AUCC Introduces Creative Arts Course

Mr Kojo Yankah, the Founder of Africa University College of Communication (AUCC) on Tuesday announced the introduction of a course in Creative Arts at the College to cater for the needs of students in that field.

He said the course which begins in September would showcase student’s talents in Creative Arts, such as dancing, poetry recitals, music, painting, sculpture, photography and modelling, among others.

Mr Yankah said the course would provide opportunities for young people to explore their creativity and enhance their future career prospects and better prepare them for the job market.

The AUCC Founder announced this at the launch of a book titled; ‘Adabraka: Stories from the Centre of the World,’ which is a collection of stories written by 14 authors, that tells a story about Accra.

The 155-page book tells a historical story about Accra from different perspectives but with particular focus on Adabraka.

Some of the topics include an Eye that Listens, Burgundy Dress, Don’t Wake Me Up, Hard Times, Hunu Bi, the Centre of the World, As good as it Gets, and My Visit to the World.

Nana S. Achampong, Director of AUCC Ama Ata Aidoo Centre for Creative Writing, said the publication was an opportunity to give young and unpublished writers a platform to expand their creative writing horizon.

He said the Ama Ata Aidoo Centre in February 2018 invited passionate writers to submit original work for consideration in its maiden anthology ‘Adabraka: Stories from the Centre of the World’.

He said the submission guidelines suggested that all entries be short stories between 500 and 6,000 words and must be rooted in Greater Accra area, in any style and sub-genre, including humour, nonfiction, quality flash fiction and stories with experimental narratives.

Nana Achampong said before the March 31 deadline, the Centre was inundated with submissions of high quality stories, which made it necessary to bring on board a few more litterateurs to assist in the shortlisting and editing.

He said the criteria used in selecting was basically based on quality of the stories, which had to be well thought through and in line with the guidelines.

He said the literary editors had agreed that each of the 14 writers showed great writing skills and understanding in content, created fantastic imagery and evoked many complex emotions.

Naa Korkor Adzieoyi I, the Queenmother of Adabraka, reviewing the book, said it brought to the fore, the harsh reality of a modern community that threatened its harmony.

She said parents and the youth are now confronted with the current challenge of contradictions in social and moral values such as homosexuality, drug addiction, crime, prostitution and peer pressure to conform or to be left out.

Giving an insight into some of the stories, the Adabraka Queenmother said ‘An Eye That Listens’ and ‘In bed at Odo-Ndo’ draws attention to child abuse, vulnerability, and the breakdown in kinship relationships due to modern western attitudes.

The Queenmother said ‘The Centre of the World’ brought out the mixed feelings between tradition and modernity, which gives us a sense of identity or alienates us from our roots.

Mohammed Adjei Sowah, the Chief Executive Officer of Accra Metropolitan Area, commended the University for the Initiative, stating that, education played a key role in transforming the society through effective reading.

He urged the public to develop the habit of reading to broaden their horizon, since it was a way to acquire knowledge for national development.

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