Nii Ayikwei Parkes (; born 1 April 1974),Open Directory Project.
/ref> born in the United Kingdom to parents from

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 ...

, where he was raised, is a performance poet, writer, publisher and sociocultural commentator. He is one of 39 writers aged under 40 from sub-Saharan Africa who in April 2014 were named as part of the

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Y Gelli), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, t ...

's prestigious

Africa39 Africa39 was a collaborative project initiated by the Hay Festival in partnership with Rainbow Book Club, celebrating Port Harcourt: UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 by identifying 39 of the most promising writers under the age of 40 with the potent ...

project. He writes for children under the name K.P. Kojo.

Biography

Born in the UK while his parents were studying there, Nii Parkes was raised from the age of three or four in Ghana, where he was educated at

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 ...

. His first editorial role was in 1988 working on his school magazine, ''The Achimotan'', and he went on to co-found, at the age of 17, ''filla!'' magazine, Ghana's first student-run national magazine."Nii Ayikwei Parkes, YCE Finalist"
, British Council Creative Economy. Parkes subsequently studied in England at

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

. While there, he emerged as a performance poet and was also a member of the Black Writer's Group of

Commonword Commonword (1975–present) is a writing development organisation based in Manchester, North West England, providing opportunities for new and aspiring writers to develop their talent and potential, promoting new writing on national and internati ...

. He was children's poet-in-residence at the

Brighton Festival Brighton Festival is a large, annual, curated multi-arts festival in England. It includes music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film, literature, debate, outdoor and family events, and takes place in venues in the city of Brighton and Hove in Engla ...

in 2007. A veteran of several poetry festivals, and former poet-in-residence at the

Poetry Café The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

in London, he has performed poetry in the United Kingdom, Europe, Ghana and the United States and was a 2005 Associate Artist-In-Residence with

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. In 2007 he was

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

writer-in-residence at

California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

and became one of the youngest living writers (along with

Owen Sheers Owen Sheers (born 20 September 1974) is a Welsh poet, author, playwright and television presenter. He was the first writer in residence to be appointed by any national rugby union team. Early life Owen Sheers was born in Suva, Fiji in 1974, and b ...

and Choman Hardi) featured in the

Poems on the Underground Poems on the Underground (POTU) is a project, started in 1986, to bring poetry to a wider audience by displaying various poems on the London Underground rapid transit network and participating websites. Poems on the Underground displays poems by ...

programme in London with his poem "Tin Roof". Parkes runs regular workshops in the UK and set up a Writer's Fund in Ghana to promote writing among the country's youth. He has recorded two CDs of his spoken-word poetry, ''Incredible Blues'' and ''Nocturne of Phrase'', and has published three chapbooks of poetry – ''eyes of a boy, lips of a man'', ''M is for Madrigal'', and the self-published ''Shorter!'', which was put together to raise money for the Writers' Fund initiative. He is also the co-founder and Senior Editor at flipped eye publishing, for whom he has edited ''fourteen two'' (editor), ''Dance the Guns to Silence'' (co-editor with

Kadija Sesay Kadija George , Hon. FRSL (born 1962), also known as Kadija Sesay, is a British literary activist, short story writer and poet of Sierra Leonean descent, and the publisher and managing editing, editor of the magazine ''SABLE LitMag''. Her work ...

) and ''x-24: unclassified'' (co-editor with

Tash Aw Tash Aw, whose full name is Aw Ta-Shi (; born 4 October 1971) is a Malaysian writer living in London. Biography Born in 1971 in Taipei, Taiwan, to Malaysian parents, Tash Aw returned to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the age of two, and grew up t ...

). Parkes' short stories can be found in ''Tell Tales: Volume I'' (Tell Tales) and '' The Mechanics' Institute Review'' (

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public university, public research university, located in Bloomsbury, London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the federal Universit ...

