Kofi Awoonor was born George Awoonor-Williams to ethnic Ewe parents in Wheta, Ghana on March 13, 1935. He studied at University College of Ghana and London's University College before earning his doctorate in comparative literature at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He taught comparative literature at State University of New York at Stony Brook.
His first collection of poetry, Rediscovery and Other Poems, was published in 1964. He was imprisoned by the Ghanaian government in 1975 for political reasons. During his incarceration, he wrote The House by the Sea, a collection of poetry in which he reflects on his ten months in jail. His other works include This Earth, My Brother; Night of My Blood; Ride Me, Memory; Until the Morning After; and The Promise of Hope. He was a collector and translator of oral literature from Ewe as well as a critic of modern African literature in the colonial languages.
He served as Ghana's ambassador to Brazil and Cuba in the 1980s as well as United Nations ambassador from 1990 to 1994. He died after sustaining injuries during the terrorist attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya on September 21, 2013 at the age of 78. He was in the city to participate in the Storymoja Hay Festival, a celebration of writing and storytelling.
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