John Benibengor Blay Explained

John Benibengor Blay (born 1915) was a Ghanaian journalist, writer, publisher and politician, who has been called "the father of popular writing in Ghana".[1] His work encompasses fiction, poetry and drama published in chapbooks that have been compared with Onitsha Market Literature.[2]

Life and career

Blay was born in Half Assini, Western Ghana, and educated at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London.[3]

He began writing poetry in 1937, publishing stories from the early 1940s onwards.[4] Some of his work was published by his own publishing company, the Benibengor Book Agency, Aboso.

He later became a politician,[5] and in 1958 Blay was elected to the Ghanaian National Assembly. He later served as Minister for Art and Culture (1965–66)[6] under Kwame Nkrumah,[3] about whom he published a biography in 1973.

Works

Stories
Poetry
Other

External links

Notes and References

  1. [Albert S. Gérard]
  2. Abotsi, Maureen, "J. Benibengor Blay", Ghana Nation, 13 September 2013. From Douglas Killam and Ruth Rowe (eds), The Companion to African Literature (James Currey 2000).
  3. G. D. Killam, Alicia L. Kerfoot, Student Encyclopedia of African Literature, Greenwood press, 2008, p. 68.
  4. Book: Angmor, Charles. Contemporary Literature in Ghana 1911-1978: A Critical Evaluation. 1996. Woeli Publishing Services. Accra. 9964-978-20-0. 24–5.
  5. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89441459/the-sacramento-bee/ The Sacramento Bee, 24 September 1959, pg. 42
  6. Africa Who's Who, London: Africa Journal for Africa Books Ltd, 1981, p. 230.
  7. https://books.google.com/books?id=uzPUAAAAMAAJ The Story of Tata