On
Wednesday, 27th March, 2013, I had the privilege of attending a book
reading session organized by Writers Project Ghana. My first. Though I have
heard about the Ghana Voices Series (that’s what it is known), I have, frankly
been lazy at attending.
The guest
writer was Alex Agyei-Agyiri, a lawyer/author. It was an interesting experience
as he read from some of his old works, which included poems and few chapters
from his new novel ‘Unexpected Joy At Dawn’. His writing is biased towards politics
and how politicians have employed the conduit of politics to advance more of
their course and less of the nation.
I was,
however, saddened by the number of attendees that night. We were less than 25.
I will not ascribe a reason for the low turnout. But it did set my mind on a
quest to find answers to these questions and what can be done to promote this
book reading culture. Interestingly, people will turn up for book reading if
the guest is a celebrated writer or celebrated poet. They’ll be there more for
photo shooting sessions. The ‘I-Was-There-Some’ symbolism is more important.
I asked a
friend for his opinion on the subject of Ghanaians and reading. Hear his
response: ‘Ghanaians (excluding the illiterate class) do read. They read their
newspapers, their motivational/ spiritual books and their novels, authored by
non-Ghanaians/Africans’.
He went
further to indicate that most people, especially students, don’t read beyond their
areas of study. It’s even worse when they complete school. Reading ceases in
many cases.
This point
has been emphasized by Joe Frazier, a columnist for the Daily Graphic in one of
his articles. He opines: ‘The fact of the matter is that only a few Ghanaians
read; if they are not compelled to do so to pass an examination, or to
understand a religious tract’.
I have been
reading Prof. Kofi Awoonor’s ‘The African
Predicament-A Collection of Essays’. And in Chapter 2 of that book, he
narrates his travels, in the 1960s across the US, visiting various Universities
and High Schools reading poetry and educating his audience, mostly white
students about Africa.
I’m
wondering if an institution like the University of Ghana or the Department of
English (I don’t know if they do though) can’t organize such reading encounters
for students of her department, who are most likely to be in the business of
writing one day. If for nothing at all, it will bring students into close
proximity to some of their ‘heroes’. They also will get inspired; understand
the works of the guest literary persons among other factors.
Cost? How these
readings will be funded? The University has the resources. They own some good
facilities. And even if they can’t fund it, the University has a ‘face’
attractive enough to source some corporate funding to support.
As it stands,
Writers Project Ghana appears to be fanning this initiative. And i would want
to commend them for promoting creative writing and literature on the whole.
Though they ran on a shoe string budget, they are doing a great job. I don’t
want to talk about corporate sponsorship because corporate Ghana appears to
support all things except educational programmes. Every good thing has to begin
‘small’. It takes just a spark to create an inferno. Kudos to you.
And if you
are reading this, I’ll urge you to make it a point to attend these interesting
and educative gatherings once you hear about it. You won’t regret the
experience.
Lest I
forget, the Ghana Voices Series happens on the last Wednesday of every month.
Follow @writerspg on twitter for updates.
