Introduction


Wole Soyinka

The fact that Wole Soyinka has lived to write so much about the African experience is a miracle. Throughout his long and productive career, Soyinka’s politics have placed him in danger repeatedly. His upbringing reflected both African and Western influences, and the conflict and interaction between these two forces would occupy much of his writing, particularly in the play Death and the King's Horseman. Through drama, poetry, essays, and autobiographies, Soyinka has documented not only the struggles of his homeland of Nigeria but of the African continent as a whole. His works earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, and he used the occasion to highlight the plight of fellow activist Nelson Mandela. Soyinka’s life has been so full of intrigue and accomplishment that he has published several memoirs in which the hardships of the African nation overlap with Soyinka’s own personal evolution.

Essential Facts

  1. Soyinka was imprisoned for nearly two years during the Biafran Civil War in the late 1960s. A few years after his release, he published a book chronicling the experience titled The Man Died: Prison Notes.
  2. During a period of political unrest in the mid 1990s, Soyinka lived in exile in the United States and taught at Emory University.
  3. In addition to his prolific writing career, Soyinka has founded numerous theatrical groups, including Nineteen-Sixty Masks and Guerilla Unit.
  4. One of Soyinka’s most famous theatrical works was Opera Wonyosi, an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera.
  5. Soyinka has taught at numerous universities around the world, most recently as a literature professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
 

Recommended Resources

  1. Death and the King's Horseman Study Guide (eNotes)
  2. Soyinka Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature: Salem on History
  3. Wole Soyinka - Critical Survey of Drama
  4. Wole Soyinka Criticism (Vol. 179)

All Resources

Display as: Categories, List
  1. A Dance of the Forests Character Analysis
  2. A Dance of the Forests Summary - Wole Soyinka
  3. Aké Summary - Wole Soyinka
  4. Aké Summary - Wole Soyinka
  5. Death and the King's Horseman Study Guide (eNotes)
  6. Death and the King's Horsemen: The Oxford Dictionary of Plays
  7. Death and the King’s Horseman Character Analysis
  8. Death and the King’s Horseman Summary - Wole Soyinka
  9. Death and the King’s Horseman Summary - Wole Soyinka
  10. Death in the Dawn Summary - Wole Soyinka
  11. Isara Review - Wole Soyinka
  12. Isara Review - Wole Soyinka
  13. John Pepper Clark Criticism | Wole Soyinka (essay Date 1976)
  14. Madmen and Specialists Character Analysis
  15. Madmen and Specialists Summary - Wole Soyinka
  16. Madmen and Specialists: The Oxford Dictionary of Plays
  17. Mongo Beti Criticism | Wole Soyinka
  18. Season of Anomy Character Analysis
  19. Season of Anomy Summary - Wole Soyinka
  20. Soyinka Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature: Salem on History
  21. Soyinka, Wole: The Oxford Companion to English Literature
  22. Soyinka, Wole: The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare
  23. The Interpreters Character Analysis
  24. The Interpreters Summary - Wole Soyinka
  25. The Lion and the Jewel Character Analysis
  26. The Lion and the Jewel Summary - Wole Soyinka
  27. The Man Died Summary - Wole Soyinka
  28. The Road Character Analysis
  29. The Road Summary - Wole Soyinka
  30. The Road: The Oxford Dictionary of Plays
  31. Wole (Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka) Soyinka Criticism
  32. Wole Soyinka - Critical Survey of Drama
  33. Wole Soyinka Biography
  34. Wole Soyinka Biography / Profile
  35. Wole Soyinka Biography / Profile
  36. Wole Soyinka Biography / Profile
  37. Wole Soyinka Biography / Profile
  38. Wole Soyinka Criticism (Vol. 179)
  39. Wole Soyinka Criticism (Vol. 3)
  40. Wole Soyinka Criticism (Vol. 5)
  41. Wole Soyinka Criticism | Wole Soyinka, Olesegun Ojewuyi, And Shawn-marie Garrett (interview Date Spring 1997)