Ghirmai Negash takes helm of African Literature Association, charts course through COVID

Dr. Ghirmai Negash, professor of English at Ohio University, takes over as the new president of the African Literature Association determined to forge a new path to safeguard the association during the pandemic.

In his acceptance address, “Forging a New Path Together,” he says that “as we explore our path to the future” during these trying times of coronavirus pandemic, “it is imperative that we accept the fact that we’re already working—and will increasingly do so—in a radically re-structured and re-cultured environment.”

Among the initiatives Negash cited to help keep the association strong while universities and faculty face budget and enrollment and challenges due to the pandemic, Negash cited:

• Building the Journal of the African Literature Association's presence online.
• Broadening membership and strengthening the association's intellectual base.
• Initiating the ALA Lecture Series, virtually, to support members’ research and creative endeavors.

“We increasingly will be working in a fundamentally changed post-COVID-19 social and institutional environment,” he said. “Accordingly, we will need to adjust our ways of thinking and doing to meet the challenge. We can achieve this by together forging a new path for our association.”