In the Akan language; Abakɔsɛm means history. But not history from paper. It means history carried by voice; by drum; by memory; by fire. Set in Akwamufie; Ghana; in 2002; this is the story of a boy who sits by a bonfire every night listening to his grandmother trace the journey of the Akan people, from their ancient origins in Nubia and Kush; through the empires of Ghana and Mali; across the great migration southward; through the rise of Akwamu; and into the founding of the Asante Empire. But Abakɔsɛm is more than a history lesson. It is a book about what a people carries when they move; what they protect when they are threatened; and what they lose when they forget. It is a book about names and what they remember. About stools and what they hold. About fire and what it means to keep one burning across generations. "This is not Anansesɛm - not tales to entertain. This is Abakɔsɛm. The story of who we were before the world told us who to become."
