US Showcases Soyinka's Work Against Tyranny Nov 23, 2008
On that score the government has included the name of Nigeria's Nobel Laureate in Literature, Professor Wole Soyinka, among a shortlist of dissident writers whose works had in the past made the impact for democracy ... Others are novelist, essayist and poet, Julia Alvarez, a native of the Dominican Republic, Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) of Poland, Russian poet, Joseph Brodsky, author Ninotchka Rosca a Filipino and Wole Soyinka of Nigeria ... According to the statement, "Nigeria's Wole Soyinka, a... (Guardian News, Nigeria)
Rawlings Caucasian Blood Helped His Integrity: Says Nigerian Novelist Nov 16, 2008
He wouldnt write crap, as if Wole Soyinka has set him a craptrap. He appeared well-intentioned in that article, which was published on allafrica. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
First-ever Arab Intellectual Wins Grinzane Cavour Award Nov 3, 2008
The awarding ceremony will be attended by Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a host of ministers of culture from several European counties as well as a constellation of Nobel Laureates including Jose Saramago, Nadine Gordimer, Wole Soyinka and Gunter Grass who all won the Grinzane Cavour Prize before becoming winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature. This year, the Grinzane Cavour Prize will be awarded for the first time in its history to this Arab leading literary and intellectual figure... (PR Newswire)
How Soyinka Caused Diplomatic Row At UNESCO Oct 26, 2008
Wole Soyinka warning UNESCO that the institute ought not be sited at the controversial Obasanjo Presidential Library ... "Wole Soyinka is an active participant in high-level conferences and forums addressing the issues of African social development," it said. (Guardian News, Nigeria)
The Future of Africa: Soyinka and Gates Oct 23, 2008
In his ongoing video interview series, "The Vine with Henry Louis Gates Jr." The Root Editor-in-Chief talks with Nobel Laureate Wole SoyinkaaboutSudan, Mugabe,slavery and, of course, Obama. AFP/Getty Images CLICK image to see video of Gates' conversation with Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka ... Oct. 16, 2008--At 74, Wole Soyinka remains one of democracy's great champions on the African continent. (Slate)
Book and TV Series on Economy to be Launched Oct 17, 2008
The 288 page book is edited by Ghanaian author, Ivor Agyeman-Duah (also the producer of the TV series) with a foreword by the Nigerian Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka. An economic anthology published by Ayebia Clarke of Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom and in the United States by Lynne Rienner distributors, the book would be launched at the La-Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra on October 30, 2008 by the former Under-Secretary General of the UN and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for... (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Nigeria: Wole Soyinka And Mystery Gunman At Radio Station, By German Journalist Sep 15, 2008
com: Nigeria: Wole Soyinka And Mystery Gunman At Radio Station, By German Journalist (Page 1 of 1) ... Nigeria: Wole Soyinka And Mystery Gunman At Radio Station, By German Journalist ... The story of the mystery gun man who stormed a radio station in the 60s and got what the then government considered as inciting statement broadcast re-echoed at the presentation of a book on Wole Soyinka written by a foreign journalist. (allAfrica.com)
Obasanjo, Soyinka, Ulli Beier, Trade Words Jun 8, 2008
Wole Soyinka, had warned that there were efforts by the Obasanjo Presidential Library to receive the collections with the Federal Government funding and on that basis, the Library was seeking the location of the UNESCO institute on its premises in Abeokuta. Prof. (Guardian News, Nigeria)
What is "Foreign Consciousness"? Jun 5, 2008
For instance, while attending St. Peters Secondary School, at Okwawu-Nkwatia, in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, those of us who majored in Literature (written in the English language) studied the pioneering works of such remarkable African writers as Wole Soyinka, Ama Ata Aidoo, Efua Sutherland, Flora Nwapa, Kofi Awoonor, Cyprian Ekwensi, Ayi Kwei Armah, Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa ThiongO and Peter Abrahams. The same case, however, could not be made for such elite secondary institutions as... (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Nobel laureate winches writer into limelight May 30, 2008
Tara June Winch will be mentored by Nigeria's Wole Soyinka ... As part of the program Winch, 24, will be mentored by the Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, described by The New York Times as the voice and face of African democracy ... Tara June Winch will be mentored by Nigeria's Wole Soyinka. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
So, Who Is Ghana's Mr. Average? Feb 4, 2008
It was Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, who described the average-looking face of W.H. Auden as "a compressed lump of volcanic lava in controlled convulsion." That is not your everyday average description of an average face, is it. And, what did you expect. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Reinvention Key to Success Jan 29, 2008
Famous former students and alumni of the External System include five Nobel Prize Winners: Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, Ronald Coase, Wole Soyinka, Derek Walcott and Nelson Mandela. The top 20 countries the External System operates in: 1. (Yahoo News -- Press Releases)
