Elizabeth-Irene Baitie (born 1970)
pp. 11–12. is a

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian writer of fiction for young adults.

Biography

After attending

Achimota School Achimota School ( /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The school wa ...

, Baitie studied biochemistry and chemistry at the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Accra Metropolis District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. Ghanaia ...

, then received a postgraduate degree in clinical biochemistry from the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...

and now runs a medical laboratory in Adabraka. She wanted to write stories since she was seven years old"YA Author Interview + Free Book Giveaway: Elizabeth-Irene Baitie"
''Fiction Writers of West Africa'', 18 November 2011. and fits her writing around her day job and family life in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

with three children and a husband. She writes after work, at weekends and also during commuting time.

Awards

She has twice won First Prize in the Burt Award for African Literature given by the Canadian Organisation for Development through Education with support from the

International Board on Books for Young People The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

(IBBY): in 2009 for her novel ''The Twelfth Heart'' and in 2012 for ''The Dorm Challenge''. ''The Twelfth Heart'' went on to sell 35,000 copies in the couple of years following the prize. In 2006 Baitie won the

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

Prize for Africa (Junior Readers) for her story "A Saint in Brown Sandals", and four years earlier her novel ''Lea's Christmas'' was shortlisted for the 2002 Macmillan Writers' Prize for Africa (Senior Readers). It has been suggested that there are more women writers in Ghana than a couple of decades ago, and that prizes for their work contribute to their success and encourage publishers to sign them up.

Writing

Baitie writes for preteens as well as older teenagers. She visits schools and has worked with organisations like the Young Educators Foundation to promote reading and books."Young Educators Foundation collaborates with Edem, Elizabeth Baitie to promote reading"
Myjoyonline.com, 3 April 2014. She likes to offer her readers excitement and a chance to escape into a different world, choosing not to emphasise themes of poverty and disadvantage in her books, unlike some other young people's literature in Ghana. In both ''The Twelfth Heart'' and ''The Dorm Challenge'' the theme of friendship is explored through the central character of Mercy, a girl who leaves her small village behind and meets new people at boarding school.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baitie, Elizabeth-Irene 1970 births Living people Ghanaian women novelists Writers of young adult literature University of Ghana alumni Alumni of the University of Surrey Ghanaian women short story writers 21st-century Ghanaian women writers 21st-century Ghanaian writers Ghanaian novelists