Kojo Laing, Ghanaian novelist, Died at 70

  Writer

B. Kojo Laing or Bernard Kojo Laing was born on July 1, 1946, in Kumasi and died on April 20, 2017.

He was a Ghanaian novelist and poet.

His writing is characterised by its hybridity, whereby he uses Ghanaian Pidgin English and vernacular languages alongside standard English.

Kojo Laing first two novels in particular – Search Sweet Country (1986) and Woman of the Aeroplanes (1988) – were praised for their linguistic originality, both books including glossaries that feature the author’s neologisms as well as Ghanaian words.

B. Kojo Laing’s poetry collection, Godhorse was published in 1989.

He has also wrote short stories, one of which – “Vacancy for the Post of Jesus Christ” – was included in The Heinemann Book of Contemporary African Stories (1992), edited by Chinua Achebe and C. L. Innes.

Kojo Laing passed away at 70 years old.