Elizabeth-Irene Baitie

Last updated

Elizabeth-Irene Baitie (born 1970) [1] is a Ghanaian writer of fiction for young adults.

Contents

Biography

After attending Achimota School, Baitie studied biochemistry and chemistry at the University of Ghana, Legon, then received a postgraduate degree in clinical biochemistry from the University of Surrey and now runs a medical laboratory in Adabraka. [2] She wanted to write stories since she was seven years old [3] and fits her writing around her day job and family life in Accra with three children and a husband. She writes after work, at weekends and also during commuting time. [3]

Awards

She has twice won First Prize in the Burt Award for African Literature given by the Canadian Organisation for Development through Education with support from the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY): [4] in 2009 for her novel The Twelfth Heart and in 2012 for The Dorm Challenge. [5] The Twelfth Heart went on to sell 35,000 copies in the couple of years following the prize. In 2006 Baitie won the Macmillan Prize for Africa (Junior Readers) for her story "A Saint in Brown Sandals", [6] and four years earlier her novel Lea's Christmas was shortlisted for the 2002 Macmillan Writers' Prize for Africa (Senior Readers). [7] It has been suggested that there are more women writers in Ghana than a couple of decades ago, and that prizes for their work contribute to their success and encourage publishers to sign them up. [8]

Writing

Baitie writes for preteens as well as older teenagers. She visits schools and has worked with organisations like the Young Educators Foundation to promote reading and books. [9] She likes to offer her readers excitement and a chance to escape into a different world, choosing not to emphasise themes of poverty and disadvantage in her books, unlike some other young people's literature in Ghana. [1] In both The Twelfth Heart and The Dorm Challenge the theme of friendship is explored through the central character of Mercy, a girl who leaves her small village behind and meets new people at boarding school.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katherine Paterson</span> American author (born 1932)

Katherine Womeldorf Paterson is an American writer best known for children's novels, including Bridge to Terabithia. For four different books published 1975–1980, she won two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. She is one of four people to win the two major international awards; for "lasting contribution to children's literature" she won the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing in 1998 and for her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2006, the biggest monetary prize in children's literature. Also for her body of work she was awarded the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in 2007 and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the American Library Association in 2013. She was the second US National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, serving 2010 and 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nnedi Okorafor</span> Nigerian-American writer of science fiction and fantasy

Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her Binti Series and her novels Who Fears Death, Zahrah the Windseeker, Akata Witch, Akata Warrior, Lagoon and Remote Control. She has also written for comics and film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mavis Gallant</span> Canadian writer

Mavis Leslie de Trafford Gallant,, née Young, was a Canadian writer who spent much of her life and career in France. Best known as a short story writer, she also published novels, plays and essays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siobhan Dowd</span> English writer and activist (1960–2007)

Siobhan Dowd was a British writer and activist. The last book she completed, Bog Child, posthumously won the 2009 Carnegie Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best book for children or young adults published in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon M. Draper</span> American childrens writer and educator

Sharon Mills Draper is an American children's writer, professional educator, and the 1997 National Teacher of the Year. She is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for books about the young and adolescent African-American experience. She is known for her Hazelwood and Jericho series, Copper Sun,Double Dutch, Out of My Mind and Romiette and Julio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Knox</span> New Zealand writer

Elizabeth Fiona Knox is a New Zealand writer. She has authored several novels for both adults and teenagers, autobiographical novellas, and a collection of essays. One of her best-known works is The Vintner's Luck (1998), which won several awards, has been published in ten languages, and was made into a film of the same name by Niki Caro in 2009. Knox is also known for her young adult literary fantasy series, Dreamhunter Duet. Her most recent novels are Mortal Fire and Wake, both published in 2013, and The Absolute Book, published in 2019.

Rebecca Stead is an American writer of fiction for children and teens. She won the American Newbery Medal in 2010, the oldest award in children's literature, for her second novel When You Reach Me.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moraa Gitaa</span> Kenyan writer

Moraa Gitaa is a Kenyan novelist, born in Mombasa. She is also a Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution researcher, cultural advocate and arts curator. She is the author of the YA novels Let's Talk About This, The Kigango Oracle, Hila and The Shark Attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kojo Laing</span> Ghanaian novelist and poet (1946–2017)

B. Kojo Laing or Bernard Kojo Laing was a Ghanaian novelist and poet, whose writing is characterised by its hybridity, whereby he uses Ghanaian Pidgin English and vernacular languages alongside standard English. His first two novels in particular – Search Sweet Country (1986) and Woman of the Aeroplanes (1988) – were praised for their linguistic originality, both books including glossaries that feature the author's neologisms as well as Ghanaian words.

