Wole Soyinka

Who is Wole Soyinka?

Wole Soyinka, born Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka in Abeokuta, Ogun State, is a Nigerian playwright, poet, novelist and essayist who in 1986 became the first African to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Educated at University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England, he blended Yoruba mythology and ritual with European dramatic form. His major plays include A Dance of the Forests, written for Nigeria's independence, The Lion and the Jewel, Kongi's Harvest and the tragedy Death and the King's Horseman. During the Nigerian Civil War he was imprisoned for nearly two years, an experience recorded in his prison memoir The Man Died. His autobiography Aké: The Years of Childhood is widely praised. A lifelong political activist, he has repeatedly opposed corruption and military dictatorship, going into exile under the Abacha regime. He has taught at universities across Africa, Europe and the United States.

Sources: Nobel Prize in Literature 1986 citation, Nobel Foundation · Wole Soyinka, Death and the King's Horseman (1975) · Wole Soyinka, Aké: The Years of Childhood (1981) · Wole Soyinka, The Man Died: Prison Notes (1972)