Albert W. Kayper-Mensah

Albert William Kayper-Mensah (1923–1980) was a Ghanaian poet, broadcaster and diplomat. He published several collections of poetry in English and German, and was included in various anthologies of African poetry.

Life Albert Kayper-Mensah was born in Sekondi, Ghana in 1923, the oldest of three siblings. He was educated at Mfantsipim School and Achimota College before going to Queens' College, Cambridge in 1946 and then the University of London.

On returning to Ghana, Kayper-Mensah taught at Wesley College in Kumasi, where he remained for seven years. By the late 1950s, he was performing poetry and plays on Ghanaian radio, and also appearing on the BBC's The Brains Trust in February 1959. He performed at the Mermaid Theatre in London in July 1961. Later, he hosted 'Face to Face' on the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. He was survived by his wife, Gertrude.

Work Many of Kayper-Mensah's early poems appeared first in Ghanaian journals, before being included in anthologies. These included two editions of the Heinemann African Writers Series: A Book of African Verse (AWS 8, 1964) and Messages: Poems from Ghana (AWS 42, 1970). The latter was edited by Kofi Awoonor and Geormbeeyi Adali-Mortty.

His first collection of poetry, The Dark Wanderer, was published in Germany and won the Margaret Wrong Literary Prize in 1970.

In 1976, Kayper-Mensah published Sankofa: Adinkra Poems, a collection of poems in short abstract verses that explain the meaning of different Adinkra symbols.