A collection of prose and poetry exploring the practical knowledge,
life lessons and personal experiences of women of color in North America
and Ghana.
In The Way We Hold On, Abena writes, "This life can be a poem if you
let it." Ode to the Unpraised is a demonstration of those words. It is
an invitation to readers to see their own lives as treasure troves based
on real people with whom they rub shoulders in present time. It is a
reminder to revel in the noteworthiness of those among them and a call
to see the fortitude of their own lived and explored lives.
Insightful and experimental, Ode to the Unpraised explores the
practical knowledge, life lessons, and personal essence of women in
Canada and Ghana through conversation, prose, and poems. Those featured
are located in Nova Scotia, Ontario and Ghana. This book was born out of
Abena's curiosity about her late grandmother's humble yet textured life
as a wife, homemaker, and respected community member.
After a missed opportunity to gather her grandmother's personal
reflections, Abena extended her reach to elders, peers, and other
relatives to collect their experiences. She discovered captivating
figures, expressed through first-person reflection, second-person
narration, and poetry in parallel. Ode to the Unpraised is a rewarding
concoction of multigenerational missteps, wisdom, and pleasures. It
includes a Ghanaian returnee's lament about the plastic waste on Accra's
streets, a mother's conviction to preserve local languages, and a
farmer's humble collaboration with both heaven and earth.
