Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor died after being injured in the attack on Westgate mall in Nairobi, the West African country’s presidential office said.
“I am shocked to hear the death of Professor Kofi Awoonor in the Nairobi mall terrorist attack. Such a sad twist of fate,” said Ghana President John Dramani Mahama.
Awoonor’s son was also killed in the attack, which started on Saturday when a group of al-Shabab gunmen entered the upscale mall in Kenya’s capitol and started shooting.
In addition to his writings, Awoonor was a professor and served as an ambassador in Brazil, Cuba and at the U.N.
Kwame Dawes, Awoonor’s cousin and a fellow poet, told AFP that Awoonor was planning on continuing to write poetry, including about his experience in government.
“Kofi Awoonor is easily one of the great poets of Africa and has been for many years,” he said. “There’s a great deal of respect for him and admiration of his work. This has been a big blow and a major loss.”
Awooner attended the University College of Ghana (B.A., 1960), University College, London (M.A., 1970), and the State University of New York at Stony Brook (Ph.D., 1972), according to Encyclopedia Britannica. He later lectured in English and African literature at the University of Ghana. He published multiple volumes of poetry.
