Voices of Ghana : Literary Contributions to the Ghana Broadcasting System, 1955-57 (Second Edition)

Annotated, scholarly edition of the original landmark anthology, Voices of Ghana, containing poetry, plays, stories and essays first broadcast on radio in the years leading up to Ghana's independence. Ghana's first radio programme of original literature, The Singing Net, began in 1955 as part of the development of a national radio station in the years leading to independence in 1957. Its central aim was to bring Ghanaianwriters to the forefront of cultural programming as part of the Africanisation of radio in Ghana. It was a critical cultural expression of the radical changes that were unfolding across the colonial world. The programme successfully introduced listeners to a series of pioneering Ghanaian authors who would go on to become significant figures of Anglophone West African literature in the early postcolonial decades: Efua Sutherland, Frank Parkes, Amu Djoleto,Geormbeeyi Adali-Mortty, Albert Kayper-Mensah, Kwesi Brew, Cameron Duodu, J.H. Nketia and many others. The anthology, Voices of Ghana (1958) is a collection of the poetry, short stories, play scripts and critical discussions that were aired on the Gold Coast Broadcasting Service (later the Ghana Broadcasting System) (1954-1958). Both The Singing Net and Voices of Ghana were edited by the BBC producer, Henry Swanzy. The context of Ghana's independence, the singularity of the anthology's history, and the significance of many of the writers all contribute to the importance of this text. This second edition is a timely intervention into recent debateswithin postcolonial studies and world literature on the importance of broadcast culture in the dissemination of "new literatures" from the colonial world. It includes an unabridged version of the 1958 text, a new introduction andfootnoted annotations, which draw on extensive research undertaken in Ghana and Britain. It will appeal to a general readership with an interest in Ghanaian literature, 1950s broadcast culture, the figure of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the making of a national literature in the era of decolonisation, as well as engaging scholars. The new edition presents a deeply insightful and engaging history of Voices of Ghana and reintroduces the original works on theoccasion of the anthology's 60th anniversary. Victoria Ellen Smith is a Lecturer in the Department of History, University of Ghana, Legon Ghana & Nigeria: Sub-Saharan Publishers Frontcover Contents List of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgements No Wings - Frank Ernest Kobina Parkes Preface to Second Edition. Voices of Ghana: a Wealth of Good to Ghana’s Cultural Heritage - Mustapha Abdul-Hamid Foreword to Second Edition. Voices of Ghana: Behold! The Glorious Origins of It All! - Atukwei Okai Introduction to Second Edition. Three Years Catch in The Singing Net: creating Voices of Ghana - Victoria Ellen Smith A Note of History - Henry Swanzy (1957) Should I Ever... - Israel Kafu Hoh THE COUNTRYSIDE AKAN The Poetry of Drums - Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia Across the Prah - Andrew Amankwa Opoku The Tale of Ananse and Twala the Thief - T. C. Aninfeng Ananse’s Punishment - J. K. O. Lindsay Ohia and the Thieving Deer - J. V. Mensah ‘The Iron Bar’ - C. V. Hutchinson Drum Proverbs - Joseph Hanson Kwabena Nketia Afram - Andrew Amankwa Opoku A Fisherman’s Day - Samuel K. Otoo Komenda Hill - Bossman Laryea Ahanamanta (Harmattan) - Joseph Ghartey (Kobena Gyata Akwa) Mami Takyiwa’s Misfortune - Albert W. Kayper-Mensah New Life at Kyerefaso - Efua Theodora Sutherland No Ten Without Nine - Lionel K. Idan EWE Ewe Poetry - Israel Kafu Hoh Akoli the Rich - L. K. Safo (Translated by Roland Agodzo) Poems of Eweland - Israel Kafu Hoh Down Below the Volta River - Adolph Kwesi Afordoanyi Agbadja GA-ADANGME August Fish - E. K. Martey A Hawker’s Day - Richard Bentil DAGOMBA Kamyana Ka Ti Balim Tingbͻŋ (Come Back to the Land) - Albert Bako Derimanu Each for a Purpose - Albert Bako Derimanu HAUSA The Hausa Trader - Joseph H. Sackey Wakan Sule (A Song for a Shilling) - Malam Bello Osman The Tragedy of Nana Kwame Dziratuo II - H. K. Bidi Setsoafia THE TOWN Tumble-Down Woods - Geormbeeyi Adali-Mortty Tough Guy in Town - Martin Cameron Duodu In the Streets of Accra - Andrew Amankwa Opoku Snuff and the Ashes - Frank Ernest Kobina Parkes Radio Dance Hour - F. K. Chapman Wardy This is Experience Speaking - Peter Kwame Buahin Palm Leaves of Childhood - Geormbeeyi Adali-Mortty Hot Day - Osborne Henry Kwesi Brew The Literary Society - Henry Ofori (a.k.a. Carl Mutt) It’s Ritual Murder - Lionel K. Idan The Wrong Packing Case - Frank Kofi Nyaku Lines on Korle Bu - Kenneth Donald MacNeill Stewart Pay Day - G. R. Hagan The Walk of Life (Agbezoli) - Israel Kafu Hoh Peace - Lebrecht Wilhelm Fifi Hesse Heaven is a Fine Place - Adolph Kwesi Afordoanyi Agbadja Ata - Israel Kafu Hoh Complaint - E. K. Martey To My Mother - E. A. Nee-Adjabeng Ankrah Oh! My Brother - I. K. Ametsime The Homeless Boy - E. Archie Winful The Lone Horse - Solomon Alexander Amu Djoleto The Perfect Understander - Albert W. Kayper-Mensah The Woods Decay - Osborne Henry Kwesi Brew On Parting - Joyce Naa Adoley Addo To the Night Insects - Albert W. Kayper-Mensah The Blind Man from the North - Albert W. Kayper-Mensah A Second Birthday - Albert W. Kayper-Mensah In God’s Tired Face - Albert W. Kayper-Mensah The Executioner’s Dream - Osborne Henry Kwesi Brew Had I Known - G. M. K. Mensah Re-incarnation - Seth D. Cudjoe Ancestral Faces - Osborne Henry Kwesi Brew ‘O Forest, Dear Forest’ - Samuel E. Archibald-Aikins My Sea Adventure - Samuel E. Archibald-Aikins The Passing of The King - Albert W. Kayper-Mensah Patriotism - Joyce Naa Adoley Addo African Heaven - Frank Ernest Kobina Parkes The Ghosts - Albert W. Kayper-Mensah The Herdsman from Wa - Kwaku Poku Pa Grant Due - Peter Eric Adotey Addo The Mosquito and the Young Ghanaian - Kwesi Assah Nyako Unity in Diversity - Frank Kofi Nyaku The Journey to Independence - Isaac B. Dadson Ode to the Hon. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah - Prince Haasnem Nehrbot The Dawn of the New Era - J. Aggrey-Smith The Meaning of Independence - Robert Kweku Atta Gardiner National Anthem - Philip Comi Gbeho The Contributors Index