Ghana’s histories aren’t distant stories. They are living, present things that are as vivid as our cultures.
Abraham Aondoanah does a beautiful job of surfacing this truth in his poem ‘The Market at Cape Coast.’ The poem steps back into colonial times while keeping a foot in the present, inviting the reader to see, touch, and feel a market of today and one of centuries past.
By comparison, Mr Poetivist’s ‘Memo: 48 Christianborg to 92 37’ is a loud indictment that moves through time and space. It uses history as a mirror for today's "country and her miseries,” forcing the reader to sit with a final reckoning of how far we may not have come.
This issue urges us to look at Ghana's (hi)stories with clear eyes and slow judgment. Will you?
— Nana T. Baffour-Awuah, Poetry Editor.
I like that ‘Memo: 48 Christianborg to 92 37’ allows us to relive that dreadful moment in history with great imagery while making connections to how these are not just events that stayed in the past, but have a semblance in present times. The form of the poem makes me think about how reflective it is to place history and the present times side by side, and how important it is to see how far we have come or/and what still plagues us as a country.
Also, I really appreciate that these names that should never be buried in our history are being echoed in ‘A Seat Across Time’. This time, it's not just for us to remember the names, but the heroic acts of these outstanding individuals. What really hits me is how it allows us to sit with the fact that these individuals were not "gods" but humans on the forefront of change, reminding us that we can also take action in present times. Perhaps, taking the road less traveled by makes all the difference, after all.
— Mariam Mohammad, Poetry Editor
‘The 1948 Veteran’ sits in an important moment in history, and it feels especially timely considering what is happening in our world today. I love that it explores the life of Martey, a veteran who was practically a stranger to his own child because he was enlisted to fight a war that did not concern him.
It reminds me of Ama Ata Aidoo’s Certain Winds from the South, but unlike Mma Asana whose husband never returned and left her to raise their only child alone, this veteran returned. This story counters erasure by shedding light on the effects of the war on the veterans themselves. It reminds us that the 28th of February 1948 was not just about veterans demanding their due but it was bout holding on to what was left. They had already lost so much, their families, their homes, their communities, and themselves. Whatever they marched for on that day was perhaps the only thing they could hold on to, a chance to begin again and find a way back into their families. Which again was stolen from them by the events of that day. I love the depth. I love the storytelling. It is an important story, and one that is relevant today.
— Nasiba Mbabe Bawa, Prose Editor
What stays with me about ‘Stamped in Metal, Missing in Memory: On Women, Archives and Erasure’ is that it taught me something. It uncovers the radical in the mundane, reminding us to pay attention to the everyday around us for the history that led here. The simultaneous duty and solidarity compelled me, and the clear sense of being a young girl with questions left unanswered; she finds those answers herself and for others like her.
— Emma McDonald, Creative Non-Fiction Editor.
‘Fear Has a Name’ carries a bold historical voice. The narrative perspective is strong and sustained, and the imagery is vivid throughout. It holds an insider's point of view and does not feel like an inherited tale.
Its imaginative force drives the journey; you feel the wars, the dungeons, the arrival of the foreigners, the conditions endured by enslaved women and men, and finally closes with a sense of independence that was only delayed but never erased.
— Richard De-Graft Tawiah, Creative Non-Fiction Editor.
With ‘Blood On The Streets Of Accra’, what you get is a beautiful meander of non-fiction, which is already wrought with facts and the intrigue of a first-person account, and the occasional embellishment you enjoy with fiction. I like the creativity of this work and the interesting use of language and style. Seeing writers explore different creative ways to tell stories is always intriguing to me.
‘The House And The Tenants‘, on the other hand, is a carefully-woven poem which is both short and poignant. I particularly enjoyed working on this poem because of the freshness of voice. There is naivety in the perspective, yet, lands with striking imagery. I also like how there is this certain Ghanaian-ness to it.
— Boakye D. Alpha, Chief Editor