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| Forthcoming from Pan-African University Press:
Three (3) Plays By Femi Osofisan | | | | | | 
| Nkrumah-Ni...
AFRICA-Ni! (A play about Kwame Nkrumah's Conakry Years) This is the first of three plays dealing with the issue of Pan-Africanism, and the role of our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora in the agenda of black unification, total liberation, and future development. Specifically, the play focuses on the regime of Kwame Nkrumah, leader of the first African country to gain political independence from the British, in 1957 and the first African leader to consciously invite African Americans to the continent and make Accra a sort of Mecca for all liberation movements. Sadly, he was overthrown in 1966 and went to live in Conakry with Sekou Toure, the Guinean leader, for what he thought would be a brief interlude, but which in the end lasted for over six years till his death. As it says in its title, the play deals with incidents from Nkrumah's exile years in Conakry, where he met and held discussions almost daily with Sekou Toure, and Amilcar Cabral. It was commissioned and first performed for the African Literature Association's meeting in Accra—its first ever meeting on the African soil—in 1994, then a year later with great success at Colombo (with the playwright directing jointly with Dr Neloufer del Mel), and later revived as part of the ceremonies marking Ghana's 50th independence anniversary in Accra. Anyone interested in Pan Africanism and the story of African independence especially in the early years, will gain considerably from reading or watching this play. | | | | | | 
| A Nightingale for Dr Dubois (A memorial service for Dr WEB DuBois) This is second play in Osofisan's Africa and the Diaspora Series, after Nkrumah-ni…Africa-ni! : Nkrumah's Exile Years in Conakry. Commissioned by the WEB DuBois Memorial Centre in Accra, and first performed in 1997, the play deals with the last days of the great Dr DuBois' sojourn in Accra, just before he died—a period that is not much written about. The play has since been produced in other cities, including Ibadan, Nigeria, and Carbondale, USA. | | | | | | 
| Canoes (OR "NOT ALL CANOES SAIL BACK HOME: MAYA, MARYSE AND EFUA IN NKRUMAH'S GHANA") This the third and most recent play in Osofisan's Africa and the Diaspora Series. Although called Canoes, for short, its full title is actually, Not All Canoes Come Sailing Home: Maya, Maryse and Efua in Nkrumah's Ghana. It is essentially a re-enactment of a fictitious meeting between these three women—Maya Angelou, Maryse Condé, and Efua Sutherland –at Efua's Drama Studio in Accra, on the day that Dr Danquah died. Sponsored by the Camargo Foundation in France, the play has so far been performed at the Playwrights Centre in Minneapolis, the NYU's Tisch School, the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC, and at the National Theatre in Accra. It explores the potential role of women in the grand liberation of the African continent and the whole of the black world, especially after the male initiatives crumble.. | ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nigeria's Femi Osofisan (aka Okinba Launko) is currently emeritus professor of drama and theatre at the university of Ibadan, Nigeria. A restless artist and multiple award winner, he wears many caps—as activist playwright, poet, biographer, novelist, journalist, actor, director, song writer, editor, etc. His plays have been performed in different countries all over the world and in 2016, Osofisan became the first African ever to win the international Thalia Prize. | | | | | | | | |
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