•ISSUE NUMBER TWO*  1 9 9 7*

Boahen Awarded  the
Noma in Kampala

awarded  'Special  Commendation.'  The  guide,
in  Portuguese, is the  first  significant  and  sub-
stantial bibliography of Mozambican  history to
appear  outside  Mozambique,  filling  a  lacuna
in  the  bibliographical  infrastructure  for  Afri-
can  history.  A  bibliographic  guide  to  the
country's  history  from  the  third  century  up  to
1930,  some  1,000 entries, many annotated,  are
supplemented  by judicious  interpretative  es-
says.  The jury  praised  the  guide  as  'a  work  of
exceptional  academic importance and  genuine
scholarship. Authoritative,  highly  utilitarian,
comprehensive;  original,  innovative  and
ground breaking in a number of ways; the work
is  a  genuine  guide  for  scholars  which  can  be
used  with  confidence  throughout  the  world
scholarly  community.'

133 titles, from  80 African  publishers, in 19
countries, were submitted  for the  1997 compe-
tition.  Publishers  were  limited,  for  the  first
time, to a maximum of three entries, to encour-
age  publishers  to  be  responsibly  selective  in
submitting titles; and the jury noted with  sat-
isfaction  that this resulted in a continuing high
level of entries, and an increase  in the  number
of publishers submitting titles from  49 in  1995
and  72 in  1996, to 80 in  1997.

The jury  considered  the  changing  publish-
ing conditions in Africa,  particularly  questions
of  ownership  and  autonomy.  They  decided  to
draw the attention of African  publishers to the
spirit  of the  Noma  Award  - to  encourage  and
reward genuinely autonomous African  publish-
ers,  and African  writers; and to ask  publishers
considering submissions  to take this  condition
and  spirit  into  account in  deciding whether  to
submit  titles.  The jury  also  singled  out  three
further  books  for  'Honourable  Mention.'  They
are  (in alphabetical  order by author):

The  Jailer's  Book  by  Ken  Barns  (Groote
Schuur, South Africa: Kagiso Publishers, 1996);
Propaganda  by Monuments  and  Other  Stories
by  Ivan  Vladislavic  (Cape Town:  David  Philip
Publishers, 1995); The Road  Out  by Dan Wylie
(Plumstead,  South Africa:  Snailpress,  1996).

A. ADU BOAHEN'S Mfantsipim  and  the Mak-
ing of Ghana: A Centenary  History,  1876-1976,
published  in  1996 by Sankofa  Educational  Pub-
lishers  Ltd. Accra, Ghana,  has  been  named  as
the  winner  of the  1997  Noma  Award  for  Pub-
lishing in Africa. The book was cited by the jury
as 'no ordinary  history book. It is a  fascinating
story, elegantly  told  by a  meticulous  historian
in a  beautifully  produced  volume. The  author,
a  major  historian  and  great  political  figure,
skilfully  presents  the  story  of  the  making  of
modern  Ghana  through  the  life  history  of one
school. Through  detailed  and  rigorous  original
research,  he situates  the story in its  historical
context  with  an  easy  and  magisterial  profes-
sionalism.  Whilst  combining  thematic  and
chronological  styles  in  such  an  ingenious  way
as  to excite  the  reader's  imagination,  the  lan-
guage and style remain simple,  straightfoward,
and  fluent.'

The book tells  the  story of the  doyen  of the
Ghanaian  secondary  school  system,  and  how
it  emerged  to  epitomise  the  rise  of a  nation  -
the  history of the  school  is linked  to the  evolu-
tion  of modern  Ghana,  from  its colonial  incep-
tion to independent  nationhood.  The  founding
fathers  were fired in their determination  by the
rising  tide  of  nationalism  which  inspired  the
search  for  knowledge  as  a  weapon  of  libera-
tion. The story  is woven  around  this  national-
ist  spirit,  linking  it  creatively  with  the  larger
struggle  for  national  independence  and  sover-
eignty  which  culminated  in  the  birth  of mod-
ern  Ghana.  The  story 
illustrates  how
Mfantisipim  was the trailblazer  for  institution
building  in  Ghana's  educational  institutions,
and  how  it  helped  to  instill  in  the  national
psyche the pursuit  of excellence in  scholarship
and in service, patriotism, competitiveness, and
pride  in  Ghanaian  culture.

The book  is  published  by the  author's  own
recently founded  publishing company,  Sonkofa
Educational  Publishers Ltd. The Jury  addition-
ally commended  this  double  achievement  and
the  high  standard  of the  book's  production.

The  $10,000 Award  was  presented  on  Fri-
day 7 November  1997, during the Uganda Book
Week,  in  Kampala.  Giiia  Bibliogrdfico  para  o
de  Historia  de  Mocambique  by
Estudante 
Amelia  Neves  de  Souto,  published  in  1996 by
the Centro de Estudos Africanos,  Universidade
Eduardo  Mondlane  in  Mozambique,  was

Glendora  Books  Supplement

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