) and an excerpt from his second fiction manuscript, ''Afterbirth'', was featured in the ''New Writing 15'' anthology published by

Granta Books ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and m ...

in June 2007. Also a playwright, his début play ''Walking Waterfall'' ran at London’s

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...

on 30 July and 31 July 2008, as part of the

Tiata Fahodzi Tiata Fahodzi (ti∙a∙ta fa∙hoon∙zi) – meaning "theatre of the emancipated" – is a British African theatre company founded in 1997 by Femi Elufowoju Jr. It receives funding as a National Portfolio Organisation of the Arts Council England ...

2008 Tiata Delights season. The production was directed by

Femi Elufowoju Jr. Oluwafemi Elufowoju Jr. (; ; born 31 October 1962) is a British born, Nigerian raised performance practitioner working across the creative industries After Alton Kumalo's Temba Theatre Company, he is the second theatre director of African desc ...

, and featured a cast including

Jude Akuwudike Jude Akuwudike (born 1965) is a Nigerian actor. He has mostly worked in the United Kingdom, on screen and stage. He has appeared in productions of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. Early life Born in Nigeria, Wes ...

and Marcy Dolapo Oni. It later toured in East Anglia. His debut novel, ''Tail of the Blue Bird'', was published by

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

in June 2009, and was shortlisted for the 2010

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

. Translated into French by Sika Fakambi, it was published as ''Notre Quelque Part'' by Éditions Zulma, winning the 2014 Prix Baudelaire, Prix Mahogany and Prix Laure Bataillon and being selected by leading literary magazine '' Lire'' as the Best First Foreign Book of the year and one of the Top 20 books published in France in 2014."Nii Parkes (UK/Ghana)"
Centre for the Creative Arts, University of Kwazulu-Natal, 27 September 2015. An experienced performer of his work, he has appeared at readings all over the world, including the

Nuyorican Poets Cafe Nuyorican is a portmanteau of the terms "New York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, or of their descendants (especially those raised or currently living in the N ...

, New York; the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

, London; and

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and often leads writing and performance workshops. He was the resident poet at

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

Bookstores, where he hosted the monthly open mike at

Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direction of ...

between 2001 and 2005. He became BookTrust's online writer-in-residence in 2009. In 2010 he became a writer-in-residence for the charity

First Story First Story is an English non-profit organisation that encourages young people to write creatively, outside the curriculum, for self-expression, pleasure and agency. Its stated mission is to empower young people from low-income communities to find ...

. He also ran the African Writers' Evening series at the Poetry Café in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

. In 2012 Parkes represented Ghana at Poetry Parnassus at the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

in London, the largest international poetry festival in the UK held in conjunction with the London Olympics. In autumn 2014 the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

welcomed him and his fellow writers

Taiye Selasi Taiye Selasi (born 2 November 1979) is a British-American writer and photographer. Of Nigerian and Ghanaian origin, she describes herself as a "local" of Accra, Berlin, New York and Rome. Early life and education Taiye Selasi was born in Lond ...

, Priya Basil and

Chika Unigwe Chika Nina Unigwe (born 12 June 1974) is a Nigerian-born Igbo author who writes in English and Dutch. In April 2014 she was selected for the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent t ...

and to that year's Writers' Lectureship, all of them writers representing what Selasi calls Afropolitan Literature. In 2014–15, Parkes was the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the

University of Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

, Wales. He was selected as one of Africa's 39 most promising authors under the age of 40 for the World Book Capital

project in 2014. Parkes ran the Creative Writing course at the

African University College of Communications The African University College of Communications is a private tertiary institution at Adabraka, Accra, Ghana, for the study and teaching of journalism, communication studies, information technology convergence, business, African Studies, provi ...

(AUCC) in Accra, Ghana, and sat on the Board of Trustees of pan-African literary initiative Writivism, with fellow writers

Zukiswa Wanner Zukiswa Wanner (born 1976) is a South African journalist, novelist and editor born in Zambia and now based in Kenya. Since 2006, when she published her first book, her novels have been shortlisted for awards including the South African Literary ...

NoViolet Bulawayo NoViolet Bulawayo is the pen name of Elizabeth Zandile Tshele (born 12 October 1981), a Zimbabwean author. In 2012, the National Book Foundation named her a "5 under 35" honoree. She was named one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by ''New ...

