Landmark is level 2 of 4 in the Ghana Hall of Fame: a first that opened a door, or the pre-eminent figure of their generation in this country. See how the levels work.
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His poems were written to be spoken aloud, rooted in oral tradition and unembarrassed about politics. He ran the Pan African Writers' Association for twenty-nine years.
Atukwei John Okai was born in Accra on 15 March 1941 and was a Ghanaian poet, cultural activist and academic.
His poetry drew on oral tradition and is generally credited as the first genuine performance poetry to come out of Africa — politically radical, socially conscious, and returning always to Pan-Africanism. He was Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers' Association from 1989 until his death, and received the University of Ghana Golden Jubilee Distinguished Scholarly Award and the Order of the Volta. He died in Accra on 13 July 2018.
His poetry drew on oral tradition and is generally credited as the first genuine performance poetry to come out of Africa — politically radical, socially conscious, and returning always to Pan-Africanism. He was Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers' Association from 1989 until his death, and received the University of Ghana Golden Jubilee Distinguished Scholarly Award and the Order of the Volta. He died in Accra on 13 July 2018.
- Wikipedia — Atukwei Okai
- Wikipedia — Pan African Writers' Association
- The Guardian Nigeria — Atukwei Okai: tribute to a literary generalissimo
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