The Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) has called on Africans to appreciate the works of African writers as part of the larger development of the African continent.
This was contained in a press statement issued in Accra as the GAW celebrated this year’s International African Writer’s (IAW) day on Sunday.
The IAW day which coincides with the creation of Pan African Writers Day (PAWA), is an opportunity for Africans to celebrate the creativity of African writers in the socio-economic development of the African continent.
In the statement copied to the Ghanaian Times and signed by the President of GAW, Mr. Francis Gbormittah, IAW-day was established during the Conference of African Ministers of Education and Culture in Cotonou, Benin in 1991.
Mr. Gbormittah said the GAW applauds the immense contributions of its members and that of all African writers’ unflinching determination attached to the transformation of the society.
The President of GAW also appreciated them for sustaining the values of tradition and culture through their creative writings.
According to him, the association recognised the immense contribution and achievements of the late Professor Atukwei Okai, the former Secretary-General of PAWA to the association.
To them, Abdul Razak Gurnah’s, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a signal that African writers are progressively moving in the right direction.
GAW urges its members not to forget their core mandate to serve as a channel for social change and to become an effective force to advance national and Pan African objectives.
GAW has, therefore, scheduled to host monthly activities such as discussion on various books, poetry recitals and performances, book readings among others to celebrate the day.
BY VICTOR A. BUXTON
