By Louisa Danquah
If you missed out on the first part of this reading list, have a look at the article here.
Yaba Badoe
In addition to being an author, Yaba Badoe is documentary filmmaker and journalist. She was born in Tamale in Northern Ghana and lives in London. I first found out about her by reading her fantasy adventure novel for children called A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars. I picked it up because it’s inspired by Ghanaian folklore as well as being intertwined with real life issues surrounding refugees and asylum seekers. Her other children’s books Lionheart Girl and Wolf Heart are also fantasy stories that deal with real life issues (Lionheart Girl in particular is about a West African witches).
If fantasy isn’t your style her debut novel True Murder is a murder mystery story about a Ghanaian girl in a boarding school in Devon. She’s also written short stories collections including contributing to the New Daughters of Africa collection edited by Margaret Bushby (who’s featured later on in this article.)
Margaret Sarfo (pen name Peggy Oppong)
Margaret Sarfo (26 January 1957 – 8 May 2014) was an author and journalist, born and raised in Ghana. I read one of her books, Julia’s Dance when I was younger, though I didn’t realise it was the same author because she wrote it under her pseudonym Peggy Oppong. I’m pretty sure I still have it, and I remember it because it gives me Nollywood movie vibes.
The story follows a young woman called Julia who marries an arrogant rich man called Jude who seemingly pops out of nowhere much to her family’s chagrin. But Jude’s wealth is not what it seems, and Julia soon finds her life on the line to to maintain Jude’s wealthy lifestyle. Looking back, it was obvious that this was definitely not a children’s novel, but my younger self enjoyed it nonetheless.
Roseanne A Brown
Roseanne A Brown is a Ghanaian American author of children’s fantasy books that include Ghanaian, folklore and West African folklore in general. Roseanne was born in Kumasi and moved to Maryland the US when she was three years old. I’ve heard good things about the books in her debut duology, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin and A Psalm of Storms and Silence. These are perfect for readers who like romance in their fantasy, as the story is about a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction.
One book of Roseanne’s I’m really looking forward to reading is her series aimed at a pre-teen audience, Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting. Pulling from mythology of adze (basically vampires), the novel follows Serwa and her family of vampire hunters as she tries to fit in at her new school.
Margaret Busby
I wanted to include Margaret Bushby on this list less from a writer perspective and more from a publishing perspective, as she’s the first Black woman publisher in the UK. She was born in Accra in 1944 and first moved to England for schooling when she was five years old. While attending university she met Clive Allison and together they started and started Allison and Busby in 1967 and has since then become a leading independent publisher.
Happy reading!
GYP UK 