Discovering the graphic writer whose skill is
blessed to restore Ghana’s image amongst the excellence and prestige of world
literature
An interview with Ayesha Harruna Attah. By Darko Antwi
DARKO: I have read the sacred and the stimuli of contemporary Ghanaian fiction. But I am yet to read anyone who writes as graceful as you do. For your level of proficiency, I can only imagine you were born a storyteller. Weren’t you?
DARKO: I have read the sacred and the stimuli of contemporary Ghanaian fiction. But I am yet to read anyone who writes as graceful as you do. For your level of proficiency, I can only imagine you were born a storyteller. Weren’t you?
AYESHA: Thank you. That’s really kind of you. I was certainly surrounded by storytellers and started reading at a young age. I also began trying my hands at writing quite early, and having journalists as parents only helped fuel my passion.
DARKO: From the blogger Akotowaa Ofori to NoVoilet Bulawayo, to the Gulf News, you have been praised for distinctive quality of literature. It makes me doubt if there has been a spot in your career where your works went through a fire of criticism. If any, how important have you deemed it?
AYESHA: Going to graduate school is one way to get your work critiqued and my stories and novel chapters have certainly been through intense critiques. Workshops, too. Before a book comes out, it goes through several levels of editing, so I don’t think any writer can get through life without criticism. In terms of reviews, every book is like a cup of tea—it’s not going to please everyone (some might find it too hot, too cold, lukewarm...) My strategy is to find the good even in the harsh reviews and leave out what is not constructive.
DARKO: In the world of Harmattan Rain, where the livelihood and survival of women is prevalent, would you affirm it (the book) as a creation that seeks to assert your perception of gender inequality / suppression in modern societies?
AYESHA: My first goal was to tell a story and to try to reflect reality/society as much as possible, because the stories that resonate with me the most as the most realistic ones. In trying to hold up a mirror up to what I’ve seen in our societies, yes, gender inequality and suppression are very real issues that plague us. Therefore, these are issues that will come up again and again in my work.
DARKO: In an interview with Africa Book Club, you mentioned Toni Morrison’s works as the inspiration behind your teenage wish “to write a world full of strong female characters”. Out of the many characters in your novels and short stories, with which
have you, so far, come close to
presenting feminine strength or their potential to influence?
AYESHA: Each character plays a role in representing feminine strength. Akua Afriyie as a single mother, Lizzie starting her life with next to nothing, same as Atsu in Saturday’s Shadows, Sugri having to begin life in a new culture and deal with all the misunderstanding that that comes with. Each of these women is however able to make her way by dint of her character and femininity.
DARKO: Upon the public herald of your talent, during her BBC World Service interview, the legendary Ama Ata Aidoo also mailed you a note at the release of your second title. Reminding yourself of the content, how much does her support mean to you?
AYESHA: Everything! I read Anowa when I was in Junior Secondary School. And reading a Ghanaian writer at that age, made me realize that one could live one’s life writing stories and plays and poems. In short, she was an inspiration. So to have the same Ama Ata Aidoo praise my work, meant everything to me.
DARKO: If a critic concludes that the writing of Saturday’s Shadows has put you on the pedestal of a clever camouflage artist (in the sense that the narration is more anecdotal of your family history /events than it is verisimilitude of general realities of a West African socio-political era), how would you respond?
AYESHA: Well, we always start from what we know, don’t we? And even if one tries to get away from oneself, I am convinced that it is impossible, even on a subconscious level. That said, as a writer the more specific I can get the better, so I’d much rather write about a specific family (even if some readers decide that it is anecdotal of my family history) than portray a general reality—I am a fiction writer, not a sociologist!
DARKO: How has Saturday’s Kinderen, the Dutch version of Saturday’s Shadows been received? Is there any feedback to grant that the lucidity of the original is not lost in translation?
AYESHA: Saturday’s Kinderen was generally well received. There will always be loss that comes from translating from one language to another: flavors are not quite the same, nuance, too, might get buried. I, however, haven’t received feedback to suggest that too much was lost in translation.
DARKO: For whatever purpose you migrated to Senegal, how integrated has your stay in Dakar been? Perhaps how ostracized do you see yourself at the thought of your home country?
