

Manu Herbstein (b. 1936) has dual South African and Ghanaian citizenship and lives in Ghana. His novel, Ama, a Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade won the 2002 Commonwealth Writers Prize for the Best First Book. Another of his books, The Boy who Spat in Sargrenti’s Eye received the 2016 Creative Book of the Year Award of the African Literature Association and a Children’s Africana Book Award in 2017.

MarLa Sink Druzgal is a multi-genre writer, instructor, and digital photographer, who lives and travels in different parts of the world. After her undergraduate studies in English she spent a number of years publishing a regional billiard magazine. While obtaining her Master’s degree in Creative Nonfiction from Chatham University, she took extra coursework in Publishing and Travel Writing, and taught in the school’s acclaimed prison outreach program, Words Without Walls. She also taught at Chatham as an adjunct professor in the International Studies Department.

Always eager for new challenges and outlets for her creative energy, she has facilitated community writing workshops both in the U.S. and abroad. Wanting to share her passion and understanding of the people, places, and wildlife she encounters, “Travelling MarLa” also creates multi-media programs which she presents to organizations and public libraries. Her latest endeavors take her back to the African continent for her newly shaped travel planning and academic services business in which she creates courses, field tours, and retreats based on international literature, culture, and wildlife. In her free time she is revising a manuscript about her years living and traveling throughout southern Africa. Her poetry, essays, and photography appear both online and in print.

Billy Kahora’s short fiction and creative non-fiction has appeared in Chimurenga, McSweeney’s, Granta Online, Internazionale and Vanity Fair and Kwani. He has written a non-fiction novella titled The True Story of David Munyakei and was highly commended by the 2007 Caine Prize judges for his story Treadmill Love; his story Urban Zoning was shortlisted for the prize in 2012, The Gorilla’s Apprentice in 2014. He wrote the screenplay for Soul Boy and co-wrote Nairobi Half Life which won the Kalasha awards. He is working on a novel titled The Applications. A short story collection The Cape Cod Bicycle War and Other Youthful Follies will be released soon. He has been awarded writers fellowships in Italy, U.K, Germany and Denmark. He has taught writing workshops in East Africa for the last 10 years and is currently teaching at the University of Bristol. As Managing Editor of Kwani Trust he has edited 7 issues of the Kwani journal and other Kwani publications including Nairobi 24 and Kenya Burning. He is also a Contributing Editor with the Chimurenga Chronic. He has recently edited the Sci-Fi Anthology Imagine 500 with Malawian writers. He has been Kwani Litfest Curator since 2008 and recently curated Kwani Litfest 2015 Writers in Conversation: Beyond the Map of English. Billy is a past recipient of the Chevening Scholarship and an Iowa Writers’ Fellowship. He has an M.Sc Creative Writing from University of Edinburgh, U.K and a Journalism and English degree from Rhodes University, South Africa.

John Collins is a naturalised Ghanaian of British descent who has been active in the Ghanaian/West African music scene since 1969 as a guitarist, band leader, music union activist, journalist, writer, music teacher and archivist. In the 1970s he operated his Bokoor Highlife band and over the years has worked, recorded and played with numerous Ghanaian and Nigerian artists and bands such as the Jaguar Jokers, Francis Kenya, E.T. Mensah, Abladei, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Koo Nimo, Kwaa Mensah, Victor Uwaifo, Bob Pinodo, the Bunzus, the Black Berets, T. O. Jazz, Atongo Zimba and Aaron Bebe Sukura. He has published ten books and scores of journalistic and academic papers on African popular music and been involved with many films on Ghanaian popular, art and traditional music. He obtained his first degree from the University of Ghana in 1972 and his Doctorate in Ethnomusicology at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1994. In 1982 he opened his Bokoor Recording Studio and in 1987 was made an honorary life-member of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM). During the 1990s, Collins was Technical Director of the three-year joint Universities of Ghana/Mainz African Music Re-documentation Project, and for seven years was with the Ghana National Folklore Board of Trustees/Copyright Administration. Between 1997 and 2013, he was co-leader of the Local Dimension highlife band. He is currently a Patron of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and a Full Professor of the Music Department at the University of Ghana at Legon, where he has been teaching since 1995. He is also Chairman of the BAPMAF African Popular Music Archives NGO. John Collins latest book, Highlife Time 3 was published earlier this year by DAkpabli and Associates.

Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah writes across genres including creative non-fiction, short stories and essays. She is the editor of Women Leading Africa: Conversations with Inspirational African Women, the author of a Communications Handbook for Women’s Rights Organisations, and co-author of Creating Spaces and Amplifying Voices: The First Ten Years of the African Women's Development Fund. Her short stories have been published in It Wasn’t Exactly Love a collection published by Farafina, and The Pot and Other Stories published by FEMRITE. The Guardian, Feminist Africa and Chimurenga have published her articles and opinion editorials. She is the co-founder of Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, an award-winning blog that focuses on African women, sex and sexualities.

