[3] The publication took its name from a traditional Ghanaian figure, the "spokesperson" or "linguist" responsible for channelling communication between a leader and his people;[1] as a symbol of his authority to speak for the chief, the okyeame carries a staff, the top of which is carved to represent a proverb or saying.

These ran alongside traditional oral works translated by leading contemporary poets, such as founding editor Kofi Awoonor, and texts were interspersed with icons and Adinkra symbols.

It provided a platform for a new generation of writers to experiment with a versatile, hybrid Pan-African linguistics that combined African oral influences with African-American literary devices; rural with urban imagery; phonetic innovations with lyricism and wordplay; and dirge rhythms with jazz free-play.

Contributors included some of the country's most influential writers and critics, such as Ayi Kwei Armah, Ama Ata Aidoo, Efua T. Sutherland, Kofi Awoonor, and others.

Often they stand at the very beginning of the development of local literature, setting up standards and providing a literary market for buyer and seller — the indigenous reading public and its artist.