Gladys Casely-Hayford

Gladys Casely-Hayford
Gladys Casely-Hayford
Born	11 May 1904; Axim, Gold Coast
Died	October 1950 (aged 46); Freetown, British Sierra Leone
Nationality	British subject
Occupation	Educator; writer;
Spouse(s)	Arthur Hunter
Children	Kobina Hunter
Parent(s)	Adelaide Casely-Hayford; J. E. Casely Hayford

Gladys May Casely-Hayford alias Aquah Laluah (11 May 1904 – October 1950) was a Gold Coast-born Sierra Leonean writer. She is credited as the first author to write in the Krio language.

Early life and career

Gladys was born into the Casely-Hayford family of Axim, Gold Coast on 11 May 1904. As a child, known then as Aquah LaLuah, she was a voracious reader, devouring Charles Kingsley's Heroes at the age of seven. She could sing, dance, and write poetry at an early age. Due to her upbringing she could speak fluent English, Creole, and Fante (the language of her father). She had her primary and secondary school education in Gold Coast[1] but for medical reasons was taken to England, and was then educated in Europe,[2] including at Penrhos College, Colwyn Bay, in Wales, then travelled with a Berlin jazz band as a dancer.[1] She travelled in the US as well.[2] When she started having breakdowns in 1932[3] she had to go home. Back home in Africa, she taught at the Girls' Vocational School in Freetown, Sierra Leone, run by her mother, Adelaide Casely-Hayford.

Later life and work

Acquah Laluah married Arthur Hunter.[3] At the school she taught African Folklore and Literature. Very aware of her African background, she celebrated her blackness poems including "Rejoice" and "Nativity". Although not much of her poetry was published during her lifetime, many of her poems were anthologized in the 1960s.[2] Poems such as "Nativity" (1927), "The Serving Girl" (1941) and "Creation" (1926), have been widely anthologized; writers from the Harlem renaissance loved her work.[4]

Death

Gladys May Casely-Hayford lived in Freetown, Sierra Leone, for much of her life. She moved to Accra, where her father's family lived, and where she died in 1950 of blackwater fever.[3]

Works

Take'Um So, 1948 (poetry)

Notes

Chipasula, Stella; Chipasula, Frank Mkalawile, eds. (1995). The Heinemann Book of African Women's Poetry. Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-435-90680-1.
Killam, Douglas; Kerfoot, Alicia L., eds. (2008). "Casely-Hayford, Gladys (1904-1950)". Student Encyclopedia of African Literature. Westport: Greenwood. pp. 79–80. ISBN 9780313335808.
Crista Martin, "Casely-Hayford, Gladys (1904–1950)", "Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia", Encyclopedia.com.
See Countee Cullen, ed., Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Negro Poets, 1927; Langston Hughes, ed., Poetry of the Negro World, 1949; African Treasury, 1960; Poems from Black Africa, 1963; Langston Hughes and Christiane Reynault, eds, Antologie Africaine et Malgache; Margaret Busby, ed., Daughters of Africa, 1992.

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[chipasula-1] Chipasula, Stella; Chipasula, Frank Mkalawile, eds. (1995). The Heinemann Book of African Women's Poetry. Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-435-90680-1.

[killam-2] Killam, Douglas; Kerfoot, Alicia L., eds. (2008). "Casely-Hayford, Gladys (1904-1950)". Student Encyclopedia of African Literature. Westport: Greenwood. pp. 79–80. ISBN 9780313335808.

[ency-3] Crista Martin, "Casely-Hayford, Gladys (1904–1950)", "Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia", Encyclopedia.com.

[4] See Countee Cullen, ed., Caroling Dusk: An Anthology of Verse by Negro Poets, 1927; Langston Hughes, ed., Poetry of the Negro World, 1949; African Treasury, 1960; Poems from Black Africa, 1963; Langston Hughes and Christiane Reynault, eds, Antologie Africaine et Malgache; Margaret Busby, ed., Daughters of Africa, 1992.