Sarah Odedina has worked in publishing for more than two decades. As the Publishing Director of the children’s list of Bloomsbury Publishing, where she worked for 14 years, she oversaw the publication of the Harry Potter series as well as published many other best-selling prize-winning novels and picture books. In 2011 Sarah founded the successful and award-winning Hot Key Books. Sarah is now Editor-at-Large for Pushkin Press commissioning titles for the children's and YA list. She is the co-founder of Scoop a magazine for children. She was for two years the curator of the children's section of FlipSide Literary Festival in Suffolk, England. Sarah travels around the world giving talks and hosting workshops about publishing and children’s literature. She also teaches creative writing focusing on books for young readers.

Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng grew up in Tarkwa and Prestea in Ghana’s Western Region. He was educated at Opoku Ware School in Kumasi and the University of Ghana, where he earned a B. A. in French and Political Science. He undertook further studies in law at City University and the College of Law, both in London. Following this, he worked briefly with the Legal Services Commission in London before going on to work for various law firms specialising in immigration advice and advocacy. He returned to live in Ghana in April 2011, and is currently the Press Secretary to the Minister of Education. He is the author of the book Face-Off With The International MP.

Ruby Yayra Goka is a dentist by day and an author by night. Ruby has always loved stories and storytelling. She is a multiple winner of the Ghana edition of the CODE Burt Award for African Young Adult Literature (having won six times), which recognizes excellence in African writing. In 2017 her book The Step-monster, after winning the national prize in Ghana, went on to win the Honour Prize in the All-Star Edition of Burt Awards for African Literature. In 2018, her book To Kiss a Girl after being shortlisted for the national prize in Ghana went on to win the Honour Prize in the Grand Prize for finalists. She won the award in the Authorship and Creative Writing Category in the 40 under 40 Awards in Ghana in 2017. Ruby believes that the more African children see themselves reflected in the pages of books they read, the more they will realise they can be anything they want to be.

Cal Avono is the Director of University of Lome libraries. He teaches American studies at the University and his area of research is Literature and race. Two years ago, he published his first novel, Condamné avec souci, a book whose story continues from another he is working on. Cal Avono thinks it is very urgent for Africans to write a lot to inspire future generations.

Crystal C. Mercer is an all-around Afro-Creative: a textile artist, actor, activist, poet, author, founder and Creative Director of Columbus Creative Arts + Activism, and Designer and Lead Merchant of SAFI FABric MARKET. Mercer's past credits include a number of plays and musicals in Arkansas, off-Broadway in New York, and internationally in Canterbury, England. She fuses arts and activism by using theatre and textiles to tell social justice narratives, through merchandising and storytelling, with an emphasis of uplifting voices of color. A dedicated public servant, a woman of many creative talents, and the daughter of legendary late civil rights lawyer, Attorney Christopher C. Mercer, Jr., she honors the legacy of her father by using theatre arts as a tool for empowerment, education, and social justice. A Love Story Waiting To Happen, Mercer's first full body of published work is a rhythmic, raw, and open movement of poetry that explores love, grief, mourning, freedom, social justice, sex, and courtships.

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond is the author of Powder Necklace, which Publishers Weekly called "a winning debut." Named among 39 of the most promising African writers under 39, her short fiction was included in the anthology Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara. Her work has appeared in African Writing, Los Angeles Review of Books, Sunday Salon, and the short story collection Woman's Work. She was a 2017 Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar, a 2016 Hedgebrook Writer-in-Residence, and named to the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship shortlist in both 2015 and 2014. In April 2015, she was the opening speaker at TEDxAccra. Every month, Brew-Hammond co-leads a writing fellowship at Manhattan's Center for Faith and Work. Also noted for her personal style, Brew-Hammond's fashion sense has been captured by New York Magazine, Essence Magazine, and the New York Times, among many other outlets. Recently, she founded the made-in-Ghana coat line Exit 14. Currently, Brew-Hammond is at work on a new novel.

Patron Henekou is a poet and playwright, and co-organizer of the Festival of Literature and Arts (FesLArts) at University of Lomé, Togo. He writes and does translations in both French and English. 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, The Kalahari Review, and Better than Starbucks. His published books include a play in English, Dovlo, or A Worthless Sweat (2015) and two poetry books in French entitled Souffles d’outre-cœur (2017) and Souffles & faces (2018). Patron is the 2018 African American Fellow at the Palm Beach Poetry Festival in Delray, Florida.

Afrikult. is a literary organisation focused on widening access to African literatures. Afrikult. curates and facilitates literary and creative writing workshops for schools and festivals, programmes events and partners with leading and grass-root organisations. Afrikult.’s website was launched in 2014. In 2018, Afrikult. was awarded Arts Council England grant to deliver its research and development workshop programme in British schools, and develop workshops in Kenya. Its latest programme ‘Stories of Home’ is for refugees and asylum-seekers living in London. Afrikult. is run by Marcelle Mateki Akita, Zaahida Nabagereka and supported by Keren Lasme.

