Category: press
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New interview on TWB Book Show
TWB Book Show returns with a compelling conversation featuring Sylvia Arthur, Founder of the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD), as we explore the theme: “Preserving African Stories, Shaping Global Narratives.” This episode is a rich reflection on books, culture, storytelling, and the responsibility of Africans to own and preserve their narratives. As…
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Now is the time to build African institutions
I wrote an op-ed for Ghanaian media to mark the 65th anniversary of the Ford Foundation’s West Africa Office, emphasising the importance of philanthropic support in building and sustaining Africa-based, Africa-centred institutions: “In 1960, the landmark year in which 17 African nations achieved their independence, the Ford Foundation announced its presence in West Africa with…
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New article on The Guardian
“Women across west Africa have a life expectancy of 59. In a rare project, Sylvia Arthur set out to give voice to those who have lived beyond expectation, whose experiences have been largely overlooked” Click to read the article in full
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Ford Global Fellowship!
I’m delighted to have been selected as a 2024 Ford Global Fellow! Along with 25 other emerging leaders from Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East, we will be supported by the Ford Foundation to intensify our work in advancing social justice in our communities and in our countries to create a more equitable…
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New interview on OkayAfrica
Growing up in the U.K., Sylvia Arthur did not read one African writer throughout her school years, even up to university. “That was a while ago. Things may have changed slightly, but not much,” she tells OkayAfrica in an interview. “There are African writers who go way before Chinua Achebe. None of those people and our literature are generally…
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2023 Brittle Paper Literary Person of the Year
From Brittle Paper: Sylvia Arthur is the 2023 Brittle Paper African Literary Person of the Year for her outstanding work as the founder of the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (@loatad_org) in Accra, Ghana. She is the 9th honoree of the award. @NnediOkorafor was the first to receive the award in 2015 and since then it…
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News: Forbes Africa Feature
I’m happy to be featured in the February/March 2023 issue of Forbes Africa magazine in an article titled, “Re-telling The African Story”: “We live in the Age of Story. Every brand, every political manifesto, is built on narrative architecture. Now Africa is reclaiming its own stories, and harnessing generations of storytelling craft to reconfigure the…
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“We’re all connected through literature”
“We’re all connected through literature; we’re all connected over generations through ancestry, through culture, through history, through so many things. I think when people come here, that’s what they take away most[ly], a feeling of connection beyond anything else. And if that’s what I’ve been able to do, then I’m happy with that for sure.“…
Sylvia Arthur 