nana s. achampong I books page

About the Author ------------------- Journalist Nana S. Achampong, a graduate of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, is also known in different obscure corners of the world as a filmmaker, a fine artist, a music producer, a writer and a radio/television producer/director. It is obvious though after combing through the general body of his works that his first love is the art of writing. Little wonder, he dropped out of graduate school in the middle of an MBA program in 1993 to publish his own monthly entertainment magazine, ‘The Wind’, which was dedicated exclusively to new literary writings and the urban African arts scene. The cultural maverick, the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, after his second of several encounters with Achampong in the late 1980s, told a ‘Solid Black’ radio program host in Ghana of the poet’s writing style: “he does acrobatics with the English language. That is how Africans mus’ be. Whatever it is that has been pushed onto you, you have to excel at it and then reproduce it in your own unique African way. And that is what he is doing.” Achampong’s works include his first book of verse, ‘The Equilibrists’, published by Leroy Coubagey in 1995 to rave critical reviews, ‘Floating’ [poetry], and ‘Dream a Song’ were published ten years later, opening the gates to a flood of prolificacy, Sun of God’, [a play in five acts] about the debacle in the Congo, exploring the history of greed for power through the mad pursuit of copper, the inspirational nonfiction ‘Empowernomics: understanding the system of God’s purpose for mankind’ and ‘My Kikuyu Princess’. Others are the second novel ‘venusplazadotcom’, an eerie, disturbing and misty introspective of the immigrant underground in Maryland [as seen through the lives of an intergalactic cast whose incursions into CyberSpace, the supernatural, and the back streets of Baltimore leave behind a trail of darkness and chills], the nonfiction ‘Adinkra (ī'kŏn')-cepts: [concept ikons of the Asante Akan of West Africa]’ which traces the history of the symbology and the Akans of West Africa complete with a sumptuous buffet of pictures and illustrations, Salt in her Womb [poetry], and the anthology, Building Bridges: Bridging the gaps among African siblings all available on line at www.lulu.com/achampong. Achampong was born in Cape Coast, Ghana. He currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland, where he produces/directs of "ElderSpeak" for Fox's Good TV (Comcast Digital Channel 206), and “The Gene C. Bradford Hour” on WOLBV 1010 AM every Monday through Friday. Achampong has written for the Weekly Spectator, Wind Magazine, and The Afro American newspaper, and has appeared as a guest analyst on numerous television and radio stations including Vibe FM, Gold FM, and GTV, on which his signature creation, SMASH-TV aired for three seasons. Also to his credit is the feature film ‘The Ultimate Sacrifice’, a joint-production with Joyful Way Inc. for more information on Achampong, visit: www.achampong.ning.com www.myspace.com/achampong www.facebook.com/achampong