Writers Project of Ghana, Goethe-Institut Ghana and the Foundation for Contemporary Art – Ghana have announced the seventh edition of Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra, which will take place from Friday 13th October 2023 to Sunday 15th October 2023.
Pa Gya! is a three day literary arts festival featuring activities such as readings, panel discussions, poetry performances, talks, story-telling sessions, book launches, literary prize awards, comics and graphic novels, exhibitions and more.
The first edition of this festival was held in 2017 and the festival has been held every October since then.
Over the years, the festival has collaborated with writers, publishing houses, artists, cultural institutions and others. The festival has provided opportunities for emerging writers, illustrators, editors and artists and also provides a great networking and collaborative platform for our visiting partners.
This year, in addition to sponsorship by Goethe-Institut Ghana, Pa Gya! welcomes the support of the European Union Delegation to Ghana, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ghana, the British Council, and collaboration with the Wintertuin Curacao Festival, the Icelandic Literature Centre, Hay Festival and Lviv Bookforum, NYU-Accra, and the Poetry Association of Ghana.
The festival also acknowledges the kind support of Booknook.store, Dakpabli and Associates, the Pan African Writers Association, Ghana Association of Writers, and others.
The festival will feature more than one hundred writers, academics and artists from all over the world, including Prof Selywn Cudjoe (USA), Prof Dannabang Kuwabong (Puerto
Rico/Ghana), Prof Kofi Anyidoho (Ghana), Dr Pamela Nichols (SA); author and historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, poets Diana Ferrus (South Africa), Yeow Kai Chai (Singapore), dramatists Femi Elufowojo jnr OBE (UK/NIgeria), author Frances Williams (UK), and many others.
There will also be virtual participation by several other guests including academic and author Prof Ato Quayson, and playwright Gabriel Gbadamosi. In attendance will also be a delegation of poets from Curacao. There will also be a dedicated Children’s Corner at the festival this year.
Martin Egblewogbe, Festival Director – brief comments
“Since 2017 when the Writers Project of Ghana and partners Goethe-Institut Ghana launched the first edition of Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra, we have through the kind support of sponsors and the literary community continued to build this up into a yearly event of notable repute, which has continued to foster interesting relationships and networks on the literary scene, and continues to grow the literary community in Accra.
In 2023, as Accra celebrates a year as the World Book Capital, we are especially excited that Pa Gya! will be adding to the exciting array of activities that have already occurred, and are slated to occur.
I am especially honoured to welcome the guests to this year’s festival, but I most of all am looking forward to active participation of literature and art lovers from all over Accra and Ghana.