African Literary Giant Ama Ata Aidoo has died at 81

Professor Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghana’s former Ghanaian Education Minister best known for the play ‘The Dilemma of a Ghost’ has died aged 81. Her death was announced by her family on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, following a short illness. 

In a statement, the family said “Our beloved relative and writer” passed away after a short illness, requesting privacy to allow them to grieve.

Prof. Aidoo, has a career spanning more than five decades, gaining international recognition as one of the most prominent African writers of the 20th and 21st centuries. 

She wrote her first play “The Dilemma of a Ghost” in 1964, which was published by Longman making her the first published African woman dramatist. Other works include ‘Our Sister Killjoy’ and ‘Changes’, which won the 1992 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book (Africa). 

Prof. Aidoo, is also an accomplished poet, her collection — “Someone Talking to Sometime”, won the Nelson Mandela Prize for Poetry in 1987.

She is one of the contributors of the piece “To be a Woman” in 1984, and the anthology “Sisterhood Is Global”. Also, her story “Two Sisters” appears in the 1992 anthology Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.

She is a Bachelor of Arts in English graduate from the University of Ghana, Legon. Prof. Aidoo was a fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University in California, after graduating, later in 1969 she returned to home to teach English at the University of Ghana. Moving forward, she served as a research fellow at the Institute of African Studies and as a lecturer in English at the University of Cape Coast, where she eventually rose to the rank of professor.

In 1982, she was appointed Minister of Education under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) by former president Jerry John Rawlings. Eighteen months later she resigned, after realizing that she would be unable to provide free education for all.

The following year, she moved to Zimbabwe, where she continued her work in education, including as a curriculum developer for the Zimbabwe Ministry of Education, as well as writing.

Fans and lovers of African literature in Ghana and beyond shared their memories and appreciation on social Media.

“Mama, Ama Ata Aidoo, has joined the ancestors. She was my literary mother. She embraced me, taught me and always had the right words. Mama was a towering literary figure and feminist,” said  Lọlá Shónẹ́yì on Twitter. 

“I am shattered. Ama Ata Aidoo was a touring presence. Her book ‘Our Sister Killjoy’ changed so much for me. I had the great privilege to meet her. This is a photo I took of her one evening we went out dancing. This is how I will remember her,” Fungai Machirori.

“Prof Ama Ata Aidoo lived to see the people she influenced influence a new generation. All I can say is thank you for all what you did and all what you’ve inspired others to do. May we find the strength to live like you taught us to. We’ll miss you dearly. Forever in our hearts,” Jerome.