Aisha Nelson dreams, writes, thinks and lives in Accra, Ghana, where she is also a college tutor of English Language and Literature. Her poems were shortlisted by Poetry Foundation Ghana and Erbacce Press in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Stag-nation was the winning entry in Akwantuo Writing’s inaugural Harmattan Poetry Contest. She has written, adapted and directed a number of plays, some of which are Christian plays.

Her works have appeared in The Mirror, The Weekend Globe, Accra Theatre Workshop, One Ghana One Voice, Kalahari Review, Saraba, Munyori, Afreada, Prairie Schooner, Phillis Wheatley Chapter, Writers Project of Ghana’s 2015 poetry anthology and Caine Prize for African Writing’s 2015 short story anthology.

Aku the Sun Maker is Aisha’s first story for children published by South Africa based Saide’s African Storybook and in partnership with the British Council in Abuja, Aku the Sun Maker has been adapted and translated into Kiswahili and Luganda so far. Aisha’s blog, Nu kɛ Hulu (Water and Sun), is at aishawrites.wordpress.com .

A writer, an actress, and an activist, Nana Akosua Hanson believes in the power of art and artistic expression in changing the world. However, for her ‘daytime job’, she works as a Programmes Officer at the African Women’s Development Fund, and as a Ghanaian TV and Radio presenter at YFM and GH One. A freelance writer, Nana Akosua curates a personal blog at darkmosaic.blogspot.com and has published articles such as ‘Ebola and the Africa-hating Single Story’, ‘A Girl’s hopes for Women’s Day’, ‘Shashii, Ghanaian Twitter and Slut Shaming’, ‘Could We Be Protecting the Cosby Next Door?’; this includes short stories such as ‘Love is a Two-letter Word: Me’ and poetry.

Her work as an activist is largely centered on pan-Africanism and feminism. She is also the director of Drama Queens, a non-profit theatre organization, which has feminism and pan-Africanism as its core defining values.

Apiorkor Seyiram Ashong-Abbey is an award-winning Ghanaian-American Poet, Writer, Literary Critic and Versatile Creative. Her work is noted for its rare narrative, prosaic nature, which is uncommon, in poetry. She has also been commended for the sharp, vivid imagery of her pieces.

Living in Ghana, where oral literary traditions are intricately intertwined with deep culture and history, she performs within West Africa’s most sophisticated spaces and has been featured on two Tedx platforms. Her performances are varied, animated; you can expect to see Apiorkor inject life into her poems, with classical, afro-pop, reggae and rock music forms, contemporary dance and alternative Art.

Apiorkor causes quite a stir, because the poetess chooses to read/recite her pieces on stage, rather than delivering them off memory.

She also has a West African Baobab Award, under her belt, having been awarded the "Literary and Community Building Award", which was presented to her in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2016 and which acknowledges the achievements of Africans and non-Africans in building literate communities in today’s world.

When she’s not creating literary orgasms, Apiorkor is most likely producing (or hosting) award-winning shows on Accra-based Citi 97.3 FM and Citi TV. Additionally, her work at Citi FM and Citi TV, as an activist for Literacy & Numeracy, Arts & Culture and Socio-economic development has been well received. She might also be mentoring and teaching or lecturing young Ghanaians, focusing on anything from Literature, to love and relationships, to career guidance. Editing and crafting pyramids of meaningful words tend to keep her occupied, as well. Or she might be whipping up hors d’œrves for Ghanaian socialites, tasty meals for her adorable son, or romantic dinners for her husband, Frederick.

K. A. Benneh was born in Ghana and raised in Burkina Fasso, Sierra Leone, Ghana and the USA. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Ghana, and is a graduate of the maiden edition of the Mo Issa Writing Workshops. His works have been previously published online by Poetry Foundation Ghana, Flashfiction Ghana, Medium, and on his personal blogs. He currently lives in Accra.

Dzekashu MacViban is a writer, journalist and editor based in Yaoundé. In 2011, he published a collection of poems titled Scions of the Malcontent and founded Bakwa Magazine. After a one year gig at the Ann Arbor Review of Books, he subsequently wrote for Goethe.de/kamerun, The Africa Report, This is Africa and IDG Connect. In 2016, he was a writer-in-residence at the Ebedi International Writers Residency. His fiction has appeared in Wasafiri, Kwani? and Jungle Jim. He was runner-up for the Sonora Review’s Flash Friday Caption Contest in 2012, and received Special Mention for the 2016 Short Story Day Africa Prize. He was formerly Editorial Manager at This is Africa.

