Dennis Boateng, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Comedy Awards, has said in a recent interview on Hitz FM that poetry in Ghana has taken a nosedive.
He made this statement while explaining the reason a separate award scheme for poets has not been organised yet since poetry was decoupled from comedy in their previously held Comedy and Poetry Awards.
Dennis Boateng told DJ Slim on Daybreak Hitz that the initial idea of putting comedy and poetry together for an award scheme was born out of the observation that poets often perform at comedy shows, and the two art forms are already closely linked.
“And when you go to comedy shows, mostly you see poets performing as well. And the whole point was, okay, we have these two people always doing something together, but if not gain that recognition, that should come to them. And so we want to support these two spaces,” Dennis Boateng explained.
“But how do we do it? Okay, let’s bring them together, because already they are together. Indirectly, they are always together. So let’s marry them, grow them at a pace. When it reached the peak we wanted to, then we separate and pay attention to them individually. So that was the whole agenda,” he added.
When asked if the organisation had another award scheme for poets, Dennis confirmed that they have a separate award scheme for poets, but it’s currently on hold due to the decline of poetry.
“Yes, we have it, organised by ourselves. But we’ve not started it yet because I must say, let’s be honest, poetry is a bit on a decline,” he concluded.
The Ghana Comedy Awards’ decision to create an award scheme for poets highlights the organisation’s commitment to supporting and promoting the arts in Ghana.
While the scheme has not yet been launched due to the current decline in poetry, it will be interesting to see how this initiative develops and impacts the Ghanaian arts scene.
In the meantime, this year’s Ghana Comedy Awards has been slated for May 24, 2025 at the LaPalm Royal Beach Hotel.
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