imported>Caesar Schinas |
imported>Ro Thorpe |
| (2 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) |
| Line 6: |
Line 6: |
| | caption = Amma Darko, Ghanaian writer | | | caption = Amma Darko, Ghanaian writer |
| | birth_date = June 26, 1956 | | | birth_date = June 26, 1956 |
| | birth_place = Tamale, Ghana | | | birth_place = Koforidua, Ghana |
| | death_date = | | | death_date = |
| | death_place = | | | death_place = |
| Line 20: |
Line 20: |
| | footnotes = | | | footnotes = |
| }}--> | | }}--> |
| | | [[Image: Amma Darko2.jpg|thumb|The Ghanaian writer Amma Darko]] |
| [[Image: Amma Darko2.jpg|thumb|The Ghaian writer Amma Darko]] | | '''Amma Darko''' (born June 26, 1956 in Koforidua, Ghana) is a [[Ghana|Ghanaian]] author. She published her first novel in 1995. For her works, she received the Ghana Book Council Development Award. Her books have been translated into many languages. |
| | |
| '''Amma Darko''' (born June 26, 1956 in Tamale, Ghana) is a [[Ghana|Ghanaian]] author. She published her first novel in 1995. For her works, she received the Ghana Book Council Development Award. Her books have been translated into many languages. | |
|
| |
|
| ==Biography== | | ==Biography== |
|
| |
| Amma Darko was born Ophelia Darko. The name "Amma" is used in the Akan culture for a girl born on a Saturday. Usually, this day-name is more common than the official name. | | Amma Darko was born Ophelia Darko. The name "Amma" is used in the Akan culture for a girl born on a Saturday. Usually, this day-name is more common than the official name. |
|
| |
|
| Line 36: |
Line 33: |
|
| |
|
| In 1999, she won the Ghana Book Award. | | In 1999, she won the Ghana Book Award. |
|
| |
| ==Bibliography==
| |
|
| |
| Most of her books were first published in a German translation before they appeared in the English original. Some books were not published in English.
| |
|
| |
| * {{cite book
| |
| | first = Amma
| |
| | last = Darko
| |
| | title = Beyond the horizon (Der verkaufte Traum)
| |
| | origyear = 1991
| |
| | year = 1995
| |
| | publisher = Heinemann/Schmetterling-Verl.
| |
| | isbn = 978-0435909901
| |
| | oclc = 32140941
| |
| }}
| |
| *: Amma Darko's first novel is influenced by her German impressions. She has observed the interaction between Germans and Ghanaian immigrants very well.
| |
| *: The book is about a young woman, Mara, who follows her husband to Germany, not knowing that he has married a German in the meantime. Though the book deals with serious topics like illegitimate immigration, illegitimate marriage and prostitution, there is never any bitter morality in it.
| |
|
| |
| * {{cite book
| |
| | first = Amma
| |
| | last = Darko
| |
| | title = Spinnweben (Transl.:"Cobwebs"; no English version)
| |
| | year = 1996
| |
| | publisher = Schmetterling-Verl.
| |
| | isbn = 978-3926369178
| |
| | oclc = 75680141
| |
| }}
| |
| *: The second novel is a reflection about roots. There are dialogs between a Ghanaian living in German and the German friends around her.
| |
|
| |
| * {{cite book
| |
| | first = Amma
| |
| | last = Darko
| |
| | title = Verirrtes Herz (Transl.:"Stray heart"; no English version)
| |
| | year = 2000
| |
| | publisher = Schmetterling-Verl.
| |
| | isbn = 978-3896571199
| |
| | oclc = 76169080
| |
| }}
| |
| *: This is the first book which is completely set in Ghana. The young protagonist, Kesewa; is illiterate. She has to work hard for her parents and brothers and is not able to attend school regularly. In her adult life, she becomes distrustful and envious and causes a lot of trouble.
| |
|
| |
| * {{cite book
| |
| | first = Amma
| |
| | last = Darko
| |
| | title = Faceless (Die Gesichtslosen)
| |
| | year = 2003
| |
| | publisher = Sub-Saharan Publishers/Schmetterling-Verl.
| |
| | isbn = 978-9988550509
| |
| | oclc = 53250489
| |
| }}
| |
| *: This vivid novel is about a middle class woman coming into contact with street children. Those children are living in a part of Accra called “Sodom and Gomorrha”.
| |
| It is the first book that was published in Ghana.
| |
|
| |
| * {{cite book
| |
| | first = Amma
| |
| | last = Darko
| |
| | title = Not without Flowers (Das Lächeln der Nemesis)
| |
| | origyear = 2006
| |
| | year = 2007
| |
| | publisher = Sub-Saharan Publishers/Schmetterling-Verl.
| |
| | isbn = 978-9988647131
| |
| | oclc = 180230315
| |
| }}
| |
| *: Two stories of women with unfaithful husbands are interwoven. The suspenseful novel touches the subjects of polygamy, still legal in Ghana, and of so-called prophets and religious camps for mentally handicapped people.
| |
|
| |
| ==Literature==
| |
|
| |
| * {{cite book
| |
| | first = Vincent O
| |
| | last = Odamtten
| |
| | title = Broadening the horizon : critical introductions to Amma Darko
| |
| | origyear =
| |
| | year = 2007
| |
| | publisher = Ayebia Clarke
| |
| | isbn = 9780954702380
| |
| | oclc = 67375557
| |
| }}
| |
| * {{cite book
| |
| | first = Petra
| |
| | last = Leitmeir
| |
| | title = Amma Darko - Interkulturelle Literatur in Deutschland (Transl.: "Amma Darko – Intercultural Literature in Germany?")
| |
| | year = 2004
| |
| | publisher = GRIN Verlag
| |
| | isbn = 3638285723
| |
| | oclc =
| |
| }}
| |
|
| |
| ==External Links==
| |
|
| |
| * [http://www.ammadarko.de Official website]
| |
| * [http://www.awuraba.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=417&Itemid=149/ Portrait of Amma Darko; Interview]
| |
| * [http://www.fernsehworkshop.de/2007/Filme/Roamingaround.htm/ Film based on the novel “Faceless” - text in German language]
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| [[Category:Topic Informant Workgroup]]
| |
| [[Category:Literature Workgroup]]
| |
The Ghanaian writer Amma Darko
Amma Darko (born June 26, 1956 in Koforidua, Ghana) is a Ghanaian author. She published her first novel in 1995. For her works, she received the Ghana Book Council Development Award. Her books have been translated into many languages.
Biography
Amma Darko was born Ophelia Darko. The name "Amma" is used in the Akan culture for a girl born on a Saturday. Usually, this day-name is more common than the official name.
Her mother comes from Saltpond (Central Region, Ghana) and belongs to the Fanti people, her father was born in Aburi (Eastern region, Ghana) and belongs to the Akwapim. Because of matrilineal lineage, Amma Darko is a Fanti.
From Northern Ghana, she moved to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. She studied at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where she received her diploma in 1980. Afterwards she worked for the Technology Consultancy Centre.
From 1981 until 1987, she lived in Germany. Since 1988, she has been living in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.
In 1999, she won the Ghana Book Award.
