Wole Soyinka

Nigerian writer (born 1934) · Nigeria · Writers

Wole Soyinka is read about 557 times a day, in 98 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

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The first African awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, handed to him in 1986 for work the Swedish Academy called a drama of existence with poetic overtones. His plays, novels, and poems pull from Yoruba tradition and Nigeria's fractured political life - satire that lands because it's rooted.

A life in dates

2023Golden MagnoliaAward2017“Come January 20, 2017; watch my WOLEXIT" [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/nobel-prize-winner-wole-soyinka-donald-trump-throws-away-green-card-a7450141.html”In their words20 January 2017Read the whole statement

Europe Theatre PrizeAward2006Weilheim Literature PrizeAward2005“Today, the constituency of fear has become much broader, far less selective.”In their wordsClimate of Fear (2005)Read the whole statement

“There is nothing in the least delicate about the slaughter of innocents.”In their wordsClimate of Fear (2005)Read the whole statement

“The fault, of course, is not in religion, but in the fanatic of every religion.”In their wordsClimate of Fear (2005)Read the whole statement

“In one form or the other, the quest for human dignity has proved to be one of the most propulsive elements for wars, civil strife and willing sacrifice.”In their wordsClimate of Fear (2005)Read the whole statement

2001“Well, some people say I'm pessimistic because I recognize the eternal cycle of evil. All I say is, look at the history of mankind right up to this moment and what do you find?”In their wordsWole Soyinka, Biodun Jeyifo (2001). “Conversations with Wole Soyinka”, p.159, Univ. Press of MississippiRead the whole statement

2000Honorary Doctorate of the University of Cape TownAward1996Honorary Doctorate from the University of Paris-VIIAward1991Fellow of the African Academy of SciencesAward1990Benson MedalAward1986Nobel Prize in LiteratureAward1985Honorary Doctorate from the University of Montpellier-IIIAward1983Anisfield-Wolf Book AwardsAward1934Born13 July 1934

Also in Deutsch

Photos 4

Abeokuta Grammar School, where Soyinka had his secondary education

The Royal Court Theatre in 2020. Most of Soyinka's early plays were performed in the theatre.

Soyinka in 2015

In their own words 10

Wole Soyinka

10 statements, newest first

Come January 20, 2017; watch my WOLEXIT" [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/nobel-prize-winner-wole-soyinka-donald-trump-throws-away-green-card-a7450141.html
Jan 20, 2017, Own words
For the fire consumes all but the arsonist.
2005, Climate of Fear (2005), Own words
Today, the constituency of fear has become much broader, far less selective.
2005, Climate of Fear (2005), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Golden Magnolia2023

Europe Theatre Prize2017

Weilheim Literature Prize2006

Honorary Doctorate of the University of Cape Town2000

Honorary Doctorate from the University of Paris-VII1996

Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences1991

Benson Medal1990

Nobel Prize in Literature1986

Honorary Doctorate from the University of Montpellier-III1985

Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards1983

Nigerian National Order of Merit Award

Honorary Doctor of Harvard University

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature

Doctor honoris causa at University of Bayreuth

Honorary Doctorate from Princeton University

Order of the Federal Republic

John Whiting Award

Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, Civil Division

Family

Mother Grace Eniola Soyinka

Wole Soyinka

Partners

Spouse Folake Doherty Soyinka

Child Olaokun Soyinka

Sibling Omofolabo Ajayi-Soyinka

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About this person

Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka was born 13 July 1934 into an Anglican Yoruba family in Aké, Abeokuta. He studied at Government College, