about

Ivana Akotowaa Ofori, who performs under the mononym Akotowaa, is a teenage word artist; a young, passionate girl in love with words, their influential power, and auditory aesthetic. She was born on 22nd May 1998. She began reading long before she began writing. Her reading took off with Roald Dahl's "The BFG" at age 7, which propelled her to the magical world of words. It was Enid Blyton's books, Famous Five and the like, which inspired her to begin writing. As she read, she thought, "What if things like this happened in my own neighbourhood?" Thus, at the age of ten she began writing stories that were more relatable, as they were set in her own country, Ghana, in her own neighbourhood of Labone.
She began writing poetry about two years later, and began performance in 2012. She is inspired by local artists like Dzyadzorm, PoetraAsantewa and 100%, and international artists like Jackie Hill Perry, Propaganda and Sophia Thakur. Her favourite colours are black, white, grey and purple, and this scheme governs her entire aesthetic.
She is known mostly for the voraciousness with which she performs. She writes about anything that occurs to her as worthy of being written about, from matters as profound social stigmatization to matters as trivial as computer games and keyboard buttons.
She aspires one day to be an international-selling fiction author. The aim of all her word art aim is to speak the truth, allow people to observe pieces of her own soul, and inspire others to do the same.

• joined Dec 16, 2016