Nii Ayikwei Parkes
@niiayikwei.bsky.social
Ga-speaking father. Happyfied self-hypnotist. Daydreamer, writer, editor, idea whisperer. Bylines: Guardian, Nat Geo, Vice, Financial Times, Condé Nast Traveller | Writes for kids as K.P. Kojo https://t.co/V3GydO5tbs
#BookSky #BlackSky #GhanaSky #Poet
#BookSky #BlackSky #GhanaSky #Poet
July 13, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Simple things...
July 10, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Simple things...
Full video on TT:
vm.tiktok.com/ZNdU57fvU/
vm.tiktok.com/ZNdU57fvU/
June 21, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Full video on TT:
vm.tiktok.com/ZNdU57fvU/
vm.tiktok.com/ZNdU57fvU/
I just returned from the Head Read festival in Estonia where I was invited to talk about a translation of Tail of the Blue Bird & today I realised that yesterday (June 3) was the 15th (yes, FIFTEENTH!) anniversary of the paperback release of my little début novel that keeps giving. What a journey!
June 4, 2025 at 11:01 AM
I just returned from the Head Read festival in Estonia where I was invited to talk about a translation of Tail of the Blue Bird & today I realised that yesterday (June 3) was the 15th (yes, FIFTEENTH!) anniversary of the paperback release of my little début novel that keeps giving. What a journey!
A genocide is a genocide, is a genocide, is a genocide...
May 31, 2025 at 12:09 AM
A genocide is a genocide, is a genocide, is a genocide...
You've probably all heard about Meta and their theft of the IP of authors to "train" AI. I did a search and found that they have stolen a large proportion of my nonfiction writing for magazines, some poems, and French & Spanish versions of my début novel.
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
March 25, 2025 at 8:25 PM
You've probably all heard about Meta and their theft of the IP of authors to "train" AI. I did a search and found that they have stolen a large proportion of my nonfiction writing for magazines, some poems, and French & Spanish versions of my début novel.
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
On Valentine's Day I share this old poem, which is not so much a love poem as a "loving" poem. Very grateful that it was chosen as Poem of the Week for The Guardian in 2020. It's here as an image, but to read the full thing, visit the Guardian website: www.theguardian.com/books/booksb...
February 14, 2025 at 12:35 PM
On Valentine's Day I share this old poem, which is not so much a love poem as a "loving" poem. Very grateful that it was chosen as Poem of the Week for The Guardian in 2020. It's here as an image, but to read the full thing, visit the Guardian website: www.theguardian.com/books/booksb...
Just a little note to let my book loving crew know that I'll be part of the panel for the Hay Festival bookclub stream discussing #GabrielGarcíaMárquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude tomorrow evening at 7pm (UK time/GMT). Come and join us – it's FREE!
www.hayfestival.com/p-23098-hay-...
www.hayfestival.com/p-23098-hay-...
January 20, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Just a little note to let my book loving crew know that I'll be part of the panel for the Hay Festival bookclub stream discussing #GabrielGarcíaMárquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude tomorrow evening at 7pm (UK time/GMT). Come and join us – it's FREE!
www.hayfestival.com/p-23098-hay-...
www.hayfestival.com/p-23098-hay-...
January 18, 2025 at 11:51 AM
It would appear that when you refuse to spell GENOCIDE, you lose the ability to spell BEING. Do better BBC!
January 7, 2025 at 9:22 AM
It would appear that when you refuse to spell GENOCIDE, you lose the ability to spell BEING. Do better BBC!
◆ New Workshop Alert ◆
Start the year strong!
Great for writers who have the spark of a plot, and want to explore how to get the best out of their ideas. Suitable for beginners.
How Much: £90 for 6 weeks (equivalent to only £15 per session)
Booking: https://buff.ly/3C5UEiH
Start the year strong!
Great for writers who have the spark of a plot, and want to explore how to get the best out of their ideas. Suitable for beginners.
How Much: £90 for 6 weeks (equivalent to only £15 per session)
Booking: https://buff.ly/3C5UEiH
January 6, 2025 at 2:34 PM
◆ New Workshop Alert ◆
Start the year strong!
Great for writers who have the spark of a plot, and want to explore how to get the best out of their ideas. Suitable for beginners.
How Much: £90 for 6 weeks (equivalent to only £15 per session)
Booking: https://buff.ly/3C5UEiH
Start the year strong!
Great for writers who have the spark of a plot, and want to explore how to get the best out of their ideas. Suitable for beginners.
How Much: £90 for 6 weeks (equivalent to only £15 per session)
Booking: https://buff.ly/3C5UEiH
The 2025 #music summary. From my iPad (work) and my android (running). Of course, this doesn't include my vinyls (chilling), which is where the real listening happens.
#NorthKBoys
#GhanaBoy
#Music
#WriterAtWork
#FindingJoy
#NorthKBoys
#GhanaBoy
#Music
#WriterAtWork
#FindingJoy
January 1, 2025 at 1:52 PM
The 2025 #music summary. From my iPad (work) and my android (running). Of course, this doesn't include my vinyls (chilling), which is where the real listening happens.
