Meshack Asare (born 1945) is a popular African children's author. He was born in

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 ...

and currently resides in Degenfeld,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. On 15 July 2014, he was announced as a finalist for the prestigious international award, the 2015

NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature The NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature is an international children's literary award founded in 2003 and given every odd-number year by ''World Literature Today''. The prize is an offshoot of the Neustadt International Prize for Literatu ...

, which he won on 24 October 2014, becoming the first African to receive the award. ''The Brassman's Secret'' was his representative text read by the nominating jury, and the award honors his entire body of work.

Life

Meshack Asare was born 18 September 1945 in Nyankumasi, Ghana. His mother Agatha Adoma Afram was a trader and his father Joseph K. Asare was an accountant. Asare was the second of six children. Asare studied Fine Arts at the College of Art in

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

, and between 1967 and 1979 he was a teacher in Ghana.Maureen Abotsi
"Meshack Asare"
Ghana Nation, 13 September 2013. During this time he began to write and illustrate children's books, including the much translated ''Tawia Goes to Sea'', which received the Ghana National Book Award and the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

citation "Best picture book from Africa". After a period of ten years during which he did not publish any work, Asare returned in 1981 with a new book, ''The Brassman's Secret'', which was translated into many languages, and won the

Noma Award The Noma Prizes were established by Shoichi Noma, or in his honor. More than one award is conventionally identified as the ''Noma Prize''. Noma was the former head of Kodansha, the Japanese publishing and bookselling company. Kodansha is Japan' ...

in 1982 as the best book published in Africa in the preceding year. Many further successes followed. In 1984, Asare's ''Cat in Search of a Friend'' won the Austrian National Prize (1985) and a BIB Golden Plaque at the Bratislava Biennale (1995). Asare studied for a M.A. degree in Social Anthropology at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

, and since 1993 he was based in London, while frequently travelling throughout to Africa, looking to experience as many African cultures as possible so as to represent them in his works. His book ''Sosu's Call'' was the winner of the 1999

First Prize for Children's and Young People's Literature in the Service of Tolerance.

Selected bibliography

Children's literature

*''Noma's Sand: A Tale from Lesotho'' (Sub-Saharan Publishers, 2002) *''Meliga's Day'' (Sub-Saharan Publishers, 2000) *''Nana's Son'' (Sub-Saharan Publishers, 2000) *''Sosu's Call'' (Sub-Saharan Publishers, 1997) *''The Magic Goat'' (Sub-Saharan Publishers, 1997) *''Halima'' (Macmillan, 1992) *''Cat in Search of a Friend'' (Austria: Jungbrunnen, 1984) *''Chipo and the Bird on the Hill: A tale of ancient Zimbabwe'' (Zimbabwe Publishing House, 1984) *''The Brassman's Secret'' (Education Press, 1981) *''Tawia Goes to Sea'' (Ghana Publishers, 1970) *''Mansa Helps at Home'' (Ghana Publishers, 1969) *''I Am Kofi'' (Ghana Publishers, 1968)

Short stories

*''Bury My Bones but Keep My Words: African tales for retelling'' (HarperCollins, 1991)

References

External links

* Dennis Abrams
"Exploring the African Continent in Children’s Books"
Publishing Perspectives, 29 October 2014. * Nadja Borovac
"Writers Changing Lives: A Chat With Meshack Asare"
The Literacy Ledger, 29 April 2011.
Meshack Asare biography
"Meet the poets", Barbican. {{DEFAULTSORT:Asare, Meshack 1945 births Ghanaian children's writers Living people