“Look at (Robert) Mugabe stifling the opposition under the pretence of re-possessing alienated land. He”
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Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, playwright, and poet. He has written three novels, ten collections of short stories, seven poetry collections, twenty-five plays and five memoirs. He has also written two translated works and many articles and short stories for newspapers and periodicals. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature for his "wide cultural perspective a…
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culture · Nigerian playwright, poet and novelist · playwright · poet · translator · novelist · philosopher · essayist · professor · writer · satirical novelist · also Wole Soyinka, Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka, Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka, Soyinka
Born 13 July 1934 · Q41488
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LL-Q1860 (eng)-Chikeme Chizurum-Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka
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2026· 7 entries
“Why don't you confess it? You are the type who would rather die in your bed.”
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“I have a particular aversion to being mauled by women Obanije, part two Recognition is the curse I carry with me. Obanije, part two Doesn't she look like the type that would drive men to madness and self-destruction? Obanije, part two When your businessmen ruin the lesser ones, do you go crying to them?”
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Peoples Gazette Nigeria: Wole Soyinka: ‘The Man Died’ movie opens to global audience on Prime Video
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Daily Nation: Of Wole Soyinka, Kalonzo and the politics of the underestimated man
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The Guardian: The Swamp Dwellers review – this rare Wole Soyinka drama is a total revelation
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The government of Ogun State postponed the unveiling of Wole Soyinka Train Station scheduled formerly for 3 January 2026.
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2025· 4 entries
The Guardian: Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Nobel laureate and Trump critic, says US visa revoked
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The Guardian: Death and the King’s Horseman: the return of Wole Soyinka’s enduring mystery
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A viral photo which circulated on social media was claimed to be Soyinka and a young Gbenga Daniel standing behind him
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Singer Adekunle Gold became the first musician to sell out the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts in Lagos on 26 December 2025.
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2024· 1 entry
The Guardian: Rushdie, Ernaux and Soyinka among authors calling for release of Franco-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal
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2023· 1 entry
Won Golden Magnolia (2023).
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2021· 3 entries
The Guardian: Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka review – a vast danse macabre
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The Guardian: Wole Soyinka: ‘This book is my gift to Nigeria’
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The Guardian: Wole Soyinka: 'One casualty of the Capitol riot will be Uganda's election'
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2020· 3 entries
The Guardian: Wole Soyinka to publish first novel in almost 50 years
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The Guardian: Wole Soyinka protests imprisonment of Nigerian humanist Mubarak Bala
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University College London academic Caroline Davis examined archival evidence of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) funding of African authors in the post-independence period
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2018· 2 entries
Henry Louis Gates Jr tweeted that Nigerian filmmaker and writer Onyeka Nwelue visited him in Harvard and was making a documentary film about Soyinka
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The University of Ibadan renamed its arts theatre to Wole Soyinka Theatre
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2017· 2 entries
Awarded Europe Theatre Prize (2017).
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The Guardian: Wole Soyinka confirms he destroyed his green card after Trump win
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2014· 3 entries
Crucible of the Ages: Essays in Honour of Wole Soyinka at 80, edited by Ivor Agyeman-Duah and Ogochwuku Promise, was published by Bookcraft in Nigeria and Ayebia Clarke Publishing in the UK, with tributes and contributio
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In 2014, Soyinka revealed his battle with prostate cancer.
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Soyinka revealed his battle with prostate cancer
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2013· 1 entry
Visited the Benin Moat as the representative of UNESCO in recognition of the Naija seven Wonders project
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2011· 1 entry
The African Heritage Research Library and Cultural Centre built a writers' enclave in Soyinka's honour at Adeyipo in Ibadan, Oyo State
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2006· 3 entries
Awarded Weilheim Literature Prize (2006).
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Cancelled his keynote speech for the annual S
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Published “Multimodal ethnography” in Qualitative Research — cited 186 times.
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2002· 1 entry
A collection of his poems entitled Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known was published by Methuen
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2001· 1 entry
A political satire on the theme of African dictatorship
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2000· 1 entry
Awarded honorary doctorate of the University of Cape Town (2000).
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1999· 1 entry
A new volume of poems by Soyinka, entitled Outsiders, was released
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1997· 1 entry
Was charged with treason by the government of General Sani Abacha
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1996· 3 entries
Awarded honorary doctorate from the University of Paris-VII (1996).
