The Organization of Women Writers of Africa (OWWA) is an organization for

women writers Women have made significant contributions to literature since the earliest written texts. Women have been at the forefront of textual communication since early civilizations. History Among the first known female writers is Enheduanna; she is also ...

in Africa. Founded in 1991, the OWWA aims to promote the oral and written literature of African women, and address issues concerning publishing, censorship and human progress.

Organization

The Organization of Women Writers of Africa was established by the Ghanaian writer

Ama Ata Aidoo Ama Ata Aidoo, ''née'' Christina Ama Aidoo (born 23 March 1942) is a Ghanaian author, poet, playwright and academic. She was the Minister of Education under the Jerry Rawlings administration. In 2000, she established the Mbaasem Foundation to ...

and African-American poet

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 ...

in 1991. Board members have included

J. E. Franklin J. E. Franklin (born August 10, 1937) is an American playwright, best known for her play ''Black Girl (play), Black Girl'', which was broadcast on public television in 1969, staged Off-Broadway in 1971, and made into a feature film in 1972. She ...

, Cheryll Y. Greene,

Rashidah Ismaili Rashidah Ismaili, also known as Rashidah Ismaili AbuBakr (born 1941),"Rashidah Ismaili"

Louise Meriwether Louise Meriwether (born May 8, 1923) is an American novelist, essayist, journalist and activist, as well as a writer of biographies of historically important African Americans for children. She is best known for her first novel, '' Daddy Was a Nu ...

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

, Rosamond S. King,

Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisherJazzmine Breary"Let' ...

Gabrielle Civil Gabrielle Civil is an American performance artist, poet, and educator. Background and education Civil is originally from Detroit, Michigan. From 1991 to 1995 she attended the University of Michigan, from where she graduated with high honors in ...

Alexis De Veaux Alexis De Veaux (born September 24, 1948) is a black, lesbian American writer and illustrator. She chaired the Department of Women's Studies, at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her surname also appears as DeVeaux. Life She was born o ...

, LaTasha N. Diggs,

Zetta Elliott Zetta Elliott (born October 26, 1972) is a Canadian-American poet, playwright, and author. Her first picture book ''Bird (book), Bird'', won many awards. She has also been recognized for other contributions to children's literature, as well as for ...

, Donette Francis,

Paula Giddings Paula J. Giddings (born 1947 in Yonkers, New York) is an American writer, historian, and civil rights activist. She is the author of ''When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America,'' ''In Search of Sisterhood: Delta ...

, Renée Larrier,

Tess Onwueme Osonye Tess Onwueme, also known as T. Akaeke Onwueme (born 8 September 1955) is a Nigerian playwright, scholar and poet, who rose to prominence writing plays with themes of social justice, culture, and the environment. In 2010, she became the unive ...

, Coumba Touré,

Maryse Condé Maryse Condé (née Boucolon; February 11, 1937) is a French novelist, critic, and playwright from the French Overseas department and region of Guadeloupe. Condé is best known for her novel ''Ségou'' (1984–85).Condé, Maryse, and Richard P ...

Nancy Morejón Nancy Morejón (born 1944 in Havana) is a Cuban poet, critic, and essayist. She was a recipient of the Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath Award. She is "the best known and most widely translated woman poet of post-revolutionary Cuba". Biograp ...

, and

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...

Activities and history

OWWA has sponsored three 'Yari Yari' international conferences for

Black women Black women are women of sub-Saharan African and Afro-diasporic descent, as well as women of Australian Aboriginal and Melanesian descent. The term 'Black' is a racial classification of people, the definition of which has shifted over time and acr ...

writers. The first, "Yari Yari: Black Women Writers and the Future", was held in 1997. It was "the first major international conference devoted to the evaluation and celebration of literature from around the world by women of African descent". The conference was attended by two thousand women, and participants included

and

Edwidge Danticat Edwidge Danticat (; born January 19, 1969) is a Haitian-American novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, ''Breath, Eyes, Memory'', was published in 1994 and went on to become an Oprah's Book Club selection. Danticat has since written or ...

