Yari Yari Ntoaso 2013 - Accra, Ghana |
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Institute of African American Affairs
New York University
presents
Yari Yari Ntoaso: Continuing the Dialogue
Accra, Ghana, West Africa May 16-19, 2013
THE PROGRAM:
An international symposium of women writers from Africa and its diaspora will be held in Accra, Ghana, West Africa May 16-19, 2013. The symposium is co-sponsored by New York University’s Institute of African American Affairs (IAAA), NYU Africa House, NYU Accra, and Africana Studies Program; hosted by Mbaasem Foundation; and presented by the Organization of Women Writers of Africa Inc (OWWA) with partnership from the Women for Africa Foundation. Yari means the future in the Kuranko language of Sierra Leone, and Ntoaso means understanding and agreement in the Akan language of Ghana.
So far, the 21stcentury has witnessed the creation or reestablishment of women’s and writers’ organizations throughout Africa and its diaspora. Often these organizations both support and are staffed by emerging writers or those whose writing has yet to receive international recognition. Yari Yari Ntoaso marks this moment and provides an opportunity for these organizations, as well as individual writers and scholars, to share information and to build international networks. The symposium will include panels, readings, performances, and film screenings. Yari Yari Ntoaso will be a gathering devoted to the study, criticism, and celebration of the creativity and diversity of women writers of African descent. The conference will also pay tribute to the co-founder and president of the Organization of Women Writers of Africa, Inc. (OWWA), poet Jayne Cortez, who recently made her transition. One of Cortez's many important contributions was the many conferences she helped organize at New York University with IAAA. She was working with IAAA on this third Yari Yari conference in Ghana, which will now be in her honor.
It will provide:
• Opportunity for the exchange of cultural expression and ideas concerning capacity development programs
• Information for the setting up of publishing and distribution networks with existing and new technology
• A platform to address issues of planning and development of cultural institutions
• Encouragement, support, and promotion of the works of young writers
• An environment for the dismantling of self-censorship
• Promotion of artistic expression and freedom of imagination
• A showcase and exhibition space for publications
OWWA and New York University’s Institute of African American Affairs also collaborated on Yari Yari: Black Women Writers and the Future (1997) and Yari Yari Pamberi: Black Women Writers Dissecting Globalization (2004). We hope you will join us to experience the third Yari Yari – and the first one in Africa!
Confirmed Yari Yari Ntoaso Participants:
Deborah Ahenkorah (Ghana – Literary activist)
Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana – Fiction writer, OWWA Co-Founder)
Monica Arac de Nyeko (Uganda/Ghana – Fiction author)
Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro (Puerto Rico – Fiction author)
Ayo Ayoola-Amele (Ghana – Children’s author)
Bibi Bakare-Yusuf (Nigeria – Publisher)
Doreen Baingana (Uganda – Fiction writer)
Laylah Amatullah Barrayn (USA - Photographer)
Samiya Bashir (Somalia/USA – Poet)
Faith Ben-Daniels (Ghana – Scholar of Ghanaian literature & folklore)
Tara Betts (USA – Poet)
Joanne Braxton (USA – Scholar of African-American poetry)
Margaret Busby (Ghana/UK – Editor, publisher)
Lucía Charún-Illescas (Peru/Germany, novelist)
Gabrielle Civil (Haiti/USA – Performance artist, poet)
Anita Cobbinah (Ghana – Activist)
Amma Darko (Ghana – Novelist)
Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah (Ghana – Blogger, writer)
Angela Davis (USA – Scholar of prison abolition)
Gina Dent (USA – Scholar of African-American literature & culture)
Latasha N. Diggs (USA – Performer, poet)
Camille Dungy (USA – Poet)
Ira Dworkin (US/Egypt – Scholar of African-American literature)
Maureen Ngozi Eke (Nigeria/USA – Scholar of African Literature & Film)
Zetta Elliott (Canada/USA – Fiction writer, scholar of literature & publishing)
Akachi Ezeigbo (Nigeria – Children’s author)
María Teresa Fernández de la Vega (Spain - Fundación Mujeres por África)
Gladys M. Francis (Guadeloupe/USA – Scholar of African & Caribbean literature)
Kadija George (UK/Sierra Leone – Publisher, poet)
Ruby Goka (Ghana – Children’s author)
Wangui wa Goro (Kenya – Translator, poet)
Ishraga Mustafa Hamid (Sudan/Austria – Poet)
Khadijah Ibrahiim (UK – Poet)
Philo Ikonya (Kenya – Author, journalist)
Rashidah Ismaili (Benin/USA) – Poet
Mamle Kabu (Ghana – Novelist)
Madhu Kaza (India/USA – Fiction writer)
Jason King (USA – Scholar of music & popular culture)
Rosamond S. King (The Gambia/Trinidad & Tobago/USA – Poet, Performance Artist, Yari Yari Ntoaso Conference Director)
Kinna Likimani (Ghana – Blogger)
Fungai Machirori (Zimbabwe – Blogger, poet)
Michelle Martin (USA – Scholar of children’s literature)
Natalia Molebatsi (South Africa – Poet)
Roshnie Moonsammy (South Africa- Arts administrator)
Angelique Nixon (Bahamas – Scholar of literature & tourism, poet)
Wura-Natasha Ogunji (Nigeria/USA - Performance artist)
Famia Nkansa (Ghana – Poet)
Tess Onwueme (Nigeria- Playwright)
Naana Opoku-Agyemang (Ghana – Scholar)
Virginia Phiri (Zimbabwe – Novelist)
Hermine Pinson (USA – Poet, scholar of African-American literature)
Olumide Popoola (Nigeria/Germany/UK- Novelist, Playwright)
Sapphire (USA – Novelist)
Lola Shoneyin (Nigeria – Novelist, poet)
Eintou Springer (Trinidad & Tobago – Poet, playwright)
Cheryl Sterling (Jamaica/USA – Scholar of African & diaspora literature)
Esi Sutherland-Addy (Ghana – Scholar of African education & culture)
Véronique Tadjo (Cote d’Ivoire/South Africa – Novelist)
Coumba Touré (Mali – Children’s author)
évelyne Trouillot (Haiti – Novelist)
Dzodzi Tsikata (Ghana – Scholar of land reform)
Dorothy Randall Tsuruta (USA – Scholar of African-American women’s literature)
Wana Udobang (Nigeria – Journalist, blogger, radio host)
Gina Athena Ulysse (Haiti/USA – Performance artist, scholar of Caribbean anthropology & blogger)
Rachelle Washington (USA – Literacy scholar)
Helen Yitah (Ghana – Scholar of African literature)
Kuukua Dzigbordi Yomekpe (Ghana - Memoirist)
Janet Badjan Young (The Gambia – Playwright)
