Ama Ata Aidoo

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Professor Ama Ata Aidoo (born March 23, 1942) is a Ghanaian author and playwright who was born Christina Ama Aidoo in Saltpond. She grew up in a Fante royal household and was sent by her father to the Wesley Girls' High School in Cape Coast from 1961 to 1964. After graduating, she enrolled at the University of Ghana in Legon and received her bachelor of arts in English as well as writing her first play, The Dilemma of a Ghost, in 1964. It was published by Longman the following year.

She worked in the United States of America where she held a fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University. She also served as a research fellow at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, and as a Lecturer at the University of Cape Coast.

Aidoo's works of fiction particularly deal with the tension between Western and African world views. Many of her protagonists are women who defy the stereotypical women's roles of their time.

She is also an accomplished poet and has written several children's books. Her novel, Changes, won the 1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (Africa), and Aidoo held the position of Lecturer in English at the University of Cape Coast, where through hard work, commitment and dedication to her academic and research duties, rose to the position of Professor.

Aside from her literary career, Aidoo was appointed Minister of Education in 1982. She resigned after 18 months. She has also spent a great deal of time teaching and living abroad for months at a time. She has resided in America, Britain, Germany, and Zimbabwe. Currently she is a Visiting Professor in the Africana Studies Department at Brown University.

[edit] Works

Other works by Ama Ata Aidoo:

• Anowa (a play based on a Ghanaian legend; (1970)
• No Sweetness Here: A Collection of Short Stories (1970)
• Birds and Other Poems (1988)
• The Girl Who Can and Other Stories (1997)
• Our Sister Killjoy (1977)
• Changes: A Love Story (novel; 1991)
• The Dilemma of a Ghost (1965)
• Someone Talking to Sometime (a poetry collection)( 1986)
• An Angry Letter in January (poems; 1992)
• The Eagle and the Chicken (1986)

[edit] Sources

• [1] full-text, searchable works from Black Drama database
• AIDOO, Ama Ata International Who's Who. accessed September 1, 2006.
• Ama Ata Aidoo - Her Story on BBC World Service