UN launches Muslim-Western forum Jan 16, 2008
Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, Mary Robinson, former Irish president, Paulo Coelho, the Brazilian writer and Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian author and Nobel laureate were expected to attend. Zapatero presented the alliance idea to the UN general assembly in September 2004 as a way to overcome misunderstandings between the West and the Arab and Muslim world. (Aljazeera.Net)
Free thinkersThree heavyweights consider the pros and cons of free speech Dec 10, 2007
Wole SoyinkaPoet and Playwright ... WOLE SOYINKA, POET AND PLAYWRIGHT. (BBC News)
Literary grandees lobby EU-Africa summit Dec 6, 2007
In an open letter released this week, writers including Wole Soyinka, Gunter Grass, Nadine Gordimer, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie called for Zimbabwe and Darfur to be put on the meeting's agenda. "The EU-Africa summit presents an opportunity to address the biggest issues affecting our people," said the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Humanism takes on politics Nov 26, 2007
Writer and dramatist Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate and institute senior fellow, will be a guest editor for Witness, a literary journal the institute recently purchased. And this month George Packer, a staff writer for The New Yorker, joined other journalists to chat about election year politics. (Las Vegas Sun)
United States Nov 8, 2007
We used to think there was a black community. With her towering afro and radical rhetoric, Angela Davis was one of the iconic faces of black politics in 1970s America. (Guardian Unlimited)
Back to BiafraWriter Wole Soyinka confronts those who jailed him in 1967 Oct 24, 2007
Forty years ago, Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka travelled to Nigeria's secessionist Biafra region to try and calm growing tensions ... As we come through baggage reclaim there is a mad scrum and in the middle of it is Wole Soyinka, Nigeria's Nobel Prize-winning author ... It is the beginning of Wole Soyinka's return to Biafra. (BBC News -- Africa)
Black people 'less intelligent' scientist claims Oct 20, 2007
" since in any case "they shouldn't have been born".ana p. , philadelphia, usaI totally agree with Matthew Wong. People in poverty, especially children, doesnt have the possibility to attend school because they are in an restricted position helping their family survive. And many people who get educated and have a chance to study abroad seldom return beacause of better opportunities. That can cause a brain drain in a selected country which means that the population lack educated people and get... (USA Today -- Tech)
Pick of the day Oct 16, 2007
The Nobel prize-winning author Wole Soyinka, meanwhile, is retracing his risky journey through Nigeria during the Biafran war 40 years ago. Picked up and jailed without trial, he spent almost two years in solitary for allegedly supporting those who wanted to break up the country. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
Killing fieldsIs the international community powerless to prevent genocide? Oct 14, 2007
It was an example of what Nigerian Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka would later describe to me as one of those points where people meet each other in a spirit of "egalitarian awareness" ... This is the grim opposite of Wole Soyinka's "egalitarian awareness". (BBC News -- Europe)
Soyinka returns to Leeds University Sep 26, 2007
The Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka is to return to Leeds, where he studied during the 1950s, to mark the 40th anniversary of the university's Workshop Theatre ... The Workshop Theatre, which has a Wole Soyinka chair in Drama and Theatre Studies, is holding a number of events to mark the anniversary, including a performance of Dilemma of a Ghost by the Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Rhyme and treason Sep 1, 2007
The group sought to move beyond the work of Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong'o: "One of the things that made us slightly more original was that we studied African oral literature more seriously." This oral tradition characterises what Mapanje calls an "African" mode of communication, based on the telling and re-telling of stories. "There's usually a failure in African communication because if you're telling me to do this, this or this," he chops his hands down towards the table,... (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Entr'acte Jul 21, 2007
And in the 20th century, many more writers, from Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Vaclav Havel to Carlos Fuentes and Wole Soyinka, assumed the risks of speaking out, in writing and in person. What made these and other writers and artists stand out, though, was not necessarily their oeuvre, but the respect they enjoyed as independent voices, voices that were raised when most were silent or silenced. (International Herald Tribune)
Love story wins 'African Booker' Jul 11, 2007
The four African winners of the Nobel prize for literature - Wole Soyinka, Nadine Gordimer, Naguib Mahfouz and JM Coetzee - are patrons of the prize. Guardian Unlimited. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Serious case of activism Jun 16, 2007
WHEN THE NIGERIAN writer Wole Soyinka was a student in Britain in the 1950s, he joined the army. The future Nobel laureate intended to exploit the colonial power's training resources to ready himself for a war of African liberation. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
