Kofi Akpabli

Kofi Akpabli (born 18 December 1973, Accra) is a Ghanaian academic, journalist, publisher, tourism consultant and cultural activist. He is a two-time winner of the CNN Multichoice African Journalist for Arts and Culture Awards. His latest work 'Made in Nima' has been featured in the new Commonwealth Anthology which was published in May 2016 Safe House: Explorations into Creative Non-Fiction.Akpabli has four books to his credit and currently works as a lecturer at Central University College in Ghana. He is a founding member of Ghana Cultural Forum and has participated in Xplore FrankfurtRheinemann 2012, Tallberg Forum, Sweden 2011, Berlin Art Festival 2010 and the Düsseldorf Art Preview 2010. Quotes I had the good fortune of being ‘thrown’ off to the north easternmost part of Ghana to do my national service. For a first timer it was a curious, exotic world. My sense of adventure and my curious nature did the rest. By the first three months, I had seen most part of the region including parts of the upper west and Northern Region. In an interview I had to travel to write every piece. As a freelance writer and journalist I can confide in you that I am in my element when I do travel writing. I enjoy doing it. Humour is important to me. One would say it enriches my work. I would say it defines me. Even when I write about death I could make my audience laugh. As to my real experiences yes, they made me smile a lot. Like when that goat urine sprayed my shirt. Question is which is easier: get angry and take all those responsible to task (including the goat) or laugh it off. I choose humour, any day. Be myself and respect the other person. Everything else becomes easy. One thing I also did was to get a local guide. People feel important when you show them that you are ignorant and you want to know. I believe people think what they want to think. True, they are influenced by what they are exposed to, still, the final decision is theirs. I want to believe that with an open mind, one should realize that people are the same everywhere. It is only the environment which makes the difference. I am not a woman but I believe this is how they feel after they have delivered a baby. I feel I have downloaded something important that took a long time to form. Accomplished? No. Just ‘finished with this one’ and looking for the next. Popularity? A few people claim I look familiar or my name sounds familiar. Is that how it begins? You tell me. External links Category:Living people Category:1973 births Category:Poets from Ghana