Wangui wa Goro is a Kenyan academic, social critic, researcher, translator and writer based in the UK. As a public intellectual she has an interest in the development of African languages and literatures, as well as being consistently involved with the promotion of literary translation internationally, regularly speaking and writing on the subject. Professor Wangui wa Goro is a writer, translator, translation studies scholar and pioneer who has lived and lectured in different parts of the world including the UK, USA, Germany and South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nida Jay</span> Pakistani novelist (born 1985)

Nida Jay is a Pakistani novelist who writes in the English language. She is the recipient of numerous international awards, amongst them the Dunnen First Novel Prize. The debut novel Heart of Eternity published by Mirador has gained worldwide plaudits and recognition making Jay an influential name in philosophical and religious literature. Jay is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and is also a member of the Stanford University vibrant group of literary scholars

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namwali Serpell</span> Zambian feminist academic and writer (born 1980)

Namwali Serpell is an American and Zambian writer who teaches in the United States. In April 2014, she was named on Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 Sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with the potential and talent to define trends in African literature. Her short story "The Sack" won the 2015 Caine Prize for African fiction in English. In 2020, Serpell won the Belles-lettres category Grand Prix of Literary Associations 2019 for her debut novel The Old Drift.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elieshi Lema</span> Tanzanian writer and publisher (born 1949)

Elieshi Lema is a Tanzanian writer and publisher, also active in Tanzania's civil society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Busby</span> Publisher, writer and editor (born 1944)

Margaret Yvonne Busby,, Hon. FRSL, also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisher when she and Clive Allison (1944–2011) co-founded the London-based publishing house Allison and Busby in the 1960s. She edited the anthology Daughters of Africa (1992), and its 2019 follow-up New Daughters of Africa. She is a recipient of the Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature. In 2020 she was voted one of the "100 Great Black Britons". In 2021, she was honoured with the London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2023, Busby was named as president of English PEN.

Rosina Umelo is a Nigerian writer. She is known for her short stories, children's books and her young adult fiction. She also has published under the pen name Adaeze Madu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yaa Gyasi</span> Ghanaian-American novelist

Yaa Gyasi is a Ghanaian-American novelist. Her debut novel Homegoing, published in 2016, won her, at the age of 26, the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for Best First Book, the PEN/Hemingway Award for a first book of fiction, the National Book Foundation's "5 under 35" honors for 2016 and the American Book Award. She was awarded a Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature in 2020. As of 2016, Gyasi lives in Berkeley, California.

Cath Crowley is a young adult fiction author based in Melbourne, Australia. She has been shortlisted and received numerous literary awards including the 2011 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction for her novel Graffiti Moon and, in 2017, the Griffith University Young Adult Book Award at the Queensland Literary Awards for Words in Deep Blue.

Ruby Yayra Goka is a Ghanaian dentist and author. She has 15 books to her credit and is best known for being a multiple Burt Award for African Literature winner in Ghana.

Joanne C. Hillhouse is a creative writer, journalist, producer and educator from Antigua and Barbuda. Her writing encompasses novels, short stories, poetry and children's books, and she has contributed to many publications in the Caribbean region as well as internationally, among them the anthologies Pepperpot (2014) and New Daughters of Africa (2019). Hillhouse's books include the poetry collection On Becoming (2003), the novellas The Boy from Willow Bend (2003) and Dancing Nude in the Moonlight (2004), the children's books Fish Outta Water and With Grace, the novel Oh Gad! (2012), and the young adult novel Musical Youth (2014), which was runner-up for the Burt Award for Caribbean Literature. She was named by Literary Hub as one of "10 Female Caribbean Authors You Should Know". An advocate for the development of the arts in Antigua and Barbuda, she founded the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize in 2004.

Lisa Allen-Agostini is a Trinidadian journalist, editor and writer of fiction, poetry and drama. She is also a stand-up comedian, performing as "Just Lisa".

References

  1. 1 2 Canadian Organisation for Development through Education 2011 Annual Report Archived 2016-08-11 at the Wayback Machine , pp. 11–12.
  2. ↑ "Writer for May- Elizabeth-Irene Baitie | Writers Project Ghana". writersprojectghana.com. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  3. 1 2 "YA Author Interview + Free Book Giveaway: Elizabeth-Irene Baitie", Fiction Writers of West Africa, 18 November 2011.
  4. ↑ "CODE's Burt Award for African Young Adult Literature". CODE's Burt Literary Awards. 2017-09-01. Archived from the original on 2016-11-11. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
  5. ↑ "Burt Award Winners", Ghana Book Trust.
  6. ↑ Mary Ekah, "Macmillan Announces Winners of Writers' Competition", Thisday (via AllAfrica), 31 January 2006.
  7. ↑ "Macmillan Releases Shortlist of Writer's Prize", Thisday (via AllAfrica), 9 December 2003.
  8. ↑ Luisa Rollenhagen, "Ghana’s women writers", Diplomatisches Magazin , January 2013.
  9. ↑ "Young Educators Foundation collaborates with Edem, Elizabeth Baitie to promote reading", Myjoyonline.com, 3 April 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.