Biography
Christina Ama Aidoo was born on March 23, 1940, in Abeadzi Kyiakor, a region then known as the Gold Coast, which is now Ghana. Her parents were Nana Yaw Fama and Maame Abba Abasema. Her father, a chief of Abeadzi Kyiakor in south-central Ghana, was raised within the royal family. Despite societal norms at the time, which often excluded women from education, Aidoo's father believed that both men and women needed a good education for Africa's progress. She attended Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast, Ghana. By the age of fifteen, Aidoo aspired to become a writer. She later enrolled at the University of Ghana in Legon, where she studied under Efua Sutherland, a renowned Ghanaian dramatist with a passion for folklore. Although her native language was Fanti, Aidoo began writing in English, utilizing traditional forms.
After completing her degree, Aidoo spent two years (1964-66) as a junior research fellow at her alma mater. During this time, she wrote her first play, The Dilemma of a Ghost. The drama centers on an African-American woman who encounters cultural challenges in her husband's homeland. The play debuted at the University of Ghana in 1964 and was published in 1965, receiving mixed reviews. From 1967 to 1969, Aidoo traveled to the United States on a creative writing fellowship at Stanford University. While there, she began working on another play, Anowa (1970), which also explored the struggles faced by its female protagonist.
Upon returning to Ghana in 1970, Aidoo began teaching English at the University of Cape Coast. Despite her teaching commitments, she continued writing and published a short story collection titled No Sweetness Here the same year. The collection included stories she had penned during her student days. In 1977, Aidoo released her first novel, Our Sister Killjoy: or, Reflections from a Black-Eye Squint, which creatively blended verse with prose and was celebrated for its innovation. However, she did not release any major works for the next eight years, partly due to her involvement in politics. From 1982 to 1983, Aidoo served in the Ghanaian government led by Jerry Rawlings as the Minister of Education. Her radical views eventually led to her removal from the position and her departure from her homeland. Aidoo relocated to Zimbabwe with her daughter, Kinni Likimani, where she settled permanently.
Shortly after moving, Aidoo resumed her publishing endeavors. In 1985, she released her first poetry collection, Someone Talking to Sometime. Throughout the 1990s, she published additional collections of short stories, poems, and children's books. Her second major novel, Changes: A Love Story (1991), echoed the themes found in Anowa but was set in a modern context. While continuing her writing career, Aidoo also took on roles as a writer-in-residence and visiting professor in the United States, delivering lectures and making appearances worldwide.
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