Poet, literary scholar, educator, cultural activist Kofi Anyidoho is Professor of Literature & Director, CODESRIA African Humanities Institute Programme, University of Ghana. Was 1st Occupant of the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies; Ag. Director, School of Performing Arts & Head, English Department. Well-known for his unique style of performance-poetry and CD recordings of his poetry in English and Ewe. Has lectured & performed his poetry globally; published several books of poetry, journal articles, book chapters & edited major books on African literature and the humanities. Was President of the US-based African Literature Association. Winner of several awards, including the 2015 Millennium Excellence Awards (Literature Prize) and Le grand Prix de poesie en langue nationale [Ewe], by Rencontre International Des Createurs En Poesie [RICEP], Lome, Togo [2007].
Special research areas include literary and performance traditions of the African world and multi-dimensional documentations of African culture and history. Has served on numerous committees and boards, including Chairman of the Board of Governors of NAFTI (National Film and Television Institute) and Chairman of the Founding Governing Council of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho. A Fellow & former Council Member and current Vice President (Arts), Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Among his notable works of poetry are the collections Elegy for the Revolution (Greenfield Review Press, 1978); A Harvest of Our Dreams (Heinemann, 1984); EarthChild (Woeli Publishing Services, 1985); AncestralLogic and CaribbeanBlues (Africa World Press, 1992), PraiseSong for TheLand (Sub Saharan Publishers, 2002) and The Place We Call Home (Ayebia, 2011). The last two collections come with CD recordings. Two other CDs--GhanaNya and Agbnoxevi--present Anyidoho's poetry written in Ewe. GhanaNya features Anyidoho as poet and singer with his mother Abla Adidi Anyidoho, a singer-poet in the Anlo-Ewe oral tradition. Two other collections are forthcoming: SeedTime: Selected Poems and See What They’ve Done To Our Sunrise. Anyidoho has also written two plays for children: Akpokplo [in Ewe & English] and The Phone Call (2018), a dramatic monologue for children. He also has a book of poetry in Korean translation: Africa, the Sad Tropical Continent - Selected Poems. Korean Translations by Lee Seok Ho. Kookhak Publishers, Seoul, 2012. His poetry has also been translated into Bengali, Chinese, Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Slavic, Swedish, and Turkish.