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And has been a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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His book The Open Sore of a Continent: A Personal Narrative of the Nigerian Crisis was first published
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1995· 1 entry
His play The Beatification of Area Boy was published
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1994· 1 entry
By the National Association of Seadogs, dedicated "to honouring one of Nigeria and Africa's most outstanding and enduring literary icons: Wole Soyinka"
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1993· 2 entries
To provide support for writers victimized by persecution
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Soyinka was awarded an honorary doctorate from Harvard University
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1991· 1 entry
Awarded Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (1991).
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1990· 1 entry
Won Benson Medal (1990).
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1989· 2 entries
Published a third book, Ìsarà: A Voyage around Essay, inspired by his father's intellectual circle ("Essay" being the nickname of his father S
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And the couple have three sons: Tunlewa, Bojode and Eniara
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1988· 1 entry
His collection of poems Mandela's Earth, and Other Poems was published, while in Nigeria another collection of essays, entitled Art, Dialogue and Outrage: Essays on Literature and Culture, appeared
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1986· 3 entries
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature — who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence.
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Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (1986).
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Won the Nobel Prize for Literature, as well as the Agip Prize for Literature
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1985· 2 entries
Awarded honorary doctorate from the University of Montpellier-III (1985).
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His play Requiem for a Futurologist was published in London by Rex Collings
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1984· 2 entries
A Nigerian court banned his 1972 book The Man Died: Prison Notes
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Directed the film Blues for a Prodigal, which was screened at the University of Ife
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1983· 2 entries
Awarded Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards (1983).
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His play Requiem for a Futurologist had its first performance at the University of Ife
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1981· 2 entries
Soyinka published his autobiographical work Aké: The Years of Childhood, which won a 1983 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
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Soyinka's youngest daughter, Amani, was born in 1981.
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1979· 1 entry
Soyinka both directed and acted in Jon Blair and Norman Fenton's drama The Biko Inquest, a work based on the life of Steve Biko, a South African student and human rights activist who was beaten to death by apartheid poli
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1977· 1 entry
Opera Wọnyọsi, his adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's The Threepenny Opera, was staged in Ibadan
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1976· 1 entry
Published his poetry collection Ogun Abibiman, as well as a collection of essays entitled Myth, Literature and the African World
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1975· 2 entries
Soyinka was promoted to the position of editor for Transition Magazine, which was based in the Ghanaian capital of Accra, where he moved
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Soyinka returned to his homeland and resumed his position as Chair of Comparative Literature at the University of Ife
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1974· 4 entries
“Alfred Nobel regretted that his invention, dynamite, was converted to degrading use, hence his creation of the Nobel Prize, as the humanist counter to the destructive power of his genius.”
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Oxford University Press issued Soyinka's Collected Plays, Volume II
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“I believe that each writer must decide in which language he or she is most comfortable.”
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“The media must be used effectively to reach the masses. You have to find a new language in which to address the people and demonstrate what is possible.”
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1973· 1 entry
“s Horseman, which had its first reading at Churchill College. In 1974, Oxford University Press issued Soyinka”
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1972· 1 entry
His novel Season of Anomy and his Collected Plays were both published by Oxford University Press
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1971· 1 entry
His poetry collection A Shuttle in the Crypt was published
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1970· 1 entry
Produced the play Kongi's Harvest, while simultaneously adapting it as a film of the same title
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1968· 1 entry
Soyinka received the Jock Campbell-New Statesman Award
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1965· 1 entry
Produced the satirical play Before the Blackout
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1964· 2 entries
Soyinka's first daughter Morenike was born in 1964.
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As a protest against imposed pro-government behaviour by the authorities
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1963· 1 entry
His first feature-length movie, Culture in Transition, was released
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1962· 1 entry
Soyinka wrote essays that defended Nigerian literacy during that period including "Death and the King's Horsemen" and "Towards a True Theater", which were published in Transition Magazine
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1960· 1 entry
Completed his radio play Camwood on the Leaves, and his play The Trials of Brother Jero premiered in the Mellanby Hall residence of University College Ibadan in April 1960
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1959· 1 entry
Soyinka returned to Nigeria after receiving a Rockefeller Research Fellowship for his research on African theatre
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1958· 1 entry
To the late British writer Barbara Dixon, whom he met at the University of Leeds in the 1950s
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1957· 3 entries
His play, The Invention, was produced at London's Royal Court Theatre, and was his first work to be produced there
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Began writing his first plays, The Swamp Dwellers and The Lion and the Jewel
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Won the annual oratory competition run by the University
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1954· 1 entry
To continue his studies in English literature at the University of Leeds under the supervision of G
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1950· 1 entry
And who had been one of Soyinka's teachers and had provided him with a well-worded reference to Leeds
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1934· 1 entry
Born 1934-07-13.
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