The Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) has served notice it will revive the national writers’ awards as part of efforts to improve quality of writing in the country.

The awards have not been held in about 30 years due to financial challenges.

GAW is hoping to bring back the award which will be segmented into eight categories including spoken words – a fast rising way of literary presentation in Ghana.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra, the president of GAW and the chairman of the National Media Commission, Nana Kwesi Gyan Apenteng, said the absence of a recognized national literary merit scheme has “hurt our literature and the absence of a nationally recognized literary award scheme is one of the reasons why books have virtually disappeared from our national development narrative”.

GAW is hoping to hold the awards in August 2017.