#NorthKBoys
#GhanaBoy
#Music
#WriterAtWork
#FindingJoy
#NorthKBoys
#GhanaBoy
#Music
#WriterAtWork
#FindingJoy
My last gift of 2024 and first gift of 2025 for you. I keep this quality SA 🇿🇦 content on my phone to cheer me up when I'm down. It never fails. My girl is on point with the beat and the #joy is contagious! (It's no accident SA makes 🔥 house music)
#SouthAfrica
#Dance
#music
#FindingJoy
#GhanaBoy
#SouthAfrica
#Dance
#music
#FindingJoy
#GhanaBoy
January 1, 2025 at 1:50 PM
My last gift of 2024 and first gift of 2025 for you. I keep this quality SA 🇿🇦 content on my phone to cheer me up when I'm down. It never fails. My girl is on point with the beat and the #joy is contagious! (It's no accident SA makes 🔥 house music)
#SouthAfrica
#Dance
#music
#FindingJoy
#GhanaBoy
#SouthAfrica
#Dance
#music
#FindingJoy
#GhanaBoy
January 1, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Most of our education was indoctrination: we took our moral dictionaries from proven killers and now they want to tell us how to define genocide.
#EndAllOccupations
#StopKillingForTechnology
#StopKillingJournalists
#EndExtractiveBrutality
#StopKillingChildren
#StopTheGenocide
#EndAllOccupations
#StopKillingForTechnology
#StopKillingJournalists
#EndExtractiveBrutality
#StopKillingChildren
#StopTheGenocide
December 28, 2024 at 2:09 PM
Most of our education was indoctrination: we took our moral dictionaries from proven killers and now they want to tell us how to define genocide.
#EndAllOccupations
#StopKillingForTechnology
#StopKillingJournalists
#EndExtractiveBrutality
#StopKillingChildren
#StopTheGenocide
#EndAllOccupations
#StopKillingForTechnology
#StopKillingJournalists
#EndExtractiveBrutality
#StopKillingChildren
#StopTheGenocide
December 28, 2024 at 10:03 AM
The #keema #samosa angle. "permission to write from your context and not worry". The video of my #SevenSignposts workshop is now available to watch for #free on YouTube: tinyurl.com/7SignsYT
*The story excerpt here is from the #Commonwealth Prize-winning story by Kritika Pandey
*The story excerpt here is from the #Commonwealth Prize-winning story by Kritika Pandey
December 19, 2024 at 9:50 AM
The #keema #samosa angle. "permission to write from your context and not worry". The video of my #SevenSignposts workshop is now available to watch for #free on YouTube: tinyurl.com/7SignsYT
*The story excerpt here is from the #Commonwealth Prize-winning story by Kritika Pandey
*The story excerpt here is from the #Commonwealth Prize-winning story by Kritika Pandey
The news is good...
You can read the essay online at: muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/artic...
Thanks to @karenmccarthywoolf.bsky.social for accepting the essay as guest editor 🙏🏾
You can read the essay online at: muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/artic...
Thanks to @karenmccarthywoolf.bsky.social for accepting the essay as guest editor 🙏🏾
December 19, 2024 at 8:56 AM
The news is good...
You can read the essay online at: muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/artic...
Thanks to @karenmccarthywoolf.bsky.social for accepting the essay as guest editor 🙏🏾
You can read the essay online at: muse.jhu.edu/pub/17/artic...
Thanks to @karenmccarthywoolf.bsky.social for accepting the essay as guest editor 🙏🏾
I ran my first #FREE / What You Can seminar via Zoom on Thursday. It was great fun and there were even copy editors in the room to throw shade at (NOT!); I was talking about intentionality. Full video is now on YouTube:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=FrGL...
#Writing
#SevenSignposts
#Editing
m.youtube.com/watch?v=FrGL...
#Writing
#SevenSignposts
#Editing
December 14, 2024 at 2:07 PM
I ran my first #FREE / What You Can seminar via Zoom on Thursday. It was great fun and there were even copy editors in the room to throw shade at (NOT!); I was talking about intentionality. Full video is now on YouTube:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=FrGL...
#Writing
#SevenSignposts
#Editing
m.youtube.com/watch?v=FrGL...
#Writing
#SevenSignposts
#Editing
Protest cometh in all forms. If we're breathing, we're fighting. Freedom burns eternal...
December 12, 2024 at 8:11 AM
Protest cometh in all forms. If we're breathing, we're fighting. Freedom burns eternal...
But the first person to say yes, was the great Nikki Giovanni (even though she didn't 'do email'). Even though the project never happened, we met in #Ghana about a decade later and she still remembered it. We hugged & took the silliest photos...
December 10, 2024 at 10:49 AM
But the first person to say yes, was the great Nikki Giovanni (even though she didn't 'do email'). Even though the project never happened, we met in #Ghana about a decade later and she still remembered it. We hugged & took the silliest photos...
In December:
www.nawe.co.uk/DB/events/se...
www.nawe.co.uk/DB/events/se...
November 27, 2024 at 1:03 PM
In December:
www.nawe.co.uk/DB/events/se...
www.nawe.co.uk/DB/events/se...