e-Ananse Celebrates Toni Morrison

In a bid to honour Toni Morrison, the Nobel prize literature laureate, who died not long ago, ‘e-Ananse Libraries’, a project solely focused on enhancing the reading culture among Ghanaian students, has organized a book reading event to celebrate the life of the late storyteller.

The event saw the attendance of prominent writers, media personalities and the general public.

Six renowned writers, namely Bisi Adjapon, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Kofi Akpabli, Mamle Kabu, Empi Baryeh and Nana Awere Damoah took patrons through all the concepts of Toni Morrison books.

Why Celebrating Toni Morrison?

Writer and Publisher Kofi Akpabli indicated that the celebration of Toni was needed because of the experience she placed in her work.

”Celebrating and remembering the legacy of Toni Morrison was needed because she has just passed, and it’s such a big loss to the community of writers. She charted a path that made the lives of black people more palpable. Prior to her, people had had issues understanding what the black situation was.

”She showed an inner way of depicting the real identity of black struggle. For Christ sake, this is the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize. She deserves every sort of celebration. She was just marvelous”, he said in an interview with THE NEW PUBLISHER, and hailed the idea behind the establishment of the Ananse Libraries’.

According to him, reading is one of the most fundamental skills one needs to learn to be successful in life.
”This is my first time at such an environment. It’s very unique. The idea is brilliant. The fact that the Ananse story is going to be told in digital terms, in more audio terms, as well as current technology is more exciting. I think we need more of such to boost the habit of reading in the country.” he indicated.

Year Of Return

The celebration of Year of Return in Ghana to mark 400 years since the first black slaves landed in Jamestown, Virginia, also contributed in bringing people from the diaspora to the Toni Morrison celebration.

They included Nicole Jonas, Simmons Ari Parker, Madam Jonas White, Rosaria Marvin, Bozoma Saint, among others.

”We are here to learn more about Ghanaian music and also about the African roots. We’ve heard the name Toni Morrison before, but we never knew all these exclusives about her personality. We are happy to be part of this celebration. We look forward to more”.

The celebration happens to be the third edition of the e-Ananse book reading session in Osu. Previous editions were directed by Stevie Nii-Adu Mensah, author of ‘It’s Cold oo’ and Madam Bisi Adjapon, author ‘Of Women and Frogs’.

e-Ananse Library Mission

The e-Ananse Libraries are to help revitalize Ghana’s reading culture and provide people with the tools to compete in the 21st Century by giving them access to high-quality contemporary literature, state-of-the-art computing facilities, and world-class literary events.

Each library has an e-Ananse technology hub, christened the Innovation Hub, which is equipped with internet-enabled PCs to give library-members access to the full range of resources available on the World Wide Web.

West Blue Consultancy aims at using the concept to help improve the standard of education in the country.
The General Manager, Mr. Kingsley Abeyieh, said the libraries are opened every Tuesday to Friday from 12pm to 8pm, and Saturdays from 10am to 6pm.

About Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison was an Author of 11 novels. She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, having published her first novel, ‘The Bluest Eye’, in 1970.

Her 1987 book, ‘Beloved’ told the story of a runaway female slave, and was made into a film starring Oprah Winfrey in 1998.

She once said: “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”

In 1996, she was honoured with the National Book Foundation’s Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and in 2012, President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Morrison was also the first female African-American editor at Random House. She championed writers of colour and published the likes of Gayl Jones, Henry Dumas, Muhammad Ali and Angela Davis. She also taught at Princeton University.