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’s latest work "Made in Nima" has been featured in Safehouse: Explorations into Creative Non-Fiction, a new Commonwealth Anthology which has been published in London. Kofi Akpabli started his writing career at sixth form, when a historical play he wrote captured first prize in a Panafest National Playwriting Contest. The theatre piece, The Prince and the Slave has subsequently run at the Art Centre in Accra, Kumasi and at the Cape Coast Castle. As a Communication Specialist He has executed script projects for Fidelity Bank, University of Ghana (60th anniversary), Vodafone Ghana, National Lotteries Authority and DANIDA.

Kofi Akpabli teaches courses in Communication Studies at Central University College and is the Editorial Board Secretary of the University's journal Central Inquiry. 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 2017 he was voted Travel Writer of the Year by the Ghana Tourism Authority. He writes a weekly column ‘Going Places’, in The Mirror. He is a founding member of the 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 six books, contributed three chapters to three other books and published journal articles. He has worked as a facilitator at Research Dissemination workshops for Post-Doctoral/PhD students at the School of Public Health, Legon (September 2015) and College of Health Sciences, KNUST (March 2016). Kofi Akpabli served as a Distinguished Member on the Millennium Excellence Awards. 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 little children.

Ms. Ama Dadson is Founder & CEO of AkooBooks Audio Limited, based in Accra Ghana (http://www.akoobooks.com).

AkooBooks Audio is a leading publisher and digital distributor of African audiobooks, providing African writers and publishers with a platform to transform their books and reach new audiences on mobile devices. AkooBooks Audio brings together a dedicated group of passionate African book lovers and creative professionals with over 25 years combined experience in the publishing, technology, entertainment and acting industries, pulling skills together to make African voices heard in new and powerful ways. Ama advocates for the use of audiobooks that you can listen to anywhere, anytime (e.g. while commuting, exercising or cooking) to foster a love of reading in Africa. She believes that 'digital' is here with us in Africa and here to stay. Digital distribution is one path that could get us over some of the hurdles we face with book distribution and literacy and help raise the awareness and celebration of African authors and publishers.

Akoo Books will lead a special discussion and listening session during the festival.

Boakyewaa Glover is a Ghanaian born writer, entertainer and Organizational Psychologist. Boakyewaa wrote her first complete novel Basic Reality during her first year at Wesley Girls’ High School. Throughout high school she was an active member of several clubs including, the Writers and Debaters Club (WDC), the Drama Club and the Social Club. By her final year, she was the President of the WDC, Vice President of the Drama Club and Secretary of the Social Club. She wrote, co-directed and acted in a number of plays for the Drama Club. During her time at Wesley Girls’ High School, she also wrote Crazy, Sexy, Cool – another coming of age young adult book. After High School, Boakyewaa wrote her third complete novel, Tendai, which represents her first foray into one of her favorite genres, science fiction.

Boakyewaa also worked as a TV Presenter/Journalist for Metro TV’s hit show, Smash TV. Boakyewaa was on the show for three years, co-presenting with former Groove FM presenter Vladimir Nettey and Eddy Blay. During her undergrad years at the University of Ghana, Boakyewaa was the lead writer for GTV’s children show ‘S-Class’. After graduating from the University, she expanded her media role by joining TV3, one of Ghana’s largest television networks as a Newscaster/Broadcast Journalist. Boakyewaa was a familiar face on TV3 for two years before leaving to pursue a graduate degree in Psychology at NYU.

Boakyewaa was a 2014 finalist for Africa’s Most Influential Women (organized by CEO Communications, South Africa) and a 2018 finalist for Ghana’s 40 Under 40 Awards (organized by XO-DUS Communications, Ghana). Boakyewaa Glover has worked in the Corporate world for 15 years in the US and Ghana. In May 2018, she resigned from her job as a senior manager to focus on her writing full-time and grow her company, Minds on Fire Group (www.mindsonfiregroup.com) – a publishing and entertainment hub for budding artists. Boakyewaa also curates an online lifestyle magazine (www.boakyewaaglover.com). Her other books include Circles and The Justice. Commitment is her latest project with expected release in 2019.

Kezia is the West African Publishing and Author Relations Manager for Worldreader. She is in charge of liaising with publishers and authors, providing support and acquiring content for the various Worldreader Platforms.

About Worldreader: Worldreader is a global nonprofit that provides access to digital books to children and families around the globe. Every month, over 1.1 million people -- using e-readers in schools and libraries, and mobile phones worldwide -- read e-books for free on their devices. The Worldreader team consists of dedicated staff, volunteers and management from Ghana, Kenya, Spain and US all working tirelessly to bring books to children and families in Africa.

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.

Mo Issa is an entrepreneur who has started a second career as a writer. He has also finally realized that he is indeed a spiritual being having an earthly experience, and that understanding has changed his life.

