Beholding the serial writer extraordinaire in whom readers have faith of narrative excellence and episodic grandeur
An interview with Samelia Bawuah. By Darko Antwi
Samelia Bawuah has always been an avid reader; she has been reading since she was three years old, hence her complete understanding of what young people enjoy reading. She is an Author, Writer, Publisher, Motivational speaker and a business woman. Being the first of 4 siblings she has played the big sister role long enough to understand the reading needs within the various age brackets. Read the Expanded Profile
DARKO: Going through your books, a reader would most likely get fond of your subtlety of expression and mastery of technical words. What shapes you into such prosperous vocabulary?
SAMELIA: Books have been a very good teacher. My mother actively read to me as a child. I started picking up key words by the time I was 3 and I have not put down a book since. I went to a good Catholic school where the foundation was great. I picked up my grammatical basics with ease. I tell parents all the time, the foundation your child receives at Nursery, Kindergarten and Lower Primary is of the greatest importance. I was also an only child till I was 7. Books were and are still my closest friends. So I credit all the thousands of books, I have read up until this point and my foundational education to my vocabulary
DARKO: How far has your religious beliefs influenced your literature?
SAMELIA: I am a Christian, a flawed one but a Christian nonetheless. I was raised Catholic. I attended Catholic Schools till I finally entered University. Church and its teachings have always been a part of my life. And as writers we are told to write about what we know, right?
DARKO: Your publisher, Sage Literary House, recently opened a book-promotional reading competition for children. Apart from your sales which possibly shot up, what other benefits can you recall?
SAMELIA: My publisher, Sage Literary House always run promotions when introducing or reintroducing new books unto the market. It helps bring books to the attention of the target audience and increases sales. These promotions over the years have helped me sell more books than would have been possible otherwise. It also gets my name out there, so I am grateful for their proactivity.The participants win lovely prizes like book hampers, Sage branded items, school supplies. In a particular year, the participants got seed money to open bank accounts. The publishing house likes to be as creative as possible.
DARKO: Credited to your authorship, Papa Yaw at the Zoo, is a children’s book with colourful picture content. The art is indeed engaging! If such illustration could obstruct attention for the text, how good would it be to the collective appreciation of a book meant for readers who could easily go adrift by sight?
SAMELIA: I think young readers need as much colour as possible. Why are their products so colourful otherwise? And as a person, I have never met a colour I didn’t like. Papa Yaw at the Zoo is a colourful book and it aims to teach children about various animals and colours. I think the colour and the illustrations rather enhances the book and I hope the children do not read it just once but every time they pick up the book they learn something new; an animal’s offspring’s name. The colour of a giraffe etc.
DARKO: One of your realistic approaches to writing is that; in some episodes of your fiction, the belief in superstition is held. Have you thought of the effect this contra natural science subject could have on an innocent reader whose culture differs from the concept explained in your books?
SAMELIA: I am superstitious because of where I come from. Most Africans and people of African descent are. We grew up on myths and ‘toli’ and that is what we know. Eg. As a child I was told not to whistle at night because it invites ghosts. It has stayed with me to date but now I think about it, I think someone thought of it to preserve the quiet of the night. Man! Africans are superstitious and I am a culprit. The aim of my books is to inform. It leaves a reader to make up his mind. I only hope I don’t foist ideas on my dear readers… lol
DARKO: There is something I find exclusive about the social dynamics of your series, The Judacan Adventures. It is full of fun, mischief and courtesy. Yet, it is almost silent about what a reader might imagine about the opposite school, St. Jude's Academy for Boys. Concerning that void, it appears you haven't the interest nor resource to write about the world of boys. Have you?
SAMELIA: With the Judacan Boys, believe me I have tried but found out I am ill equipped to do it as much justice as I would like to see it. I have tried getting my brother who is a good story teller to tell it. But something always comes up. If I find the right person who would do the boys' school justice, I would jump on board.
DARKO: During an interview on the Super Morning Show, the Education Minister, Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, advised the Takoradi Faith School Tensions that “A school is a place for children to learn to respect diversity and to tolerate opinion differences.” In page 19 of Shadows of the Term, Sister Ngozi Margaret advises similarly. Reflecting on the importance of the speeches by both characters, how fallen, in your observation, is the tolerance level within the larger Ghanaian society?
SAMELIA: I think Ghana is one of the most tolerant places to live when it comes to tribes and religion. According to our Ghanaian history the process of traveling away from home to attend Secondary School and to be thrown into a melting pot of different tribes helped us to love people coming from a reality that was not necessarily our own. As I earlier said, I went to a Catholic School, I had Moslem dorm and class mates, they prayed when they had to but they also attended Mass because it was compulsory for everyone. The protestants (those who were Christian but not Catholic) also attended Mass in the morning but had their service in the evening. I think our melting pot schools helped us as Ghanaians to also inter marry. I don’t know too many people in Accra who claim to be 100% one tribe. I come from 3 regions so I see myself as a Ghanaian rather than by my tribe.
DARKO: On the premise of poor distribution network and dishonest retailers, you have expressed regret and resolve about the writing business in Ghana. If the system hasn’t gotten any better since, how could it be improved?
SAMELIA: The distribution network has not improved and dishonesty still rules the day in the book business. As a writer it is a murky path to charter. I pray more honest business people will invest in the distribution channels but I don’t see that happening any time soon. We just do the best we can with what we have. So until then, I continue to visit as many schools, talk to as many heads of schools and sell what I have the old fashioned way.
DARKO: It hasn’t been a regular role for a writer to donate bulk of books. But you have done so on several occasions. Isn’t that gesture a sheer publicity craft to lift Mrs Bawuah, a brilliant but barely known writer, from obscurity? What at all motivates you?
SAMELIA: I donate more books than the media would ever find out. Reading is a problem in Ghana. Children are not reading as they should. I aim to write books that can encourage a reluctant reader to pick up a book and fall in love. Some of the children are not reading because they cannot afford the books I write, so for those readers, I have a responsibility to get them reading books they would otherwise not read.
DARKO: Literary precedent suggests that writers who do young adults and children’s books often end up as authors of literature on parenting. Do you sense your destiny in that order?
SAMELIA: Honestly I don’t know. You read so much, you are always looking for the Science behind why children act a certain way. I see the correlation between writing for children and parenting. I want to own a school so maybe that will be my own parenting book…lol
DARKO: Best wishes and many thanks! The Street admires you!