AYESHA: I moved to Senegal to work on a project. It’s been wonderful so far. There are many similarities between Dakar and Accra. I don’t see myself as ostracized at all with regard to Ghana. It is home, and I go back as often as I can.
DARKO: If the periodic pattern of your first two books is a deliberate order to be followed, it leaves the setting-in-time of your next novel very predictable. Would you state the contrary?
AYESHA: I don’t know that there’s a pattern to be seen in setting one novel during forty years (50s to 90s) of Ghana’s history, then focusing on one year in a family’s life in the 90s in a fictional country, and then writing about ten years in 19th century (my upcoming novel) in pre-colonial West Africa. Yes, I am drawn to the historical, but I try not to limit myself to time periods, which I think eliminates the predictability element.
DARKO: You’ve been so brilliant. Thank you very much!
AYESHA: Thank you! Click on Extra to read what Ayesha and Darko have in common
AYESHA: Each character plays a role in representing feminine strength. Akua Afriyie as a single mother, Lizzie starting her life with next to nothing, same as Atsu in Saturday’s Shadows, Sugri having to begin life in a new culture and deal with all the misunderstanding that that comes with. Each of these women is however able to make her way by dint of her character and femininity.
DARKO: Upon the public herald of your talent, during her BBC World Service interview, the legendary Ama Ata Aidoo also mailed you a note at the release of your second title. Reminding yourself of the content, how much does her support mean to you?
AYESHA: Everything! I read Anowa when I was in Junior Secondary School. And reading a Ghanaian writer at that age, made me realize that one could live one’s life writing stories and plays and poems. In short, she was an inspiration. So to have the same Ama Ata Aidoo praise my work, meant everything to me.
DARKO: If a critic concludes that the writing of Saturday’s Shadows has put you on the pedestal of a clever camouflage artist (in the sense that the narration is more anecdotal of your family history /events than it is verisimilitude of general realities of a West African socio-political era), how would you respond?
AYESHA: Well, we always start from what we know, don’t we? And even if one tries to get away from oneself, I am convinced that it is impossible, even on a subconscious level. That said, as a writer the more specific I can get the better, so I’d much rather write about a specific family (even if some readers decide that it is anecdotal of my family history) than portray a general reality—I am a fiction writer, not a sociologist!
DARKO: How has Saturday’s Kinderen, the Dutch version of Saturday’s Shadows been received? Is there any feedback to grant that the lucidity of the original is not lost in translation?
AYESHA: Saturday’s Kinderen was generally well received. There will always be loss that comes from translating from one language to another: flavors are not quite the same, nuance, too, might get buried. I, however, haven’t received feedback to suggest that too much was lost in translation.
DARKO: For whatever purpose you migrated to Senegal, how integrated has your stay in Dakar been? Perhaps how ostracized do you see yourself at the thought of your home country?
AYESHA: I moved to Senegal to work on a project. It’s been wonderful so far. There are many similarities between Dakar and Accra. I don’t see myself as ostracized at all with regard to Ghana. It is home, and I go back as often as I can.
DARKO: If the periodic pattern of your first two books is a deliberate order to be followed, it leaves the setting-in-time of your next novel very predictable. Would you state the contrary?
AYESHA: I don’t know that there’s a pattern to be seen in setting one novel during forty years (50s to 90s) of Ghana’s history, then focusing on one year in a family’s life in the 90s in a fictional country, and then writing about ten years in 19th century (my upcoming novel) in pre-colonial West Africa. Yes, I am drawn to the historical, but I try not to limit myself to time periods, which I think eliminates the predictability element.
DARKO: You’ve been so brilliant. Thank you very much!
AYESHA: Thank you! Click on Extra to read what Ayesha and Darko have in common
Ayesha Harruna Attah published her debut novel, Harmattan Rain (Per Ankh Publishers), in 2009. It was nominated for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Her recently released novel, Saturday's Shadows (World Editions), was shortlisted for the Kwani? Manuscript Project in 2013.
It is available in stores in the UK and online, and translated into Dutch (Uitgeverij De Geus). For inquiries contact Pontas Agency.
Ayesha was educated at Mount Holyoke College, Columbia University, and NYU. She is a 2015 Africa Centre Artists in Residency Award Laureate and Sacatar Fellow, and was shortlisted for the 2015 Miles Morland Foundation Scholarship. She currently lives in Senegal and loves cooking and staring at the ocean.
