Ghana: All African Women Poetry Festival (AAWP Festival) has finally come to an end. The Tuniq Africa’s second annual AAWP festival wrapped last week.
Artists from different places around the world have travelled to participate in 4-day event. Chairman of the opening ceremony was Dr. Joyce Aryee. The ceremony also featured the performances by the poets and covered an enlightening panel discussion.
Reportedly, the event ended on Sunday, May 26, 2024 which was in partnership with the Efua Sutherland Estate, W.E.B. Dubois Centre, Foundation for Contemporary Art Ghana and was supported by the KGL Foundation.
The 2024 edition of the All African Women Poetry Festival was scheduled to take place in Ghana from Thursday, May 23, 2024 to Sunday, May 26, 2024.
The four-day thread of events was specifically curated to educate and enhance the playfulness. The festival celebrated the legacy of Ghanaian playwright Efua Theodora Sutherland considering the theme ‘Poetry & Play’.
The events were hosted at the W.E.B. Dubois Memorial Centre and the Foundation for Contemporary Art in Accra, Ghana.
Some of the scheduled guests, panelists and performers who attended the poetry festival were Moyosola Olowokure, Winnie Madoro, Nyangari Macharia, Claudia Owusu, Deborah Johnson, Effie Nkrumah, Titilope Sonuga, Maryam Bukar Hassan (Alhanislam), Mo’Africa Wa Mokgathi (born Muriel Mokgathi-Mvubu), Vangile Gantsho, Theresa Ankomah, Agness Panfred and Vivian Boeteng.
As per the sources, the noteworthy events that were showcased this year included an exclusive listening of Sonuga’s latest album ‘SIS’ which was scheduled for Thursday, May 23, 2024. It also displayed the ‘Writing as an African’ panel that featured literary experts such as Prof. Helen Yitah and Prof. Anne Adams.
The fest also considered ‘Publish Her Inked Realities’ panel that featured literary experts Ama Dadson, Akoss Ofori-Mensah and Akuvi Agueze. A competition ‘Voice On Words’ (VOW) was also contested that featured high school students.
Futhermore, All African Women Poetry Festival celebrated the African literature and literary legends who empowered African women, women of African descent and the African Diaspora, educate the youth and engage with the marginalised communities through sustainable events, programming and projects.
The festival hosted the poets, spoken word artists and the stakeholders in shaping the African narrative from across the continent and the African diaspora, in a bid to foster collaboration, networking and knowledge sharing.
Notably, the key element of the festival was the annual honouring of the female literary legend. At this year’s event the major focus was on Efua Theodora Sutherland who was a playwright, director, dramatist, children’s author, poet, educationalist, researcher, child advocate and cultural activist. Sutherland’s unique works include the plays Foriwa which was written in 1962, Edufa played in 1967 and The Marriage of Anansewa which was 1975.
