{"id":357,"date":"2022-08-27T01:40:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T20:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/?p=357"},"modified":"2023-06-12T09:47:43","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T04:17:43","slug":"wole-soyinka-1934-nigerian-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wole-soyinka-1934-nigerian-writer\/","title":{"rendered":"Life and works of Wole Soyinka (1934) Nigerian Writer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Wole
Wole Soyinka (b. 1934)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wole Soyinka (b. 1934)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Nigerian writer, notable especially as a playwright and poet
\u2022 The first person in Africa to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (1986)
\u2022 Born in 1934 into a Yoruba family in Abeokuta, south-west Nigeria
\u2022 Studied in Nigeria and the UK; wrote plays and worked with the Royal Court Theatre in London
\u2022 Took an active role in Nigeria’s political history and its struggle for freedom from Great Britain<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exile and Return
<\/strong>\u2022 Has criticized many Nigerian military dictators, like late General Sanni Abacha and Mugabe
\u2022 Escaped from Nigeria during the regime of Sani Abacha (1993-98); who proclaimed a death
sentence against him
\u2022 Lived abroad, mainly in the US; returned to Nigeria when civilian rule was restored in 1999
\u2022 Has taught in several universities including Oxford, Harvard, University of Nevada, Yale and Obafemi
Awolowo University<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major Plays<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The Swamp Dwellers (1958)
\u2022 The Lion and the Jewel (1959)
\u2022 A Dance of the Forests (1960)
\u2022 The Strong Breed (1964)
\u2022 The Road (1965)
\u2022 Madmen and Specialists (1970)
\u2022 Death and the King\u2019s Horseman (1975)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Novels<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The Interpreters (1964)
<\/strong>\u2013 The main characters are university graduates, who have studied and travelled abroad and have just
returned to Nigeria when it got independence \u2013 These interpreters of the new Nigeria are trying to
chart their path in the new political structure in a society dominated by confusion and corruption
\u2022 Season of Anomy (1972)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poetry Collections
<\/strong>\u2022 Idanre and Other Poems (1967) \u2013 A series of mythological poems that feature Yoruba terminology and display subtle manipulations of words, images, and idioms
\u2022 Myth, Literature and the African World (1976)
\u2022 Mandela’s Earth and Other Poems (1988)
\u2022 Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known (2002)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essays<\/strong>
\u2022 Art, Dialogue, and Outrage: Essays on Literature and Culture (1988)
\u2022 From Drama and the African World View (1976)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major Poems
\u2022 A Telephone Conversation
\u2022 Three White Hairs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Telephone Conversation”  poem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

poem<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The price seemed reasonable, location
Indifferent. The landlady swore she lived
Off premises. Nothing remained
But self-confession. “Madam,” I warned,
“I hate a wasted journey–I am African.”
Silence. Silenced transmission of
Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
Lipstick coated, long gold-rolled
Cigarette-holder pipped. Caught I was foully.
“HOW DARK?” . . . I had not misheard . . . “ARE YOU LIGHT
OR VERY DARK?” Button B, Button A.* Stench
Of rancid breath of public hide-and-speak.
Red booth. Red pillar box. Red double-tiered
Omnibus squelching tar. It was real! Shamed
By ill-mannered silence, surrender
Pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification.
Considerate she was, varying the emphasis–
“ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT?” Revelation came.
“You mean–like plain or milk chocolate?”
Her assent was clinical, crushing in its light
Impersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjusted,
I chose. “West African sepia”–and as afterthought,
“Down in my passport.” Silence for spectroscopic
Flight of fancy, till truthfulness clanged her accent
Hard on the mouthpiece. “WHAT’S THAT?” conceding
“DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS.” “Like brunette.”
“THAT’S DARK, ISN’T IT?” “Not altogether.
Facially, I am brunette, but, madam, you should see
The rest of me. Palm of my hand, soles of my feet
Are a peroxide blond. Friction, caused–
Foolishly, madam–by sitting down, has turned
My bottom raven black–One moment, madam!”–sensing
Her receiver rearing on the thunderclap
About my ears–“Madam,” I pleaded, “wouldn’t you rather
See for yourself?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Buttons to be pressed by caller who has inserted a coin into an old type of British public pay phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

poem other source: https:\/\/ncert.nic.in\/textbook\/pdf\/keww114.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