Mo awakens every day at six, and he writes for at least an hour. This discipline has made him very productive and alive. This spiritual discipline has resulted in his self-help guide, The Shift; his book of poetry, The Dense Mistiness of the Ordinary; his many blog posts at mo-issa.com; and other publications.

When he isn’t writing, Mo enjoys meditating and running in the rain.

Nana S. Achampong is a life-long journalism practitioner and educator who has worked in the fields of journalism, public relations, advertising, marketing, the visual arts and literature in Ghana, the United Kingdom and the United States with some 18 books covering the different genres of poetry, play, for children, fiction, non-fiction, Christian, media and anthology.

He currently teaches at African University College of Communications, and is the Director of the Ama Ata Aidoo Centre for Creative Writing. Achampong is also a filmmaker, a fine artist, a music producer, and a television producer. More at www.ahampong.webnode.com.

Raymond Tuvi was educated at the Morning Star School, Accra, St. Augustine's College, Cape Coast and the University of Ghana, Legon. During his high school days, Raymond won several episodes of "What-Do-You-Know?", the popular national radio quiz programme and the television equivalent, "Best Brain". He won the 1985 KLM Royal Dutch Airline-sponsored competition with a trip to Britain as his prize.

After graduation from Legon, Raymond taught at the Achimota Secondary School. After Achimota, he founded Youth Agenda, an NGO that has carried out a number development projects in the Korle Wokon area of Accra-Central. Tuvi has written for the BBC, worked as Media Consultant for UNICEF Ghana and regularly contributes feature articles to the "Daily Graphic". In July 2017, Tuvi was the Special Guest of Honour at the University of Ghana Basic School's graduation where his first book, Uncle Spider’s First Law, was performed as a play by the graduating kindergarten class. In July 2018, Raymond Tuvi was honoured with the chieftaincy title Yelmaani Naa in the Dagbon Kingdom of the Northern Region.

Amarkine Amarteifio has been painting for the past thirty three years. He graduated with first class honours from the College of Art, KNUST, where he also did his masters in African Art. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD program in African Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon.

Amarkine has exhibited widely both at home and abroad. In 1998, he was the guest artist from Africa at the Indiana Black Expo “Africa Celebration”, USA. In 1992, he won the Paa Kwame Award for Best Painter and later, won the prestigious ACRAG Award for best Ghanaian painter in the year 1999.

Amarkine Amarteifio is also sculptor, poet and a prolific writer. His literary work has been featured on both radio and the local Ghanaian newspapers and through his literary group, Ars Poetica, he has held poetry sessions in many private homes.

Amarkine Amarteifio is a member of the Ghana Association of Visual Artists (GAVA) as well as the Arts Council for the African Studies Association, ACASA . He is a charter member of the Rotary Club of Accra South, District 9100.

Anwuli Ojogwu is the managing director of Narrative Landscape Press. She has 12 years’ experience as an Editor, Writer and Communication Specialist. A graduate in English & Literature from the University of Benin, Anwuli has built a career in the Nigerian book industry since its renaissance in the early noughties. She has served in different companies such as Kachifo Limited as an Editor; FATE Foundation as a Communications Manager; and Thinking Beyond Borders, San Francisco as Digital Media Manager. As an editor, she has worked with writers such as Chimamanda Adichie, Binyanvanga Wainana, and Uzo Iweala. She is also the co-founder/Executive Director of the Society of Book and Magazine Editors of Nigeria (SBMEN), an educational and professional development non-profit that provides training and resources to increase the proficiency of editorial professionals.

Mrs. Charlotte Sarah Akyeampong is a former Assistant Headmistress at PRESEC -- Legon. She began her teaching career in Wesley Girls High School and Achimota School. She has contributed immensely to the lives of students over the past 48 years. She was head of the English Department and teacher in English Language and Literature in English. Throughout her teaching career, she dedicated herself to ensuring that students are given the best education and attention during classes. Mrs. Akyeampong was the patron of the Drama Club, Writers and Debaters Club and the Editorial Board of Presec-Legon. She began her writing precisely because of her students. Her aim was to dramatize all the difficult literary texts so her students could have a better grasp of them. She eventually started to craft her own creative works, based on happenings in the society generally and life in the boarding school specifically. Some of her widely performed works include The Search, Chanticleer, When The Child Fell Ill and Dormitory C: The Inspection. She was married for 45 years to the late Prof. D.A. Akyeampong and they were blessed with three children, Angelo, Adrian and Adeline. In her retirement, she enjoys reading, writing poetry and visiting family and is an awesome mother and grandmother.

Gbontwi is an author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is also the founder of The Accra Writing Experiment which are a series of informal writing events where creatives in Accra write and workshop their stories, poems and scripts. His awards include best First Book at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2017 and the Ghana Movie Awards 'Best TV series' for 'Y'ELLO CAFE' (2014).

