Our English Department led a week-long celebration in March 2022 to commemorate World Poetry Day, with a riveting programme of events & activities.
Our celebrations began on 15 March 2022 with an official launch ceremony led by our budding poet laureates! A monologue delivered by Mame Adwoa Ayeyi Dsane (Form 3 Atifi) eloquently challenged all students to connect and find meaning in their everyday encounters, to bring their imagination to life, proclaiming that, “Poetry renews and deepens the gift that all of us have…IMAGINATION!”
On subsequent days, students from across the school celebrated creative poetic expression with exciting spoken word & rap performances, recitals, song and dance performances. Students were treated to an audience with renowned musician/career poet M.anifest dubbed, ‘M.anifestation.’, and hosted by Enyonam Attipoe (Lower 6 East), who skilfully probed into M.anifest’s songwriting and lyrical style as a creative, technical and multisensory process. Asantewaa Owusu (Form 2 East) wowed the audience, and indeed M.anifest, with her special rendition of his hit song ‘god MC’.
Cyrene Bawuah (Form 3 West) presented M.anifest with an original portrait of himself that she made, as a token of our appreciation for him taking time out of his busy schedule to support our Poetry Week Celebration.
Though somewhat belated, the finale of our Poetry Week celebrations was held on 26 May 2022, to enable one of Africa’s greatest literary giants, Madam Ama Ata Aidoo, to join us virtually for an impassioned tribute to her vast body of poetry and literary works. Select pupils delighted Madam Aidoo with recitals of her own poems, including “Where the Bead Speaks”, which explores the deep cultural significance of beads in Ghanaian society, as well as original poems written by pupils themselves.
These recitals were followed by a dramatization of excerpts from Madam Aidoo’s world famous play, “Dilemma of a Ghost” by our Class 6 pupils, which chronicles the arrival of a black American woman married to a Ghanaian, to Africa, and the struggles she encounters coming to terms with her cultural past and her new home.
Pupils then enjoyed a lively Q&A session with Madam Aidoo about her sources of inspiration and insights into her creative process, as well as her favourite literary works and authors. Madam Aidoo urged all young poets and writers to continue reading voraciously and to be bold and craft authentic stories and poems about the world they know.
We are so incredibly grateful to Madam Aidoo for being so generous with her heart and time – spending the morning with us to celebrate the power and beauty of poetry. Both Madam Aidoo and M.anifest have been a great inspiration to our children and we very much look forward to producing future laureates in the years to come!