. Cortez directed ''Yari Yari: Black Women Writers and the Future'' (1999), which documented panels, readings and performances held during that conference. A second conference, "Yari Yari Pamberi: Black Women Writers Dissection of Globalization", was held in 2004. It was sponsored by OWWA in association with

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

's Institute of African-American Affairs and African Studies Program. Cortex's statement of welcome announced the ambition of the event: At the time of her death Cortez had been planning an OWAA symposium of women writers to be held in

Accra, Ghana 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, , ...

. The event took place as scheduled, in her honour, May 16–19, 2013. Participants, who came from more than a dozen countries, included

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar, and author. She is a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A feminist and a Marxist, Davis was a longtime member of ...

Angelique Nixon Angelique V. Nixon is a Bahamas-born, Trinidad-based, feminist writer, artist, academic and activist. Nixon teaches at University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, The University of the West Indies St. Augustine's, and is a director of ''CAI ...

Akachi Ezeigbo Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo is a Nigerian author and educator, whose published work includes novels, poetry, short stories, books for children, essays and journalism.Geoffrey Kwadwo Gyasi"Interview with Nigerian Writer, Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo" ''Munyo ...

, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf,

Camille Dungy Camille T. Dungy (born 1972) is an American poet and professor. Career Born in Denver, Colorado, Dungy graduated from Stanford University (BA) and the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, where she earned her MFA. She is the author of four ...

Eintou Pearl Springer Eintou Pearl Springer (formerly Pearl Eintou Springer) (born Cantaro village, Santa Cruz, Trinidad, 24 November 1944) is a poet, playwright, librarian and cultural activist from Trinidad and Tobago. In May 2002, she was named Poet Laureate of Po ...

Évelyne Trouillot Évelyne Trouillot (born January 2, 1954) is a Haitian author, writing in French and Creole. Biography Évelyne Trouillot was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 2, 1954. She was the daughter of Ernst Trouillot and Anne-Marie Morisset. After c ...

, Gina Athena Ulysse,

Lola Shoneyin Lola Shoneyin (born Titilola Atinuke Alexandrah Shoneyin; 26 February 1974 in Ibadan, Nigeria) is a Nigerian poet and author who launched her debut novel, ''The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives'', in the UK in May 2010. Shoneyin has forged a r ...

Monica Arac de Nyeko Monica Arac de Nyeko (born 1979) is a Ugandan writer of short fiction, poetry, and essays, living in Nairobi.

Natalia Molebatsi Natalia Molebatsi is a South African writer, poet, performer, editor, and cultural organizer. Biography Natalia Molebatsi was born and raised in the township of Tembisa, near Johannesburg in South Africa.Véronique Tadjo Véronique Tadjo (born 1955) is a writer, poet, novelist, and artist from Côte d'Ivoire. Having lived and worked in many countries within the African continent and African diaspora, diaspora, she feels herself to be Pan-Africanism, pan-African ...

, Virginia Phiri, Wana Udobang,

Wangui wa Goro Wangui wa Goro (born 1961) is a Kenyan academic, social critic, researcher, translator and writer based in the UK. As a public intellectual she has an interest in the development of African languages and literatures, as well as being consistently ...

Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro (born October 29, 1970) is a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican novelist, short story writer and essayist. Biography Yolanda Arroyo Pizarro was born on 29 October 1970 in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and was raised by her grandparents, P ...

, and others. The organization has also created an ongoing series of videotaped conversations with creative women, and launched a literary literacy project to connect young students to writers. In October 2011 Maya Angelou delivered an address to the OWWA, in which she used the traditional form of

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

, echoing her childhood in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

References

{{Reflist 1991 establishments in Africa Arts organizations established in 1991 Writers' organizations Organizations for women writers Women's organizations based in Africa Cultural organizations based in Africa