Kofi Anyidoho – författare

Kofi Awoonor, one of Ghana's most accomplished poets, had for almost half a century committed himself to teaching, political engagement, and the literary arts. The one constant that guided and shaped his many occupations and roles in life was poetry. The Promise of Hope is a beautifully edited collection of some of Awoonor's most arresting work spanning almost fifty years.  Selected and edited by Awoonor's friend and colleague Kofi Anyidoho, himself a prominent poet and academic in Ghana, The Promise of Hope contains much of Awoonor's most recent unpublished poetry, along with many of his anthologized and classic poems. This engaging volume serves as a fitting contribution to the inaugural cohort of books in the African Poetry Book Series.

This study grew out of a workshop at Northwestern University organized in 1994 by the Institute for Advanced Study and Research in the African Humanities. The workshop brought together a group of African writers, including many who suffered imprisonment in their home countries and/or exile abroad. This collection represents their assessments - in prose, poetry and drama - of the many facets of the exile experience. The papers are as graphic as they are varied in their subject matter and mode of communication. The interest of this collection lies not only in the expressiveness of the works, but also in the varied terms the authors employ to narrate and contextualize their personal experiences as well as their visions for the future. A fusion of the personal and the political, this book offers a perspective on conditions of literary production in many parts of Africa today.