December 16th, 2009:
Check out Aflame Books. They are a UK publisher who specializes in African, South American, and Middle Eastern writing.
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October 30th, 2009:
The Ghanaian Women Writers Forum will be launching next Thursday. If you are in Accra, don't miss it! Here is their press release:
The Ghana Women Writer’s Forum
“A combination of the realities of the current African environment actively deprives African writers the facilities and resources that make writing a little easier and effective. There are no supporting structures for writers outside their own resources. Meanwhile, African women writers are once again at the lower end of the scale."
Ama Ata Aidoo
Executive Director
Mbaasem Foundation
"On a continent that does not consider writing a full time profession, African writers face a myriad of challenges. So there have been no institutional – private or governmental – responses to issues such as how to develop the art and craft and writing, how to make that art sustain the professionals in it, and also how to meet writers’ other important needs like legal and publishing counseling."
Kinna Likimani
Consultant
Mbaasem Foundation
We Ghanaian women writers have worked alone whilst trying to deal with the many hats we wear in society, at home, at work. The Ghana Women Writer’s Forum has provided a great opportunity to communicate with each other and to share our work. It has so far served as a beacon of hope for women writers to achieve their dream of getting published. It is important that our society through our craft, understand the issues women face. Then working together to alleviate the hardship, poverty and numerous challenges we can make this a better society. The Ghana Women Writer’s Forum is under the umbrella of the Mbaasem Foundation and is being funded by the European Union. We will be launching our Forum on Thursday 5th November 2009 at Cuppa Cappuccino, No 6, 3rd Close, off Volta Street, Airport Residential Area from 7.30 -9.30 p.m.
The evening is themed “Some Bards and a Band”.
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October 28th, 2009:
Prince Mensah has started a new press, Mensa Press, and has five submission calls:
Call for Submissions for The War Against War Anthology: Mensa Press seeks poetry that speaks against war and about the atrocities committed in its name. Attach three – five poems to the body of an e-mail and send it to mensapress@gmail.com. If your entries are selected, you will be required to send us your full name, address, phone number, a picture and brief biography of yourself to the email. You will be required to sign a release form before your poetry is used in the anthology. Payment would be 3 copies of the anthology to each poet whose poetry is used. Deadline for submission is December 31st, 2009.
Call for Submissions for Visions of the Motherland Anthology: Mensa Press seeks poetry from African poets which celebrates the various cultures, tribes and people of Africa. Attach three – five poems to the body of an e-mail and send it to mensapress@gmail.com. If your entries are selected, you will be required to send us your full name, address, phone number, a picture and brief biography of yourself to the email. You will be required to sign a release form before your poetry is used in the anthology. Payment would be 3 copies of the anthology to each poet whose poetry is used. Deadline for submission is January 31st, 2009.
Call for Submissions for Defiled Sacredness Anthology: Mensa Press seeks poetry from all over the world about the effects of rape and sexual abuse on society and the individual. Attach three – five poems to the body of an e-mail and send it to mensapress@gmail.com. If your entries are selected, you will be required to send us your full name, address, phone number, a picture and brief biography of yourself to the email. You will be required to sign a release form before your poetry is used in the anthology. Payment would be 3 copies of the anthology to each poet whose poetry is used. Deadline for submission is December 31st, 2009.
Call for Submissions for Whispers in The Whirlwind Anthology: Mensa Press seeks poetry from African poets about socio-economic challenges in Africa. Suggested themes are corruption, tribalism, cronyism, bureaucracy, coup d’états and any other situation that stagnates the progress of African countries. Attach three – five poems to the body of an e-mail and send it to mensapress@gmail.com. If your entries are selected, you will be required to send us your full name, address, phone number, a picture and brief biography of yourself to the email. You will also be required to sign a release form before your poetry is used in the anthology. Payment would be 3 copies of the anthology to each poet whose poetry is used. Deadline for submission is January 31st, 2009.
Call for Submissions for We Come From One Place Anthology: Mensa Press seeks poetry from all over the world about the ills of racism, sexism, ethno-centricism and nepotism. Attach three – five poems to the body of an e-mail and send it to mensapress@gmail.com. If your entries are selected, you will be required to send us your full name, address, phone number, a picture and brief biography of yourself to the email. You will be required to sign a release form before your poetry is used in the anthology. Payment would be 3 copies of the anthology to each poet whose poetry is used. Deadline for submission is December 31st, 2009.