Hajara L Daniel is not new to the art, the craft and the science of Creative Writing. The Saltpond born author, playwright, poet and lecturer is a former student of St Theresa’s School, Mfantsiman Girls Secondary School, Tamale Secondary School (Ghana) and the University of York (United Kingdom). Her passion for reading and writing, which began at the age of five, eases her through the narrow, unlined and slippery lanes of poetry, the broadways and unchartered roads of prose as well as the alleyways and parks of spoken word and scripts for radio, television, film and theatre. The married mother of two is the founder and executive director of the Creative Writing Academy and chief executive officer of HLD Consultants Limited. She loves to transport her readers and audience to a world of romance where charming heroes have endearing flaws and troubled heroines overcome their adversaries. Her witty and thought-provoking stories include Passage of Love, Kofi: Growing Pains, The Akans: Birth of Two Kingdoms, Amazing Grace, Kookua (performed at the Ghana Theatre Festival and the Accra International Children’s Arts Festival, 2017) and her latest publication Cocoa's Kisses, a collection of poems with a foreword by Professor Ladé Wosornu. Hajara L Daniel has served on several committees, including the Bidding Committee for UNESCO World Book Capital (2019) and the Committee for drafting a constitution for the National Platform for Literacy, Reading and Numeracy (NAPLRN).

Ope Adedeji dreams about a lot of things but most especially about bridging the gender equality gap and destroying the patriarchy. She is an Intellectual Property Lawyer, and the Managing Editor of Ouida Books. Her work has appeared on Afreada, Arts and Africa, Brittlepaper and the Kalahari Review, and is forthcoming in other literary journals and magazines. She is also the co-founder of Arts and Africa. In 2018, she was shortlisted for the Koffi Addo Prize and is a 2018 AMLA fellow. If you do not find her reading a book, you'll find her writing one.

Adefolami Ademola is a writer, poet, social commentator, and content writer. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Prosopisia, New Orleans Review, Black Room, Poetry Potion, among others. His creative nonfiction, essays and articles have also been published in Akoma, The Nerve Africa, The Afro Vibe, Ynaija, Newshunter, Ebedi Review, PIN (Poets In Nigeria) journal.

A 2016 PIN (Poets in Nigeria) Poets’ Residency Fellow, his poem, “Memories, regurgitated” made the Top Ten Shortlist in the 2016 edition of the Korea/Nigeria Cultural Poetry Fiesta.

He was also long-listed for the Akoma Fellowship in 2017.

His personal essay, ‘Dying in Installments’, a personal confessional essay, was recently published in the Selves Anthology, an anthology of creative nonfiction, print edition, curated by Basit Jamiu, in September 2018. He is Marketing Manager at Ouida Books.

Nana Asaase (Philip Boakye Dua Oyinka) previously worked as a Public Relations Executive with Global Media Alliance but has since dedicated his full attention to the arts. He also runs the literary coaching initiatives Poetry For Development and is CEO of Asaase Inscriptions.

With a rich experience spanning more than a decade, Nana Asaase blends the English Language with local languages, employs vivid metaphors and music to present a bridge between tradition and modernity, providing tasteful African/Ghanaian Literary Art, suitable for all audiences.

He has performed for several prominent audiences including heads of states, academics, and entrepreneurs, and has been on television and other media as a performer and panelist. He seeks to be one of Africa’s greatest literary evidences to the world. He runs a blog: nanaasaase.blogspot.com and has an anthology set to be published.

Nana Asaase is the convener for Sankofa Sessions.

Nesta Jojoe Erskine is the author of a self-help book “Unforgettable.” He is an Occupational Health and Safety professional, a blogger and a social media enthusiast. His everyday desire is to build a connection with everyday people through sharing of stories, personal failures and the various victories life offers as we move along.

He manages a personal blog at nestaerskine.com where most of his works on personal-development, relationship, and lifestyle are posted. He has also written for the Huffington Post—an American online news aggregator and most of the major news portals in Ghana.

Agya Koo Nimo (Daniel Amponsah), celebrated Ghanaian musician, poet, musician, teacher, and philosopher is well known across the world for his infusion of traditional motifs into mainstream music and his influence on the adadam music styles and palm-wine guitar. Through his music, Koo Nimo has unveiled Asante culture to audiences all over the world. Born in the village of Foase in the Atwima District of the Ashanti Region in Ghana, West Africa, Agya Koo Nimo has taken his music into popular concert halls, leading international universities and renowned institutions the world over. Koo Nimo's extraordinary life of nearly a century is a story of hope, determination, and a boundless love for guitar music. His biography, Six Strings and A Note, recorded by E Obeng-Amoako Edmonds, was published in 2016.

