Addressing young writers at the 2022 Samira Bawumia Literature Prize in Accra last Thursday, she said the importance of writing and the art of storytelling were an important tool that could not be overemphasised.

She said there was therefore the need for the youth to utilise their skills to inspire, educate, and transform lives while capturing stories and experiences that might be lost or forgotten over time.

“The life of the contemporary African in the 21st century and our place in the global village must be told in both fiction and non-fiction, and, indeed, nobody can tell our stories better than ourselves,” she said.

“So I encourage you all to continue to read and write.

A people who read and write engage their imaginations; and this opens up portals of endless possibilities as the most successful of any generation are those whose ideas solve problems within their communities or the world,” she emphasised.

Mrs Bawumia, however, advised that while this was being taken up, writers should not also lose sight of how valuable writing was in today's job market, saying it was also a means to provide opportunities for self employment and job creation in the future. 

Competition

The event is an annual biennial literary prize that seeks to create a nurturing and supportive environment for aspiring young Ghanaian writers to grow, develop and highlight their literary skills.

The competition is opened to writers to show their skills in categories, including poetry, short fiction and creative non-fiction.

After receiving over 1,000 entries for all categories in this year’s competition, 30 individuals were awarded with three participants emerging ultimate winners for each category. 

Awards

Gabriel Awuah Mainoo, Phinehas Osei and Henneh Kwaku Kyere — who emerged ultimate winners for the Poetry, Short Fiction and Creative Non-fiction categories respectively — each took home a certificate, GH¢5,000, a laptop and other souvenirs.

The works of the shortlisted writers would be published in an anthology as a way to train as many writers as possible and raise interest and awareness within the Ghanaian literacy space.

Writing habits

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Library Authority, Hayford Siaw, commended the awardees for their sterling performances in the competition, stating that for some time now, the reading and writing habit among the youth could not be hailed.

He added that the establishment and patronage of libraries, and receiving over a 1,000 applicants in the literary competition were evidence of the high rise in reading and writing which should be fostered.

“I urge all to ensure that we make the country a reading country by being readers and actively patronising the works of local writers in the country,” Mr Siaw said.

Support

The Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Constituency, Lydia Alhassan, commended the Second Lady for her contribution and efforts to unearth writers and their skills.

“I hope that authoring would be recognised as one of the mainstream professions to support local writers in the country,” she said.

As a gesture to show her support, Ms Alhassan purchased 10 books each of all awardees in the competition.

Subsequently, the Managing Director of the Ghana Commercial Bank PLC, Kofi Adomakoh, gave the assurance that the company would support the authors to ensure that the creativity of writers were shown and duly celebrated.