Global InformationWole Soyinka information
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Wole Soyinka Hon. FRSL | |
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 Soyinka in 2018 | |
| Born | Akínwándé Olúwolé Babátúndé Sóyíinká[1] 13 July 1934 Abeokuta, Southern Region, British Nigeria |
| Occupation |
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| Alma mater |
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| Period | 1957–present |
| Genre |
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| Subject | Comparative literature |
| Notable awards | Nobel Prize in Literature 1986 Benson Medal from Royal Society of Literature 1990 Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award 2009 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, Lifetime Achievement 2012 Europe Theatre Prize - Special Prize 2017 |
| Spouse | Barbara Dixon
(m. 1958, divorced)Olaide Idowu
(m. 1963, divorced)Folake Doherty (m. 1989) |
| Children | 10, including Olaokun |
| Relatives | Ransome-Kuti family |
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka Hon. FRSL (Yoruba: Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (pronounced [wɔlé ʃójĩnká]), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective and... poetic overtones fashioning the drama of existence",[2] the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.[3][a]
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta.[4] In 1954, he attended Government College in Ibadan,[5] and subsequently University College Ibadan and the University of Leeds in England.[6] After studying in Nigeria and the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. He took an active role in Nigeria's political history and its campaign for independence from British colonial rule. In 1965, he seized the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the Western Nigeria Regional Elections.[7][8] In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War, he was arrested by the federal government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years, for volunteering to be a non-government mediating actor.[9]
Soyinka has been a strong critic of successive Nigerian (and African at large) governments, especially the country's many military dictators, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe.[10][11] Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it".[8] During the regime of General Sani Abacha (1993–98),[12] Soyinka escaped from Nigeria on a motorcycle via the "NADECO Route". Abacha later proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia".[8] With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation.
In Nigeria, Soyinka was a Professor of Comparative literature (1975 to 1999) at the Obafemi Awolowo University, then called the University of Ifẹ̀.[13] With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, he was made professor emeritus.[9] While in the United States, he first taught at Cornell University as Goldwin Smith professor for African Studies and Theatre Arts from 1988 to 1991[14][15] and then at Emory University, where in 1996 he was appointed Robert W. Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Soyinka has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and has served as scholar-in-residence at New York University's Institute of African American Affairs and at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.[9][16] He has also taught at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Yale,[17][18] and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Duke University in 2008.[19]
In December 2017, Soyinka was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize in the "Special Prize" category,[20][21] awarded to someone who has "contributed to the realization of cultural events that promote understanding and the exchange of knowledge between peoples".[22]
- ^ Wasson, Tyler; Gert H. Brieger (1 January 1987). Nobel Prize Winners: An H.W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary, Volume 1. The University of Michigan, US. p. 993. ISBN 9780824207564. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Literature 1986 | Wole Soyinka". NobelPrize.org. The Nobel Prize. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- ^ Ahmed, Abiy (9 December 2019). "Africa's Nobel Prize winners: A list". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ Onuzo, Chibundu (25 September 2021). "Interview | Wole Soyinka: 'This book is my gift to Nigeria'". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "Wole Soyinka – Biographical". NobelPrize.org. The Nobel Prize. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ Soyinka, Wole (2000) [1981]. Aké: The Years of Childhood. Nigeria: Methuen. p. 1. ISBN 9780413751904. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ de Vries, Hubert (31 March 2009). "NIGERIA | Western Regiion". www.hubert-herald.nl. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- ^ a b c Jaggi, Maya (2 November 2002). "Ousting monsters". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- ^ a b c de Vroom, Theresia (Spring 2008), "The Many Dimensions of Wole Soyinka", Vistas, Loyola Marymount University. Archived 5 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
- ^ "Nigeria in crisis: Memo to Prof Wole Soyinka". Tribune Online. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Soyinka, Wole (2017). "The Critic and Society: Barthes, Leftocracy, and Other Mythologies". African American Review. 50 (4): 635–648. doi:10.1353/afa.2017.0113. ISSN 1945-6182. S2CID 165943714.
- ^ "Sani Abacha | Nigerian military leader". www.britannica.com. Britannica. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- ^ "Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife » Brief History of the University". www.oauife.edu.ng. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
- ^ Gibbs, James. "Soyinka, Wole 1934–". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 27 September 2021. (Updated by Tanure Ojaide.)
- ^ "Nobel Laureate Soyinka will join Cornell faculty" (PDF). Cornell Chronicle. Archived from the original (pdf) on 5 October 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ "Nobel Laureate Soyinka at NYU for Events in October", News Release, NYU, 16 September 2016.
- ^ Smith, Malinda S. "Profile of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka" (PDF). The Africa Society, The University of Alberta. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- ^ Posey, Jacquie (18 November 2004). "Nigerian Writer, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka to Speak at Penn". The University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
- ^ "Soyinka on Stage | Nobel laureate works with student production of his play". Duke Magazine. No. January–February 2011. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ Ajibade, Kunle (12 December 2017). "Wole Soyinka Wins The Europe Theatre Prize". PM NEWS Nigeria. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ "Soyinka Wins 2017 Europe Theatre Prize". Concise News. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
- ^ "Wole Soyinka to receive Europe Theatre Prize 2017". James Murua's Literature Blog. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
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