Poet, literary scholar, educator, and cultural activist, Kofi Anyidoho is a Professor of Literature in the English Department, University of Ghana-Legon and was the 1st occupant of the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies. He has been Director of the CODESRIA African Humanities Institute Programme, Ag. Director of the School of Performing Arts, and Head of the English Department. He trained as a professional teacher at Accra Training College and the Advanced Teacher Training College-Winneba, and taught primary, middle and secondary school before joining the university faculty. Outside the university, he has been deeply involved in various initiatives designed to promote Pan-African culture and history, among them Ghana Television's African Heritage Series, for which he was the main host and executive producer. He holds a B.A. Honours in English & Linguistics [University of Ghana-Legon], an M.A. in Folklore [Indiana University-Bloomington] and a PhD in Comparative Literature [University of Texas at Austin].

His published creative works include the following collections of poetry: Elegy for the Revolution (1978), A Harvest of Our Dreams (1984, 1993), EarthChild (1985), AncestralLogic & CaribbeanBlues (1993), PraiseSong for TheLand (2002), (with a companion CD recording of the poems and with songs in Ewe performed by the poet, and The Place We Call Home & Other Poems 2011, with a double companion CD; and GhanaNya and Agbenoxevi, CD & Cassette recordings of his poetry in Ewe. GhanaNya presents Anyidoho as a singer-poet whose voice alternates with that of his late mother, Abla Adidi Anyidoho, herself a poet-cantor in the Ewe oral tradition. He has also published Akpokplo (a children’s play in Ewe and Engilsh: 1977, 1997) and The Phone Call (2018), a dramatic monologue for children. SeedTime - Selected Poems is due to be published next year. Well known for his unique style of performance poetry, he has lectured and performed his poetry in several countries across the world.

As a research scholar, Anyidoho’s work is dedicated to interdisciplinary and Pan-African studies. He has published several journal articles and book chapters, and has edited a number of major books on African literature, culture, and the humanities, among them Interdisciplinary Dimensions of African Literature [jointly with Porter, Racine & Spleth]; The Fate of Vultures: an anthology of entries from the 1988 BBC "Arts and Africa" Poetry Award [jointly with Peter Porter and Musaera Zimunya]; The Word Behind Bars & The Paradox of Exile; Beyond Survival: African Literature and the Search for New Life [jointly with Anne Adams & Abena Busia]; FonTomFrom: Contemporary Ghanaian Literature, Theater & Film (with James Gibbs]; and Re-appraising the Social Sciences and the Humanities from African Perspectives: An Annotated Anthology, Volumes I (944 pages) & II (738 pages), Co-Editor, with Helen Lauer. Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers, 2012. He has served on the editorial/advisory boards of various journals, including Journal of the Faculty of Arts (Legon), Research Review (Legon), The New Legon Observer (as Chairman of the Editorial Board), Marang (University of Botswana), Journal of Folklore Research (Indiana University-Bloomington), GEFAME: a Web-Based Journal of African Studies (University of Michigan), Research in African Literatures (Ohio State University), and SKASE Journal of Literary Studies (Slovak Association for the Study of English).

Anyidoho is a past President of the US-based African Literature Association [1998-99], and has served on numerous boards and committees, including The University of Ghana Council, the National Commission on Culture, the National Theatre Board, National Folklore Board of Trustees, Management Committee on Copyright Administration, the W.E.B. DuBois Memorial Centre for Pan African Culture Board of Directors, International Advisory Board - Commonwealth Writers Prize, Board of Directors - PANAFEST, Advisory Board – Institute of Comparative Literature & Society, Columbia University. He was also a member of the CODESRIA Executive Committee; Chairman of the Board of Governors, National Film and Television Institute [NAFTI]. Chairman of the Founding Council of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho.

Anyidoho has won many prizes for his poetry, including the Valco Fund Literary Award, the Fania Kruger Fellowship for Poetry of Social Vision, the Langston Hughes Prize, the Davidson Nichol Prize, the BBC “Arts and Africa” Poetry Award, Le grand Prix de poesie en langue nationale [Ewe], the 2015 Millennium Excellence Awards (Literature Prize). Other distinctions include: Visiting Professor, Barnard College, Columbia University; Visiting Distinguished McLean Professor of English, Colorado College; Distinguished Visiting Cornell Professor [Black Studies, Theater, English], Swarthmore College; Ford Foundation Writer-in-Residence, Center for Comparative Literature & Society - Columbia University, New York City; Excellency Visiting Professor, El Colegio de Mexico, Mexico City; Golden Jubilee Distinguished Scholar Award for Outstanding Contributions to African Literature, Faculty of Arts, University of Ghana; Honorary Fellow, International Writing Program, University of Iowa; Julius Nyerere/Anna Julia Cooper Presidential Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Service in the African Global Community and Contributions to the Promotion and Development of Black Studies; Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellow, Cornell University; Distinguished Membership Award; Bashorun M.K.O.vAbiola Distinguished Lecturer, African Studies Association, 47th Annual Meeting, New Orleans. He is a Fellow and Vice President (Arts) of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Kwesi Amoak is a Documentation Specialist, ghostwriter, and journalist with expertise in Creative Education. Apart from The Unfinished Journey: Biography of V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe, he is also the author of The Creative One: Life and Works of Jake Otanka Obetsebi Lamptey, Quest for Excellence: Biographies of 15 Alumni of Legon, Arise Ghana Youth, Social Accountability through Active Citizenship: The Shama Model and other publications. He has also ghostwritten more than ten books for clients in Ghana, Liberia, Togo, Nigeria and the United Kingdom (UK).