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September 8th, 2009:
A note of thanks has been sent from Van G. Garrett, following the publication of his Snaps of Ghana series, that he wished for us to share with our readers:
September 8, 2009
Dear One Ghana, One Voice and its Supporters:
Thank you for supporting my month-long literary and visual arts exhibit. Snaps of Ghana: Poetry and Photography is my way of highlighting a fraction of the beauty found in Ghana. I read every post and comment that readers submitted, and I appreciate those who took the time out to comment about my work. Additionally, I appreciate those that took a more reflective/reflexive approach.
It is heart-touching to know that my art has inspired others to look at the Continent and the world anew.
Again, I want to thank OGOV and its readers for making my first international show a successful exhibit. I look forward to creating more sincere art that challenges and educates audiences worldwide.
All the very best,
Van G. Garrett / Fui Koshi
vanggarrett(at)gmail.com
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August 13th, 2009:
Akwantuo, a new magazine of Ghanaian writing, has been launched. It will soon feature a poem by OGOV's own L.S. Mensah. Be sure to take a look!
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August 9th, 2009:
OGOV contributor Laban Hill has written a travel article on Cape Coast and Elmina for the New York Times, in which he mentions his (and Martin Egblewogbe's) Ghana Poetry Project. You can read the article here.
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July 30th, 2009:
Our August 2009 content will be a first for OGOV: a month dedicated to the work of one poet. We will be featuring the work of Van G. Garrett. He has completed a major project - 14 poems and 14 photos from his travels in Ghana last year.
Because of the number of poems, we will be changing our publishing schedule, with updates every 2-3 days, instead of once a week. We hope you enjoy!
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July 1st, 2009:
Today we begin our month-long tribute to soccer/football! You can follow the series here, and view past series here.
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April 20th, 2009:
Today we reached 50,000 hits on OGOV. Thanks to everyone who has contributed and visited over the past two years and made this happen!
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April 3rd, 2009:
Nigeria's Farafina Magazine is asking for your input on who they should interview next, and what questions they should ask. Join in on the discussion here.
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March 15th, 2009:
OGOV is on Facebook! Check it out here.
Want to help out or contribute to our Facebook page? Contact our Facebook Administrator, Prince Mensah, at pryncemensah(at)yahoo.com.
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March 1st, 2009:
Today we celebrate our two-year anniversary! Thanks to our readers and writers for bringing us this far!
As has become a tradition, we mark each new year with a new template design for the site. You can let us know what you think of the new look here.
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February 28th, 2009:
Press release from Zion Publishing:
A NEW PUBLISHING HOUSE IS BORN
We seek to create more published writers than ever before particularly in Africa
After years of hassle by Poets and Writers to get their books published in Ghana and many parts of Africa, a new publishing house is born at last.
Zion publishing gives the author the opportunity to get 10 complimentary copies of their books and also get royalties of up to 30% anytime their books are sold.
There are very few publishing houses these days and thus first time writers find it very difficult to get the right professional support to enable them publish their work. Don’t look any further as no publishing house gives as much royalties and support as we do.
One Ghana, One Voice, the new online magazine (www.oneghanaonevoice.com) which has provided a platform for Ghanaian poets and for poetry on Ghana’s culture, people, places, and history has done so well and we hope to compliment that effort.
Zion Publishing intends to give writers a hand by typesetting their manuscripts, proof editing, designing the cover page and finally coming out with the real book.
We are currently accepting manuscripts from potentially good writers and hope this creates an opportunity for each and every writer to see the dream of getting published come true. ‘The arc of the moral universe is long but bends towards justice’ as Martin Luther King Jr. said and we hope to give the justice that has eluded writers all these years to them by paying for what they do best - writing.
More information or interviews can be arranged by contacting Mr. Adomako-Gyimah (+233242271869 or +233262271869)
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February 26th, 2009:
Martin Egblewogbe and Laban Carrick Hill are editing an anthology of emerging Ghanaian poets under the age of 40. They are soliciting submissions of up to four poems until April 30. The anthology will be published in Ghana by Woeli Publishing. Please send submissions to Laban Carrick Hill at labanhill(at)gmail.com or Martin Egblewogbe at m.egblewogbe(at)gmail.com.
Laban also runs a blog that is showcasing some of the videos he made while recording Ghanaian poets last Fall, a project which was a collaboration with OGOV. You can view that blog here.
