Nii Ayikewi Parkes

Nii Ayikwei Parkes is a multi-genre author, working across poetry, radio, fiction and children’s writing. Winner of multiple international awards, notably France’s two major prizes for translated fiction – Prix Baudelaire and Prix Laure Bataillon, he is the author of several books including Tail of the Blue Bird (fiction), The Makings of You (poetry) and The Ga Picture Alphabet. A 2007 laureate of Ghana’s national ACRAG award for literary advocacy, Nii Ayikwei has written for National Geographic, Financial Times, The Guardian, and Lonely Planet, and been the recipient of residencies and fellowships from Harvard University, the University of Southampton, the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, the V&A Museum and the California State University, Los Angeles. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, his freelance research work explores the praeter-colonialism survivals of African philosophy, skills and ways of being in Africa and the African diaspora and his most recent books are The Geez, a collection of poems; The Ga Picture Alphabet; and Azúcar, a novel.