Ama Ata Aidoo

23 March 1942 – 31 May 2023

Ama Ata Aidoo was a Ghanaian author, playwright and academic whose work addressed the position of women in modern African society. Her plays The Dilemma of a Ghost and Anowa and her novels Our Sister Killjoy and Changes made her one of the best-known writers of postcolonial West Africa. She also served briefly as Ghana's Minister of Education in the early 1980s.

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Life events

Born in Abeadzi Kyiakor, Gold Coast
23 March 1942

She was born into a royal household in the Central Region.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Graduated from the University of Ghana, Legon
1964

She received a BA in English.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published the play The Dilemma of a Ghost
1965

Her first play examined a Ghanaian man's return home with an African-American wife.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published the play Anowa
1970

The drama reworked a Ghanaian legend to explore slavery and marriage.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published Our Sister Killjoy
1977

The novel follows a young Ghanaian woman travelling in Europe.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Appointed Minister of Education of Ghana
1982 – 1983

She served in the government of Jerry Rawlings and resigned after about eighteen months.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Moved to Zimbabwe
1983

She relocated to Harare, where she worked on curriculum development and writing.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published the novel Changes: A Love Story
1991

The novel about a Ghanaian woman's second marriage won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Africa in 1992.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Taught as a professor in the United States
c. 2004

She held teaching posts including at Brown University in Rhode Island.

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Died in Ghana
31 May 2023

Aidoo died at the age of 81 after a short illness.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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