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February 3rd, 2009:
We've added a new feature to the site: "Follow this Blog". It's in the sidebar =======>
By clicking on "follow this blog" and registering, you can keep track of our activities, and the activities of other blogs, remotely. Plus, you can show that you are a fan!
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January 31st, 2009:
Ben Hinson, a Nigerian-Ghanaian-American living in New York City has released his debut novel "Three Months". Read more about it here.
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January 1st, 2009 - 2008 in Review:
It has been a busy 2008 for One Ghana, One Voice, our first full year in operation. In 2008 we published 52 issues, featuring 45 poems by 32 poets from all parts of Ghana, as well as poets from Europe and North America. In addition to that, we ran three Roundtable Discussions and three thematically-linked Special Series. Our readership rose by over 50% in 2008 and our readers became more active, with 225 comments posted by readers.
Internally, our "staff" grew from two to four, with the addition of Prince Mensah and Vida Ayitah to the team. We also added Emmanuel Sigauke's skills as a teacher and editor through our Writers Service. All in all, a great year!
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December 11th, 2008:
OGOV's policy on commenting during the election runoff:
We here at OGOV encourage intelligent discussion on all matters related to Ghana and poetry. As a poetry site, though, we are politically neutral, and are not the appropriate venue for comments that slander or praise particular candidates. Any such inappropriate comments posted on this site will be promptly removed.
In this way we hope to be a magazine that can continue to serve all Ghanaians.
Yours,
The OGOV Team
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November 1st, 2008:
OGOV Press Release:
Major Project to Record the Voices of Ghana's Poets
American poet and teacher Laban Hill, in partnership with One Ghana, One Voice, Ghana's only online poetry magazine, will be travelling the country throughout November in a major project to video record Ghanaian poets reading their work. These recordings will be profiled on One Ghana, One Voice and will be archived both there and on the PEN America website.
Hill, who is currently teaching English on exchange at the University of Cape Coast, will be making himself available to appointments with interested poets throughout the month of November. For those living in Accra, he will be traveling to the city and making recordings at the University of Ghana, Legon on the weekend of November 16th-17th.
When asked about why he was undertaking the project, Hill asserted, "I am hoping to promote as many writers from Ghana as possible while I’m here and when I return to the United States. My goal is to promote the poetry of Ghana to the world and to document living Ghanaian poets and their work."
All poets, both established and up-and-coming, are encouraged to contact Hill and book an appointment. He can be reached at 020-6250402 or by email at labanhill(at)yahoo.com.
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June 27th, 2008:
Another major writing conference is coming to Ghana, this time to Busua. The organizers noted to me that registration fees for Ghanaian residents would be significantly reduced:
The International Writers' Workshop
Busua, July 27 - Aug. 7, 2008
The IWW invites applications from both emerging and established writers to study poetry, fiction or nonfiction writing in a workshop setting led by award-winning writer, filmmaker and Stanford University lecturer, Shane Book. Tuition scholarships available. Application deadline is July 18. For more information please visit: www.theinternationalworkshops.com or contact info(at)theinternationalworkshops.com.
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June 16th, 2008:
Major Writing Conference coming to Accra:
The first annual Pan-African Literary Forum, sponsored by New York University, will be taking place in Accra and Kokrobitey from July 3 - 18th, 2008.
Read more info on the PALF website, and view the conference flyer here.
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May 29th, 2008:
Some great news and a call for assistance from Nii Ayikwei Parkes of the Ghana Writers' Fund:
Hi all,
It's been a while since I sent an update, but we have been working in the background and I am pleased to announce a major breakthrough for stocking the library at the Ghana Association of Writers HQ. The Irish Writers' Centre have pledged over 50 titles (hardback and paperback) from first time UK authors to us. Now the challenge is we need to raise money or lobby a courier company to freight them to Ghana. If anyone has any ideas or links or works for a company that might consider paying for a one-off shipment to Accra, please get back to me on nii.parkes@gmail.com so we can move this forward. What's even more exciting is that since the books are stock from an annual book award scheme run at the IWC, they will give us new books every year! I have always maintained that a culture starved of reading material cannot develop a strong crop of writers so I am ecstatic!
Thank you all for your support so far. We will be making changes to make the website a 'proper' site and the IWC will be one of the first organisations listed as a partner.
