When Woeli Dekutsey was a Publishing student at Oxford Polytechnic in 1979-80, he had to choose between doing a research project or a practical project. He chose the latter – publishing a collection of his own writing.
“I put together my poems and short stories and made a book out of it,” he recalls, “The title was The Loom of Life. I did the cover design as well. I loved it!”
Magnum opus
Since then Woeli has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in publishing, working with some of Ghana’s finest writers. But the desire to pen his own works has never left him, and in 2022 he published his first novel, Ayélé: The Vestal Virgin.
“It is my magnus opus. You see, the African in Western novels is always portrayed in an inferior light. I wanted to correct that. My protagonist is Ayélé the Vestal Virgin and I made her stand tall against the Europeans who came ostensibly to Christianise Africans.”
The story is set in the fifteenth century. It is a fictional account of contact between Portugese sailors and missionaries, and West African people. It marks a seismic moment in world history – the start of European colonisation and exploitation of Africa, which would lead to the horrors of the Atlantic slave trade and the subjugation of many Africans by imperial powers.
Through the person of Ayélé, Woeli reclaims African history and culture from the distortions of Europeans’ accounts that sought to portray themselves as saviours and Africans as in need of saving. Religion plays an important part in the story.
“I grew up in a village up to the age of 6 and saw shrine activities. So, I’ve pulled those memories together in an imaginative way,” explains Woeli. “One of the Europeans ends up in a shrine, a reversal of what they came to do. Religion, in general, is mankind’s search for God through different pathways. Europeans have no right to look down on African Traditional religion.”
Great writers
Although set in a different period, the encounter between Africans and Europeans has some parallels with Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe’s seminal novel, Things Fall Apart. And Woeli has great respect for Achebe’s work but is certainly not an imitator of it.
“I admire Chinua Achebe. I love the simplicity of his writing. My novel and his both feature the appearance of Europeans and have protagonists who are involved in African traditions.
“But Achebe has not influenced my voice – I stick to my own. Although African Traditional religion features strongly in Things Fall Apart, my novel draws parallels between Western religion, especially Roman Catholicism and African Traditional religion, and makes the point that there’s not that much difference between the two; therefore, no one has the moral right to regard the other as inferior. A special feature is the tone of sarcasm, which runs through my novel.”
Other writers Woeli admires are leading Ghanaian writers Kofi Anyidoho, Kofi Awoonor and Mohammed ben Abdallah – all of whom he had the pleasure of working with and publishing through his own publishing house.
Woeli Publishing Services
After a number of years working for Ghana Universities Press, Woeli had felt the need to strike out on his own to publish works that he loved.
“As a child, I had always dreamt of living in an environment surrounded by books. When I grew up, I was fortunate to secure a job with a scholarly publishing house but this limited me to work on academic books. I wanted to publish children’s books as well. So I left to set up Woeli Publishing Services, which enables me to publish all manner of books.
“Some of the lecturers I had worked with at Ghana Universities Press moved with me. In publishing, it is usual for authors to move with the editors they are fond of. At Woeli Publishing Services, we offer publishing services such as editing, typesetting, proofreading and liaising with book printers, who do the actual manufacture. Over the years, we have published the cream of Ghanaian creative writing – and we’ve won prizes for our children’s books!”
Changes in publishing
Woeli has seen a lot of changes in publishing during his career and has played an important role in improving the industry in Ghana, which he describes as having produced “pretty shoddy work” when he was starting out. He embraces change and is passionate about getting good writing into the hands of young Ghanaians. Publishing his novel as an e-book was a practical decision but also one that makes it more accessible.
“I published Ayélé as an e-book – there is no physical copy. Paper is very expensive and I wouldn’t be able to sell it because the price would be too much. Also, I see a lot of the youth prefer reading from their phones. I’m sure there will be a logical progression to reading books but we haven’t gotten there yet.”
It’s a far cry from his days as a student at Oxford Polytechnic (pictured there with friends and fellow students, Vilma May Fuentes and Frances Whistler) – but he credits his course, and in particular his project to publish The Loom of Life, as being important in his professional development.
“I enjoyed the course very much, especially the practical side of things like techniques of editing and printing technology. The project brought together all the things we’d been doing in the classroom. They all came to a head and led to more understanding of what is involved in publishing.”
The world of publishing has changed a great deal since then. And the boy who dreamt of waking among books has become a man who gives literary joy to readers in Ghana and beyond.