Ama Ata Aidoo
1942—2023
![Headshot of Ama Ata Aidoo](https://cdn-test.poetryfoundation.org/cdn-cgi/image/w=10,h=10,q=50,blur=3/content/images/5d6121d772b346dae8f686bc4a031c367293f719.jpg)
Ama Ata Aidoo was a Ghanaian writer, politician, and academic whose work problematized the paradoxes of modern African identity, particularly for women. She served as Ghana’s Minister of Education from 1982 to 1983. Her work includes the play The Dilemma of a Ghost (Longman, 1965), which made her the first published female African dramatist; the novel Our Sister Killjoy; or, Reflections from a Black-Eyed Squint (Longman, 1966); the short story collection No Sweetness Here (Longman, 1970); and the poetry collection Someone Talking to Sometime (College Press, 1985). Aidoo earned a BA from the University of Ghana in 1964. She taught as a professor in Ghana, Kenya, and the United States.