In Struggle,
Nii Ayikwei Parkes
& volunteers
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May 13th, 2008:
A submission call from Dike Okoro, professor of World Literature at Olive Hardy College, Chicago:
Emerging Voices of African Short Fiction & Poetry 2008-09
We invite all unpublished and well-established authors to submit their original work. Original work in English and any of the indigenous African languages, including (Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, Swati, Vend, Tsonga, Ndebele, Yoruba, Hausa, Ibo, Kiswahili, Gikuyu, Amharic,Tigrinya, Tigre, Arabic, etc), will be considered. Please include translations in English).
Fiction: Submit one short story (Entry may have any theme or subject but should not exceed 800 words. Stories must be original and should not have been previously published anywhere. Handwritten entries will not be accepted. Submit short story entry with a bio and contact details.
Poetry: submit between 4-6 poems (Poems to fit a full page of the anthology). Submit poems with a bio (45 words) and contact details. Deadline: All submissions must be received no later than July 25, 2008.
All submissions must be emailed to: (Mphande.1@osu.edu) & (doke_29@yahoo.com)
Paste submission into the body of the email. No word attachments please. Entrants must be residents of any country in Africa, those born on the continent but currently reside outside the continent, etc), and naturalized citizens of any country on the continent. We encourage entries from West Africa, East Africa, Saharan Africa, and Africa south of the continent (especially Burundi, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Angola, Zambia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda & Zimbabwe), especially women. Compensation: Contributors will receive a copy of the anthology upon publication. All contributors retain copyrights of their material/work. A major US publisher will publish this anthology in the fall of 2009, and a distinguished African writer/scholar of high standing will write the foreword to the book.
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May 12th, 2008:
We've updated our "Contributors" page by introducing a labelling system. Now, if you click on the link that says "Read More: NAME" at the bottom of a given post, you will be taken to a list of all the work by that writer on the site.
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April 19th, 2008:
Two new news items here at OGOV:
1. We have set up a Writers' Service, lead by OGOV regular Emmanuel Sigauke. Click here for more information.
2. We are looking for poems on the theme of "Ananse stories". View our submission guidelines if you are interested in submitting something.
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March 15th:
The OGOV team is growing. Julian and I are proud to announce that we've added two new representatives to OGOV - Vida Ayitah (Ghanaian Promotions) and Prince Mensah (North American Promotions). Julian is now in charge of European promotions and African promotions outside of Ghana. To help clear up "who does what", we've also added a "Masthead" link in the sidebar.
Already busy at work, Vida and Prince could always use your assistance. Most notably, Vida is beginning efforts to boost OGOV's profile in Ghana through the news media and through a postering campaign. If you live in Ghana and are interested in helping, email us at oneghanaonevoice(at)gmail.com, or email Vida directly at akusefako(at)yahoo.com, and we'll set you to work!
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March 1st:
We have a new template! Thanks again to Marta Iniewska for the photo, from Kejetia Market in Kumasi.
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January 27th:
Aderemi Adegbite's "20th: Poetry Potter" Series, Sabo, Nigeria:
Where: Word2Sound, Formerly JAZZVILLE, Majaro Street, Onike, Sabo, Nigeria.
When: The last Saturday of every month, 2-7 PM
How much: Free!
Contact Aderemi for more info or to RSVP by email at remlartpoems(at)yahoo.com or by phone at 0708 428 7828
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January 5th: Last month's African Drums Book and Poetry Festival organized by Mbizo Chirasha in Harare reportedly went very well. Emmanuel Sigauke has posted photos from the event on his Munyori Poetry Journal site. You can view the photos here.
Congrats to Mbizo and all who assisted him!
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January 4th: In order to reduce clutter on the site, we've broken our "Archives" and "News and Notices" pages up by year - all the content from both still exists on back pages, but the initial page for each is now just 2008 content.
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January 1st, 2008 - 2007 in Review:
One Ghana, One Voice has had a great 2007. Founded in February and launched in March of this year, we have gone on to feature 39 poems by 27 poets. Our poets have been a diverse group, coming from all regions of Ghana (except Brong-Ahafo, a goal for 2008!). We have also featured poets from Europe and North America, as well as other parts of Africa.
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2007 News and Notices Archive
This page has been created as an attempt to forge connections between those interested in, and knowledgeable about, Ghanaian poetry. If you would like to post a Ghanaian poetry-related notice: an event listing, a question, a submission call, etc. please email us at oneghanaonevoice(at)gmail.com. Subject line: "Notices".
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