Kwesi is the Executive Director of Mpuntusem Foundation, an NGO which focuses on the documentation of impact stories, relevant historical and cultural narratives.

French

Ayi Dossavi est un blogueur, écrivain poète, romancier et essayiste togolais. Biologiste de formation, il est passionné de Lettres, de Savoir et d’Innovation. En tant qu’un des plus jeunes auteurs de sa génération, il a publié plusieurs ouvrages dont les deux recueils de poèmes. Rosées Lointaines et Penseés égarées, parus respectivement en 2015 et 2016, et a vu ses poèmes publiés dans de nombreuses anthologies internationales.

English

Born in 1993, Ayi Renaud DOSSAVI-ALIPOEH (Ayi DOSSAVI) is a Togolese writer, poet and biologist. He has published five books (in poetry, essay and short story), all in French: (Rosées lointaines (Poetry), Lomé, Editions Awoudy (2015) ; Pensées Egarées (Poetry), Paris, Editions du NET(2015); Lèvres éphémères (Novel), Lomé, Editions Awoudy (2017) ; Nous et l’histoire, réflexions sur le passé, le présent et l’avenir (Essay), Lomé, Editions AGAU (2017), Chants de sable (Poetry), Lomé, Editions AGAU (2018)).

Convinced panafricanist, he is member of the international francophone poetry platform « afropoésie » and has been published in several anthologies among which « Soaring Africa », product of the Internarial writer’s residency « Re-inventing Africa », attended in Gorée, Senegal (2015). He is also a blogger, member of Mondoblog, a platform for francophone bloggers from around the world.

In May 2018, he is laureate of the AfDB “Africa of my dreams” writing contest (1 st prize) organized on the continental level, with his short text about a futuristic Africa, united as one panafrican state technologically advanced and sovereign. On an associative level, he is Secretary-General at PEN-Togo, a writers association promoting literature and freedom of speech, local section of PEN-International and gives workshops on creative writing and poetry.

Fred Agbobli is a poet, novelist, painter, actor, songwriter, textile designer, book illustrator, civic eductaor, and a gender and child rights activist.

He is a founding member of both the Ghana Association of Writers and the Pan African Writers Association, and an honorary member of the Korean Writers Union.

Mr Agbobli's works have been published in the International Portland Review's World-wide Anthology of Poetry, Our Soul's Harvest -- an anthology of Ghanaian poetry, Summer Fires and anthology of new poetry from Africa, and others.

Fred Agbobli has also read his works widely on radio and television both locally and internationall and has mentored many young writers in Ghana.

Oswald Okaitei is a multi-award winning poet and spoken word artiste. He is a performance poet who combines music with poetry to paint imagery in the eyes of the mind. Oswald has transformed several poems into dramatic acts and has shared performing platforms with icons as Muta Baruka, Rocky Dawuni, Prof. Atukwei Okai, Prof. Kofi Anyidoho, among others. He is also a playwright, actor, creative director and a Creative Artpreneur. He has produced plays as In The Bag of a Woman, In Man’s Libido, Beautyful Nonsense and others. Oswald was awarded the Pan-African Poet and Spoken word Artiste in Ghana in 2016 and is a World Poetry Director from Ghana. He represented Ghana at the Ugandan Poetry Festival (Babishai Niwe) 2016/17 and at the 10th edition of Storymoja Festival in Kenya this year. His published works include A Wreath To Awoonor, A Bright Light Sleeps and Other Poems, Songs Of Condolence To Tacloban, The Sailor’s Sail Is Over, Mandela: The Soul Of His Earth, Tears and Joy At 60, and In The Bag Of A Woman (Play).

His first after five poetry collections, 1st Harvest, is ready for launch.

Pelu Awofeso is a winner of the CNN/Multichoice African Journalist Awards in the tourism category. His articles have appeared in many publications, some of which include: World Policy Journal (USA), Travel Intelligence (Manchester), A24 Media (Kenya); Nigeria Indicator, NEXT and WINGS (an in-flight journal). Often described as Nigeria's foremost travel writer, Awofeso is the author of A Place Called Peace, Tour of Duty, Nigerian Festivals and White Lagos, all based on his journeys around Nigeria, and edited an anthology of global travel writing, Route 234. He edits wakaabout online (www.wakaabout.com.ng); and when he is not writing, he his guiding tourists around Lagos, where he lives.