Sylvia Arthur

Sylvia Arthur, born in London, England, to Ghanaian parents, is a writer, journalist, communications consultant, literary curator and cultural activist. In 2017, she founded a private library in Accra, Ghana, the Library Of Africa and The African Diaspora (LOATAD), for the study, preservation, and dissemination of African and Diaspora literature, with a mission "to celebrate and champion Africa's rarely acknowledged contribution to the global literary canon." LOATAD also runs a programme of writers' residences, Arthur herself having had residences with Hedgebrook in Washington State and the Santa Fe Art Institute in New Mexico, among other places.

Arthur explores in her work issues of identity, diaspora and place, with publications and outlets for which she has written including The Guardian, Lithub, the BBC, and the British Journalism Review. She is author of the 2015 book Get Hired: Recession-Proof Strategies for Finding a Job Now. Since 2022, she has been a National Geographic Explorer, whose ongoing research is an oral history project to document the life stories of African women aged 60 and above,

Arthur was named the 2023 Brittle Paper African Literary Person of the Year.