, E. C. Osondu and Lizzy Attree until 2015. Parkes was appointed as the founding director of the Ama Ata Aidoo Centre for Creative Writing (Aidoo Centre), launched in Accra in March 2017, under the auspices of the Kojo Yankah School of Communications Studies at the African University College of Communications (AUCC). He serves on the editorial board of ''

World Literature Today ''World Literature Today'' is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The stated goal of the magazine is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book review ...

'', is a trustee of the

Caine Prize The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award for the best original short story by an African writer, whether in Africa or elsewhere, published in the English language. The £10,000 prize was founded in the United Kingdom in 20 ...

, and in 2019 became Producer of Literature and Talks at the

. He was chair of judges for the 2020

Commonwealth Short Story Prize The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2,000 to 5,000 words). The prize is open to citizens of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations aged 18 and over. The Commonwealth Short ...

. His 2020 poetry collection, ''The Geez'', was longlisted for the

Rathbones Folio Prize The Rathbones Folio Prize, previously known as the Folio Prize and The Literature Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher The Folio Society for its first two years, 2014–2015. Starting in 2017 the sponsor is ...

, shortlisted for the Walcott Prize, and is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.

Personal life

Parkes is a descendant of J. C. E. Parkes, the

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

Creole civil servant.

Selected bibliography

Writing by Parkes has appeared in many publications, including ''Granta'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...

'', ''International PEN Magazine'', ''

The Liberal ''The Liberal'' was a London-based magazine "dedicated to promoting liberalism around the world", which ran in print from 2004 to 2009 and online until 2012. The publication explored liberal attitudes to a range of cultural issues, and encouraged ...

'', '' The Mechanics' Institute Review'', ''Poetry News'', ''

Poetry Review ''Poetry Review'' is the magazine of The Poetry Society, edited by the poet Emily Berry. Founded in 1912, shortly after the establishment of the Society, previous editors have included poets Muriel Spark, Adrian Henri, Andrew Motion and Maurice R ...

'', ''Sable'', ''Statement'' (CSULA), ''Storyteller Magazine'', '' X Magazine'' and ''

Wasafiri ''Wasafiri'' is a quarterly British literary magazine covering international contemporary writing. Founded in 1984, the magazine derives its name from a Swahili word meaning "travellers" that is etymologically linked with the Arabic word "safari" ...

''.

Fiction

''Tail of the Blue Bird''
(novel), Jonathan Cape, 2009; Vintage, 2010, . **Translated into Dutch (by Ronald Cohen) as ''De blauwe vogel'', Q, 2010, . **Translated into Japanese (by Kazue Daikoku) as ''Aoitori no Shippo'', Web Press Happa-no-Kofu, 2014, . **Translated into French (by Sika Fakambi) as ''Notre Quelque Part'',Laura Angela Bagnetto
"African novelists aren't travel guides"
''RFI'', 20 January 2016. Zulma, 2014, . **Translated into Spanish (by Magdalena Palmer) as ''El Enigma del Pájaro Azul'', Club Editor, 2017, . **Translated into Catalan (by Xavier Pàmies) as ''L'enigma de l'ocell blau'', Club Editor, 2017, .

Poetry

* ''eyes of a boy, lips of a man'', Flipped Eye Publishing, 1999; 2nd edition 2005, . * ''M is for Madrigal: Seven Poems'', tall lighthouse, 2004, .
''The Makings of You''

Peepal Tree Press Peepal Tree Press is a publisher based in Leeds, England which publishes Caribbean, Black British, and South Asian fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama and academic books. It was founded after a paper shortage in Guyana halted production of new bo ...

, 2010, . * ''The Geez'', Peepal Tree Press, 2020, .

Children's literature

* ''The Parade'',

Frances Lincoln Publishers Frances Elisabeth Rosemary Lincoln (20 March 1945 – 26 February 2001) was an English independent publisher of illustrated books. She published under her own name and the company went on to become Frances Lincoln Publishers. In 1995, Lincoln w ...

