Efua Theodora Sutherland

Efua Theodora Sutherland b. Morgue (* 27. June 1924 in Cape Coast , † 2. January 1996 in Accra ) is one of Ghana originated in English writing writer , theater maker and children's rights activist.

Life

Sutherland studied in Mampong , Cambridge and at the London Institute for Oriental and African Studies . She worked as a teacher in England but returned to Ghana in 1951. After the country gained independence in 1957, she founded the Ghana Society of Writers , the Ghana Drama Studio and later also became active in the field of experimental theater. She is one of the most outstanding Ghanaian playwrights and is the author of several dramas that mainly deal with the current situation in the country. Her works often have an enlightenment-emancipatory approach and demand equality between African and European culture. However, she also created works of art using local mythology , including the drama The Marriage of Anansewa about the spider Anansi , a traditional fairy tale hero . Her prose and poetry work is less extensive than her dramatic work. She also wrote non-fiction books for children and worked at the University of Ghana .

Efua Theodora Sutherland was included in the Daughters of Africa anthology published in 1992 by Margaret Busby in London and New York. Some poems appeared in German in the anthology Schwarzer Orpheus (1954) edited by Janheinz Jahn .

In addition to her literary and academic work, Sutherland was an active cultural mediator throughout her life and campaigned for cultural education and children's rights: For example, she was part of the Ghanaian delegation at the first conference of the Afro-Asian writers' organization in 1958, and initiated the organization of a pan-African one Theater festivals (PANAFEST, which was first held in 1992), and, as chairman of the national children's commission, implemented several important programs at national level between 1983 and 1990.

Works (selection)

• New Life at Kyrefaso ( short story, 1957)
• Playtime in Africa (1960, children's book)
• Roadmakers (1961, children's book)
• Edufa (1967, drama)
• Foriwa (drama, 1967)
• Vulture! Vulture! (1968, children's play)
• Tahinta (1968, children's play)
• The Marriage of Anansewa (Drama, 1980)

source

• Stefanie Höhn: Sutherland, Efua Theodora (née Morgue) . In: Authors Lexicon. Ed. V. Ute Hechtfischer, Renate Hof, Inge Stephan and Flora Veit-Wild. Frankfurt / M. Suhrkamp 2002, pp. 524f. ISBN 3518399187

Web links

• Biography Sutherland (Engl.) ( Memento of 25 January 2015, Internet Archive )