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Wole Soyinka
Soyinka, Wole
The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature
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2003
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© The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information)
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Soyinka, Wole (1934– ), Nigerian dramatist. He was play reader at the Royal Court Theatre, London, where
The Swamp Dwellers (1958),
The Lion and the Jewel and
The Invention (both 1959) were produced. These already demonstrated his development from simple Nigerian village comedies to a more complex and individual drama incorporating mime and dance.
A Dance of the Forest (1960) is a half-satirical, half-fantastic celebration of Nigerian independence. Soyinka's first novel,
The Interpreters (1965), captures the idealism of young Nigerians regarding the development of a new Africa. In prison for pro-Biafran activity during 1967–9, he produced increasingly bleak verse and prose,
Madmen and Specialists (1970), and his second novel,
Season of Anomy (1973). A brighter period has followed.
Death and the King's Horseman (1975), embodies his post-Biafran cultural philosophy, enunciated in
Myth, Literature and the African World (1976), of the need for the distinct aesthetics of Africa and Europe to cross-fertilize each other. He was awarded the
Nobel Prize in 1986.
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Biodun Jeyifo, Wole Soyinka: Politics, Poetics, and Postcolonialism.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Africa; 9/22/2004; ; 700+ words
; BIODUN JEYIFO, Wole Soyinka: politics, poetics, and postcolonialism...some of the accusations levelled by Wole Soyinka against Jeyifo and his Marxist peers...more than a 'single author' study, Wole Soyinka transforms its central subject into...
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Wole Soyinka: An Appraisal.
Magazine article from: World Literature Today; 3/22/1995; ; 700+ words
; ...in then crisis-ridden Lagos, Wole Soyinka: An Appraisal is more an effort...Osofisan and Osundare, who share Soyinka's Yoruba heritage, the tribute...more serious and eye-opening. Wole Soyinka: An Appraisal is a strong and...
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 "Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)")
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PAGE TURNERS: A CONVERSATION WITH WOLE SOYINKA; A voice for a nation: His life woven into Nigeria's struggle.(WORLD)(Interview)
Newspaper article from: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN); 5/25/2006; ; 700+ words
; ...literature, Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka lives a certain dichotomy. He...parents' generation who relied on Wole Soyinka to tell the closest thing to the...exile. "I have always admired Wole Soyinka," novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie...
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Profile: Nigerian author Wole Soyinka's new play, "King Baabu"
Transcript from: NPR Morning Edition; 8/14/2001; ; 700+ words
; ...0000 Profile: Nigerian author Wole Soyinka's new play, King Baabu Host...Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka is premiering his first play since...is not coincidental. Playwright Wole Soyinka fled Abacha's regime in the mid...
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A life shaped by a larger cause; Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka chronicles his adult life in the second half of his memoirs.(FEATURES)(BOOKS)(Book review)
Newspaper article from: The Christian Science Monitor; 4/11/2006; 700+ words
; ...readers may know Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka best as a playwright, author of...is only too easy to understand Soyinka's closing line: "I am back...You Must Set Forth at Dawn By Wole Soyinka Random House 499 pp., $26...
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Conversations with Wole Soyinka.
Magazine article from: World Literature Today; 1/1/2002; ; 700+ words
; ...8 paper) CONVERSATIONS WITH WOLE SOYINKA is far more rewarding than I expected...individuals perhaps intimidated by Soyinka's imposing personality. In all...accessible. Conversations with Wole Soyinka doubtless helps us understand more...
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 "Pretoria News (South Africa)")
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Wole Soyinka - Africa's own William Shakespeare.(News)
Newspaper article from: Pretoria News (South Africa); 10/30/2006; 700+ words
; ...novelist, memoirist and essayist, Wole Soyinka's life and works defy easy categorisation...recognition of his achievements, Soyinka has received a string of honours...established an endowed chair named the Wole Soyinka Chair in Drama. Soyinka has served...
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Wole Soyinka's Return
Transcript from: NPR All Things Considered; 10/15/1998; ; 700+ words
; ...four and half years in exile. Wole Soyinka, a noble laureate in literature...next to one of Abiola's wives, Soyinka praised the family for surviving...bombardments from any government ever. WOLE SOYINKA, NIGERIAN NOBEL LAUREATE IN LITERATURE...
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Wole Soyinka's "Gulliver": Swift transposed
Magazine article from: Comparative Literature; 1/1/2001; ; 700+ words
; WOLE SOYINKA'S VOLUME of prison poetry, A Shuttle...to dramatise himself" (The Poetry of Wole Soyinka 74). The three other poems are "Joseph...University of Leeds in England in 1957, Wole Soyinka became a play-reader at the avant...
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 "Daily News (South Africa)")
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Soyinka, our William Shakespeare; In the coming months we host Wole Soyinka as guest of The Es'kia Institute in the Afrikan Affirmation series. Harry Garuba of the University of Cape Town's Centre for African Studies gives insights into the life of the Nobel Laureate professor.(News)
Newspaper article from: Daily News (South Africa); 5/28/2007; 700+ words
; ...novelist, memoirist and essayist, Wole Soyinka's life and works defy easy categorisation...whose primary medium is drama. Soyinka has received a string of honours...established an endowed chair named the Wole Soyinka Chair in Drama. Soyinka has served...
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Wole Soyinka
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography
Wole Soyinka The Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka (born 1935) was one of the few African writers to denounce...black African to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Wole Soyinka was born July 13, 1934 in Abeokuta a village on the banks...
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Soyinka, Wole 1934–
Book article from: Contemporary Black Biography
Wole Soyinka 1934 – Author...Glance … In 1986 Wole Soyinka became the first black African...elders, saw to it that young Wole ’ s early years...steeped in Yoruba mythology. Soyinka has written an anecdotal...
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Soyinka, Wole
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature
Soyinka, Wole (1934– ), Nigerian dramatist. He was play reader...satirical, half-fantastic celebration of Nigerian independence. Soyinka's first novel, The Interpreters (1965), captures the idealism of...
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Kongi's Harvest
Dictionary entry from: International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers
...and Lennart Berns; screenplay: Wole Soyinka, from his own play; assistant...and Fadeke Akinwunmi. Cast: Wole Soyinka (Kongi ); Rashidi Onikoyi (Oba...Dende ). Publications Books: Soyinka, Wole, Kongi's Harvest, London...
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Okri, Ben
Book article from: Contemporary Novelists
...in the Work of Rev. Samuel Johnson, Amos Tutuola, Wole Soyinka and Ben Okri by Ato Quayson, Oxford, J. Currey and...degradation is as unflinching and as compassionate as that of Wole Soyinka. Omovo is actually described at one point, reading...
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