The Writer’s Block: Mamle Kabu

Mamle Kabu, a writer of Ghanaian and German parentage, was born and raised in Ghana and completed her education in the United Kingdom where she studied at the University of Cambridge, obtaining a BA and MA in Modern Languages and an MPhil in Latin-American Studies. She returned to Ghana in 1992 where she has since been resident, and in addition to writing fiction she does research consultancy in development issues.

She has published numerous short stories in various anthologies and journals in Africa, the UK and the US. “The End of Skill,” one of these, was nominated for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2009. In 2011, she won the Burt Award for African Literature for her young adult novel The Kaya Girl, published under the name Mamle Wolo. In September she was long listed for this year’s Golden Baobab award for children’s writing for her new story “Flying through Water.” Mamle has also written poetry, two screenplays and is working on a novel. She is currently a resident writer on the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program fall residency.