read also Ngugi wa Thiong\u2019o : Nigerian Writer<\/a>, African English Literature \u2013 An overview of Great Tradition<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wole Soyinka<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow3MbQCw:productID":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[297],"tags":[339,343,342,338,341,340,337,345,346,347,344],"class_list":["post-357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-literature","tag-a-dance-of-the-forests-1960","tag-death-and-the-kings-horseman-1975","tag-madmen-and-specialists-1970","tag-the-lion-and-the-jewel-1959","tag-the-road-1965","tag-the-strong-breed-1964","tag-the-swamp-dwellers-1958","tag-first-person-in-africa-to-be-awarded-the-nobel-prize-in-literature","tag-telephone-conversation","tag-the-price-seemed-reasonable","tag-wole-soyinka"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-25.png?fit=596%2C700&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":461,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/african-literature-an-overview\/","url_meta":{"origin":357,"position":0},"title":"African English Literature – An overview of Great Tradition","author":"witcritic","date":"May 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"African English literature African English literature refers to the body of literary works written by authors from Africa or of African descent, who use the English language as a medium of expression. African literature is rich and diverse, reflecting the continent's vast cultural, linguistic, and historical heritage. It encompasses a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"African Literature\"","block_context":{"text":"African Literature","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/tag\/african-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"African","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/images28329.jpeg?fit=500%2C604&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":316,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/african-and-caribbean-literatures\/","url_meta":{"origin":357,"position":1},"title":"Postcolonial Literature: African and Caribbean","author":"witcritic","date":"August 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Postcolonial Literature: African and Caribbean \u00a0 African Literature and Caribbean Literature \u00a0 African Literature \u00a0 Africa Birthplace of the human species between 8 million and 5 million years ago Vast continent Rich and diverse in its culture \u2013 Many languages and religions \u2013 Changing from one country to another as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "World Literature"","block_context":{"text":"World Literature","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/category\/world-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Modern African Literature and Colonialism","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Eugene_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Liberte_guidant_le_peuple-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C963&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Eugene_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Liberte_guidant_le_peuple-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C963&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Eugene_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Liberte_guidant_le_peuple-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C963&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Eugene_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Liberte_guidant_le_peuple-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C963&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Eugene_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Liberte_guidant_le_peuple-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C963&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":350,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/nadine-gordimer-1923-2014-african-writer\/","url_meta":{"origin":357,"position":2},"title":"Life and works of Nadine Gordimer (1923-2014): African writer","author":"witcritic","date":"August 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nadine GordimerNovels\u2022 A Guest of Honour (1970)Some More Novels Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer\u00a0(20 November 1923\u00a0\u2013 13 July 2014) was a South African writer and\u00a0political activist. She received the\u00a0Nobel Prize in Literature\u00a0in 1991, recognized as a writer \"who through her magnificent epic writing has ... been of very great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "World Literature"","block_context":{"text":"World Literature","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/category\/world-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"nodaine gordimer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-23.png?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-23.png?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-23.png?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/image-23.png?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3012,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/nobel-prize-2023-winners-list-categories-names-fields\/","url_meta":{"origin":357,"position":3},"title":"Nobel Prize 2023 – Winners List, Categories, Names, Fields","author":"witcritic","date":"March 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2023 Nobel Prizes have been declared recently. The Swedish Academy has awarded the literature prize, the Karolinska Institute has bestowed the physiology or medicine prize, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has granted the prizes for physics, chemistry, and economics. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, based in Oslo, has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/image-11.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/image-11.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/image-11.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":347,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/chinua-achebe-1930-2013-nigerian-novelist\/","url_meta":{"origin":357,"position":4},"title":"Life and Works of Chinua Achebe (1930-2013): Nigerian Novelist","author":"witcritic","date":"August 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Chinua AchebeAchebe\u2019s WorksAfrican Trilogy Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe, in full\u00a0Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, (born November 16, 1930, Ogidi, Nigeria\u2014died March 21, 2013,\u00a0Boston,\u00a0Massachusetts, U.S.), Nigerian novelist acclaimed for his unsentimental depictions of the social and psychological disorientation accompanying the imposition of Western customs and values upon traditional African society. His\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "World Literature"","block_context":{"text":"World Literature","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/category\/world-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"chinua achebe","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Achebe2.jpg?fit=432%2C585&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":514,"url":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/gitanjali-collection-of-poems-by-rabindranath-tagore\/","url_meta":{"origin":357,"position":5},"title":"Gitanjali Collection of Poems – by Rabindranath Tagore","author":"witcritic","date":"May 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Gitanjali - Song Offerings \"Gitanjali\" is a collection of poems written by the famous Indian poet, philosopher, and Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore. It was originally published in Bengali in 1910 and later translated into English by Tagore himself. Which earned him international acclaim. The title \"Gitanjali\" can be translated as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "World Literature"","block_context":{"text":"World Literature","link":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/category\/world-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/517.GITANJALI-TAGORE-1.jpg?fit=734%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/517.GITANJALI-TAGORE-1.jpg?fit=734%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/517.GITANJALI-TAGORE-1.jpg?fit=734%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/witcritic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/517.GITANJALI-TAGORE-1.jpg?fit=734%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1247,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357\/revisions\/1247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/witcritic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}