A Book of short stories from the North launched

By Stephen Appiah/ Philip Mensah, GNA    

Accra, June 25, GNA - A 204-page book titled “Larabanga: short stories from the Savannah in the North “, was on Monday launched to encourage Ghanaians to write and read their own stories.

The book seeks to promote and protect the cultural values, norms and history of the Northern Region.

The book, which has 22 different stories by writers from the five regions of the North, was edited by Nana S. Acheampong, Senior Lecturer, Communication Department of the Africa University College of Communication (AUCC).

Speaking at the launch event organised by the Ama Atta Aidoo Centre for Creative Writing at AUCC, Nana Adjoa Asante, Acting Executive Director, National Folklore Board, said in Africa the art of storytelling was a significant element of the social, economic and political development, adding that, the negative narrative of Africa can only be changed by retelling “our story through stories”.

She said the story starts from fiction to non-fiction, which all play roles in clarifying facts and re-engineering of mindsets as well as tell stories of the rising Africa and the identity as Ghanaian.

Dr. Akosua Abdallah, the Director of Community Youth Cultural Centre, said she believed this would be an important contribution to literature in the country and beyond.

“It is important to tell our stories in order to guide and protect our identity and culture from the foreign dominance and we need to tell them before it is distorted, disjointed and disorganised because we can only narrate our stories better”, she added.

Dr Abdallah urged the people to tell their stories that would make them relevant and also promote and protect the Ghanaian culture from foreigners.

Nana S. Acheampong, the anthologist, said the idea for the book was to encourage most people to write their own life stories that would make Ghanaians feel the connection to read.

“We are going to work with state transport to transform the book in audio form so that they can play on their long-distance trips so that passengers can enjoy the stories even if they are not interested in the book”, he added.

Nana Acheampong encouraged Ghanaians to develop the habit of reading because literature was a new way of living in the world.

GNA

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