For us Africans, literature must serve a purpose: to expose, embarrass, and fight corruption and authoritarianism.
AMA ATA AIDOOIts a sad moment, really, when parents first become a bit frightened of their children.
More Ama Ata Aidoo Quotes
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Life is inspirational; sometimes it comes from the most unlikely places.
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Soyinka’s Death at Dawn, Auden’s Musée des Beaux Arts, Stevie Smith’s Not Waving but Drowning and Wislawa Szymborska’s Some People come to mind immediately. But there are plenty, plenty more that I enjoy.
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O yes, everyone gets lonely some time or other.
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I always wanted to write poetry, even when I was very young.
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At the age of 15, a teacher had asked me what I wanted to do for a career, and without knowing why or even how I replied that I wanted to be a poet.
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Politicians are easy to attack, but frankly, we are all guilty of not meeting the needs of Africa’s young people properly.
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Sometimes a word or an argument will trigger a poem.
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It is a matter of some interest, that the only other volume A Mouth Sweeter Than Salt reminds one of is Ake, by Wole Soyinka. What is it about these Yorubas?
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They had always told me that I wrote like a man.
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Time by itself means nothing, no matter how fast it moves, unless we give it something to carry for us; something we value. Because it is such a precious vehicle, is time.
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No matter what anybody says, we can’t have it all. Not if you are a woman. Not yet.
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Ghana is like a lion without a head
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Humans, not places, make memories.
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Toyin Falola has given us what is truly rare in modern African writing: a seriously funny, racy, irreverent package of memories, and full of the most wonderful pieces of poetry and ordinary information.
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It is understandable why the African artist is utilitarian.
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