Advertisement

Golden Baobab unveils new awards for African illustrators

 

 

Golden Baobab, organisers of the annual pan-African awards for African illustrators’ has announced two new awards totalling $7,500.  They are the Golden Baobab Prize for Illustrators and The Golden Baobab Prize for Rising Illustrators.

At the launch  in Accra, the co-founder and Executive Director of Golden Baobab, Ms Deborah Ahenkorah, said the new illustration prizes were the biggest so far.

She said Golden Baobab started out as a very small organisation which sought to encourage African writers to create stories for African children and had been running  literature prizes for five years which had received over a thousand stories. 

She said at a point, the organisation realised the need to encourage African illustrators, as well as writers because illustrations were just as important as the text in a children’s storybook. 

“It is for this reason that Golden Baobab is launching these new illustration prizes. We want to discover, motivate and celebrate African illustrators who are dedicated to creating beautiful illustrations for children,” she said.

The President of the Ghana Book Publishers Association (GBPA), Mr Asare Yamoah, congratulated Golden Baobab for its work to date and for its new initiative. 

He spoke about the importance of developing the love for reading at a young age and that it could be made simpler if children had lots of interesting books with colourful illustrations. 

 “When we go to international book fairs, everyone clamours for our adult African literature but when it comes to children’s books, we have realised that we cannot compete with publishers from Europe, India or America. I am happy to support the launch of these new Golden Baobab Prizes for Illustrations, which will undoubtedly help to change the face of Ghanaian and African children’s literature,” Mr Yamoah said.

 The 2014 Golden Baobab Prizes for Illustrations poster, which was designed by Ghanaian illustrator, Hanson Akatti, was also presented at the event.

Speaking about her expectations of the new prizes, Nanama B. Acheampong, coordinator of the Golden Baobab Prizes, expressed her excitement at the endless possibilities.

 “With these new illustration prizes, we hope to discover African illustrators who, hand-in-hand with African writers, will create beautiful books for African children,” she said.

The 2014 Golden Baobab Prizes for Illustrations were sponsored by  donations of individuals around the world during the Golden Baobab’s Global Giving Campaign.

 

 

Connect With Us : 0242202447 | 0551484843 | 0266361755 | 059 199 7513 |