Efua Sutherland

Born in Cape Coast, and belonging to the Fante ethnic group, Efua spread her passion for education from Ghana to the rest of the world.

fua completed her studies at the Teacher Training College in Ghana and then traveled to England to further her education at Homerton College in Cambridge and the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) in London. When she returned to Accra, Ghana she accomplished even more.

Efua, founded the Ghana Drama Studio (a workshop for children’s books writers), the Ghana Society of Writers, the Ghana Experimental Theatre, a community project called the Kodzidan (Story House) for the preservation of oral literature, and helped establish the magazine “Okyeame”. Auntie Efua, as she was affectionately known, was a key figure in the creation of modern Ghanaian theatre, and played a major role in establishing the study of African performance traditions at a university level.

A particularly significant aspect of Efua Sutherland’s work was the Children’s Drama Development Project. In fact, children’s issues were central to her life and work. The Children’s Drama Development Project focused on research about the cultural life of children in society and the information gathered served as a basis for writing, producing and publishing appropriate plays for children.

Sutherland’s pan-Africanism was reflected in her support for its principles and her collaborations with black personalities worldwide such as China Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Maya Angelou, WEB DuBois, and Martin Luther King Jr. She dedicated her life to build indigenous models of excellence in culture and education and through her vision, served as mentor and inspiration to many notable African personalities in arts and culture.

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