, 2010 (''as K.P. Kojo'') * ''Tales From Africa'', Puffin Classics, 2017 (''as K.P. Kojo'') * ''The Ga Picture Alphabet'', Kane Series, 2020

As editor

* ''Fourteen Two: Twenty Eight Love Poems'', flipped eye publishing, 2004, * With

, ''Dance the Guns to Silence: 100 Poems for Ken Saro-Wiwa'', flipped eye publishing, 2005, (includes work by

Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous bo ...

Sonia Sanchez Sonia Sanchez (born Wilsonia Benita Driver; September 9, 1934) is an American poet, writer, and professor. She was a leading figure in the Black Arts Movement and has written over a dozen books of poetry, as well as short stories, critical essay ...

Kevin Powell Kevin Powell (born April 24, 1966) is an American writer, activist, and television personality. Powell is the author of 14 books, including ''The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood'' and ''When We Free the World'' publis ...

Jayne Cortez Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and ...

) * With

, ''X-24: Unclassified'', flipped eye publishing, 2007, (includes work by

Naomi Alderman Naomi Alderman (born 1974) is an English novelist and game writer. She is best known for her speculative science fiction novel '' The Power'', which won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2017. Biography Alderman was born in London, the daught ...

& Daniel Alarcon * ''South of South'',

, 2011, (includes work by Monica Arac de Nyeko &

Junot Díaz Junot Díaz (; born December 31, 1968) is a Dominican-American writer, creative writing professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and was fiction editor at ''Boston Review''. He also serves on the board of advisers for Freedo ...

) * ''Filigree: Contemporary Black British Poetry'',

, 2018, (includes work by Roger Robinson &

Tishani Doshi Tishani Doshi (born 9 December 1975) is an Indian poet, journalist and dancer based in Chennai. In 2006 she won the Forward Prize for her debut poetry book ''Countries of the Body''. Her poetry book ''A God at the Door'' has been shortlisted fo ...

)

Selected essays and articles

"No individual 'fathered' modern African literature"
''The Guardian'', 2 December 2009.
"Ants of Accra"
''Granta'' 112, 2 September 2010.
"Nii Ayikwei Parkes. My London: Blythe Hill Fields"
''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikk ...

'', 8 August 2014.
"The Responsibility of Being Other"
Writivism, 4 July 2017.

Awards and recognition

* 2003: Farrago Best Overall Poetry Performance Award * 2004: Farrago Best Overall Poetry Performance Award * 2007: Ghana's National ACRAG award for poetry and literary advocacy * 2009: Finalist for the UK YCE Publishing Award * 2010: Shortlisted for

(for ''Tail of the Blue Bird'') * 2012:

USBBY Outstanding International Books List The USBBY Outstanding International Books List (The OIB List) is an initiative of the United States section of the International Board on Books for Young People ( USBBY) to produce an annual list of the outstanding children's books from around the w ...

"USBBY's Outstanding International Books connect kids worldwide By Kathy East"
''School Library Journal'', February 2012. (for ''The Parade'', as K.P. Kojo) * 2014: Prix Baudelaire, Prix Mahogany, and Prix Laure Bataillon (for ''Notre Quelque Part'') * 2020: Poetry Book Society Recommendation for ''The Geez''

References

External links

Nii Parkes website

SubtleTea.com, 2003. * Ben JK Anim-Antwi (Kwesi)
"Profile: Nii Ayikwei Parkes"
''Me Firi Ghana'', 12 April 2012. * Will Barrett
"Where It Begins: an interview with Nii Ayikwei Parkes"
Poetry School.

(interview), African Writing Online. {{DEFAULTSORT:Parkes, Nii Ayikwei 1974 births Alumni of Achimota School Living people Black British writers 21st-century British novelists 20th-century English poets 20th-century Ghanaian poets Ga-Adangbe people People of Sierra Leone Creole descent British male poets English male novelists Ghanaian male poets British publishers (people) Ghanaian novelists 21st-century English male writers 21st-century British poets 20th-century English male writers