Amma Darko
Amma Darko (born June 26 1956 in Tamale, Ghana) is a Ghanaian author. She published her first novel in 1995. For her works, she received the Ghana Book Council Development Award. Her books have been translated into many languages.
Biography
Amma Darko was born as Ophelia Darko. The name “Amma” is used in the Akan culture for a girl born on a Saturday. Usually, this day-name is more common than the official name.
Her mother comes from Saltpond (Central Region, Ghana) and belongs to the Fante people, her father was born in Aburi (Eastern region, Ghana) and belongs to the Akwapim. Because of matrilineal lineage, Amma Darko is a Fante.
From Northern Ghana, she moved to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. She studied at the “Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology”, where she received her diploma in 1980. Afterwards she worked for the Technology Consultancy Centre.
From 1981 until 1987, she was living in Germany. Since 1988, she is living in the Ghanaian capital, Accra.
Bibliography
Most of her books were first published in a German translation before they appeared in the English Original. Some books were not published in English.
- Beyond the Horizon (Der verkaufte Traum), 1991
Amma Darko’s first novel is influenced by her German impressions. She has observed the interaction between Germans and Ghanaian immigrants very well.
The book is about a young woman, Mara, who follows her husband to Germany, not knowing that he has married a German in the meantime. Though the book deals with serious topics like illegitimate immigration, illegitimate marriage and prostitution, there is never any bitter morality in it.
- Spinnweben, 1996 (Transl.:"Cobwebs"; no English version)
The second novel is a reflection about roots. There are dialogs between a Ghanaian living in German and the German friends around her.
- Verirrtes Herz, 2000 (Transl.:"Stray heart"; no English version)
This is the first book which is completely set in Ghana. The young protagonist, Kesewa; is illiterate. She has to work hard for her parents and brothers and is not able to attend school regularly. In her adult life, she becomes distrustful and envious and causes a lot of trouble.
- Faceless (Die Gesichtslosen), 2003
This vivid novel is about a middle class woman coming into contact with street children. Those children are living in a part of Accra called “Sodom and Gomorrha”. It is the first book that was published in Ghana.
- Not without Flowers (Das Lächeln der Nemesis), 2006
Two stories of women with unfaithful husbands are interwoven. The suspenseful novel touches the subjects of polygamy, still legal in Ghana, and of so-called prophets and religious camps for mentally handicapped people.
Literature
- Vincent O. Odamtten
Broadening the Horizon: Critical Introductions to Amma Darko, Ayebia Clarke Publishing Ltd, 2007 ISBN-10: 0954702387, ISBN-13: 978-0954702380
- Petra Leitmeier, Amma Darko – Interkulturelle Literatur in Deutschland? (in German language, transl.: „Amma Darko – Intercultural Literature in Germany?), 2004
ISBN-10: 3638285723