OKAI, ATUKWEI

PHOTO CAPTION: Atukwei Okai. SOURCE: EA Library.

Atukwei John Okai (March 15, 1941 – July 13, 2018), born John Atukwei Okai, was Ghana’s iconic poet, cultural activist, academic, and one of Africa’s most celebrated literary voices. Widely acknowledged as the first true performance poet to emerge from Africa, he played a pioneering role in blending oral tradition with modern poetic expression. He was the founding Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers’ Association (PAWA), a position he held until his death, and also served as a former President of the Ghana Association of Writers. His life’s work significantly shaped African poetry, Pan-African thought, and cultural activism on the global stage.

Born on 1941, in Accra, the capital of Ghana, into a Ga family. His father was an educationist, a background that deeply influenced Okai’s intellectual and cultural development. He began his elementary education at the Gambaga Native Authority School and proceeded to Nalerigu Middle Boys’ School. He later attended Methodist Middle Boys’ School and Accra High School in Accra.

He later received a government scholarship under President Kwame Nkrumah and earned a Master of Arts in Literature (M.A. Litt) from the Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow in 1967, where he distinguished himself as a scholar of Russian literature and a broadcaster within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He further pursued postgraduate studies at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London, now part of University College London, earning a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) degree in 1971 with a scholarship from the University of Ghana.

Atukwei Okai began his academic career at the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1971 as a lecturer in Russian Literature at the Department of Modern Languages. In 1984, he became a Senior Research Fellow in African Literature at the Institute of African Studies and later served as Head of the Ga-Dangme Department of Education at the University of Education, Winneba.

PHOTO CAPTION: Atukwei Okai performance poet. SOURCE: EA Library.

Beyond academia, he was an internationally acclaimed performance poet who shared platforms with renowned poets such as Stanley Kunitz, Robert Lowell, and Nicolás Guillén at Poetry International in 1975 at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. His poetry, often described as politically radical and socially conscious, was deeply rooted in Pan-Africanism and oral tradition.

His works appeared widely in newspapers, magazines, and on Henry Swanzy’s Ghana Radio programme, The Singing Net his first major collection, the Oath of the Fontonfrom, was published in New York by Simon and Schuster in 1971, followed by Logorligi Logarithms in 1974.

He also authored children’s poetry and saw his works translated into numerous languages, appearing in prestigious anthologies and international journals. Through deliberate innovation in language, rhythm, and sound, he redefined African poetry and reclaimed its primal oral essence.

Atukwei Okai passed away on Friday, July 13, 2018, at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra at the age of 77.

In recognition of his immense contributions to Ghanaian and African literature, he was accorded a state funeral service with full military honours.

His legacy endures through his groundbreaking poetry, academic scholarship, cultural leadership, and unwavering commitment to Pan-Africanism, firmly establishing him as one of Africa’s most influential literary figures.

EA EDITORS