The unseen literary world Jun 14, 2007
Nor was Achebe obscure to the galaxy of writers - including Nobel laureates Wole Soyinka, Toni Morrison and Nadine Gordimer - I heard pay birthday tributes to him at Bard College in upstate New York, where he has taught since a car crash in Nigeria 17 years ago left him in a wheelchair. Yet making the case for profiling Achebe in this paper in 2000, I was struck anew by how towering figures in world literature can fall beneath the radar in the west, or slip from memory. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Awards showcase Nigerian authors Jun 14, 2007
Achebe's peer, Wole Soyinka, was the first African to be honored with a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. Ben Okri won the Booker Prize for Fiction for "The Famished Road" in 1991. (Christian Science Monitor -- World)
Award surprises Nigerian author Jun 8, 2007
Adichie said she was proud to take on the mantle of Nigerian authors Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka. She said there was a lot of writing talent in Africa, especially Nigeria and Kenya, but it was hard for new writers to flourish because of the poor infrastructure. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Oil Gives Unhappy Nigerians Leverage Jun 6, 2007
Now, after disastrously corrupt military and civilian regimes, Nigeria branded the "Open Sore of a Continent" by its Nobel Prize laureate, author Wole Soyinka has seen its bounties squandered. Most of its 140 million people have grown poorer. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- World)
President inaugurated in Nigeria May 30, 2007
Some activists, including Nobel Literature laureate Wole Soyinka, have called for a transitional government to lead the country into new elections, a move rejected by the ruling party as unconstitutional. Obasi said protests had been surprisingly muted, given the scale of the alleged electoral fraud and the resulting public anger, mainly because opposition leaders had failed to devise a cohesive strategy. (Los Angeles Times)
The voice of conscience May 28, 2007
Now aged 72, Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka tells Maya Jaggi how 'repetitions of history' - most recently the atrocities in Darfur - continue to haunt his life and work ... Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka at the Hay festival ... When the Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka visited the Hay Cartagena festival in Colombia earlier this year, in a walled Spanish colonial town on the Caribbean coast, children in the streets instantly thought they recognised the black man with leonine grey hair. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Yar'Adua 'to make poll reforms' May 25, 2007
As they filed their legal papers, a group of 48 Nobel laureates, including 1986 literature prize winner Wole Soyinka, also called for new elections within 18 months. "We are concerned that the new government's lack of legitimacy increases prospects for violent conflict with serious consequences for Nigeria and the region," they said. (BBC News -- Africa)
African universities May 21, 2007
The University of Ibadan in southwest Nigeria, the intellectual home of the Nobel laureate writer Wole Soyinka, was regarded in 1960 as one of the best universities in the Commonwealth. Makerere University in Uganda was considered the Harvard of Africa, and it trained a whole generation of postcolonial leaders, including Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. (International Herald Tribune)
'First ever' London literature festival announced May 18, 2007
Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka joins Hari Kunzru, Pat Barker, Blake Morrison, Helen Oyeyemi, Jacqueline Wilson, Lauren Child and a host of other stars for the South Bank Centre's inaugural London literary festival, due to begin on June 29 ... Highlights from the festival programme include Wole Soyinka's lecture on the theme of civilisation, a multi-media celebration of WH Auden, a large-scale illustration by Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson and an evening with dub poets Linton Kwesi Johnson, Amiri... (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
"Woodstock Of The Mind" May 11, 2007
" If you go The 2007 Guardian Hay Festival, May 24-June 3, Hay-on-Wye, Wales. . This year's headliners include Alexander McCall Smith, Bob Geldof, Cate Blanchett, Dave Eggers, Martin Amis, Doris Lessing and Christopher Hitchens, and four Nobel laureates: Wole Soyinka, Orhan Pamuk, Derek Walcott and Wangari Maathai. Getting there From London's Paddington station, the train to Hereford takes two hours, 40 minutes. From Hereford, it's a 30 minutes by taxi or an hour by bus to Hay-on-Wye. Where to... (San Francisco Chronicle -- Travel)
Spring Reverb fest 'time to reverberate' Apr 23, 2007
For instance, on Saturday, at the Kava Lounge event, experimental music will mean electronic improvisations between filmmaker and musician Hans Fjellestad and David Scott Stone (of the Melvins), laser koto and plant music performances by Miya Masaoka, and George Lewis' self-described bedtime story based on manipulating and adding sounds to a recording of Nobel Prize-winning poet Wole Soyinka reading Muhammad Ali at the Ringside, 1985. SPRING REVERB SCHEDULE. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Eyes of Africa, world are on Nigerian presidential election Apr 21, 2007
Many in Africa look to its comparatively well-educated people, with writers such as Achebe or Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, as a source of hope for their continent. Neither Africa nor the broader world can ignore the outcome of today's election or the consequences if it fails which could be chaos that spreads refugees across Africa and disrupts oil supplies. (Houston Chronicle)
Leader: A beginning, not an end Apr 16, 2007
The great Nigerian poet and playwright Wole Soyinka, a man who has resisted African tyranny in many forms, has watched his country squander its wealth and power in the 47 years since independence from Britain. As Nigeria goes to the polls in a double election, last Saturday and next, he has not let down his guard. (Guardian Unlimited -- World)
Zimbabwe: Symptoms of Decline [analysis] Apr 12, 2007
The annual Indaba, which once hosted Nobel prize-winning authors such as Wole Soyinka and Nadine Gordimer, was reduced to a one-day conference entitled 'Africa - the cradle of conversation. Not only was security and ticket-selling diligently performed by school children, but the overwhelming irony of the title was lost on nobody in a nation where conversing too freely about Mugabe and the heavy-handed ZANU PF ruling party is forbidden under tight media laws. (allAfrica.com)
* Theater without time or national borders Mar 23, 2007
Together with Robert Wilson, Yuri Lyubimov and Wole Soyinka and a host of other internationally recognized theater artists he formed the International Committee of the Theatre Olympics in 1993, a yearly event that promotes the development of world theater. Suzuki's internationalism is also evident in his expropriation of Greek drama for the stage. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Continent of catastrophe Mar 22, 2007
Two tragic stories of Mugabes land redistribution programme (which the Nobel prize-winning Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka compares to Stalins collectivisation of Soviet Russia) wrenched my heart. Martin Olds, a big bear of a man sporting a bushy beard, was the first of many white farmers to be murdered. (Guardian Unlimited -- Travel)
GoodWorks draws criticism over Nigerian connections Mar 18, 2007
Wole Soyinka, a Nigeria-born author and winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in literature, has joined critics who charge that donors were strong-armed to contribute to the Obasanjo library. Fund-raising for the project, Soyinka said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C., was "executive extortion.". (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Metro)
''Children of Men'' Writers Feted at 19th University of Southern California Libraries Scripter(R) Ceremony Feb 20, 2007
In accepting the Scripter Award, Cuaron said, "Speaking here tonight made me think very carefully about the process of adaptation. Making this film about the future required us to fully understand the present." He then went on to cite the influence of such diverse thinkers as Naomi Klein and Wole Soyinka in informing the screenplay's vision of the future. Marje Schuetze-Coburn, dean of the USC Libraries said, "As USC grows in stature as a premier research university, events like Scripter support... (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Nobel Laureate Headlines Writers Week UCR, Feb. 06 Feb 7, 2007
Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka will give the Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m. in the University Theater ... 8 to 10 p.m. University Theater Wole Soyinka will present the Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture, "A Writer's Journey: An Evening with Nobel Prize Winner Wole Soyinka. Collections of his essays include "Myth, Literature and the African World" and "Climate of Fear. (University of California Newswire, CA)
Nigeria: Soyinka Says Leading Ibadan Politician "Protected" Feb 6, 2007
Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka yesterday gave an insight into why Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, has not been arrested despite the discovery of six Direct Data Capture Machines (DDCM) belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in his house, saying the godfather of Ibadan politics also has godfathers who have been shielding him from prosecution. Soyinka made this disclosure while briefing newsmen on issues generated by his recent comment that the All Nigeria Peoples Party... (allAfrica.com)
Zimbabwe: Last Independent Voice May Disappear Jan 23, 2007
Ncube's Mail & Guardian, Jan. 19-25, 2007 issue, has quoted Nigerian writer and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka complaining that Mugabe has let Africa down. "He has become power-intoxicated, he is a liberation fighter whom we all admired and we held up as a model. He has let us down. He is obsessed with power, intolerant and despotic," he said. (allAfrica.com)
Soyinka pays courtesy call on Kufuor Jan 10, 2007
Accra, Jan. 9, GNA - President John Agyekum Kufuor on Tuesday granted audience to the 1986 Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, at the Castle Osu. He is in the country to launch a book on the biography of President Kufuor. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
Wole Soyinka To Grace Book Launch In Accra Jan 3, 2007
Africa's first Nobel Laureate in Literature (1986), Prof Wole Soyinka, will be the special guest speaker at the launch of the second edition of Between Faith and History A Biography of President J. A. Kufuor in Accra on January 10, 2007 ... While in Accra, Prof Soyinka will also be engaged in a special TV conversation with Mr Agyeman-Duah under the title, "Wole Soyinka, the Muses of Writing and Yoruba Mythology". (Ghana Web, Ghana)
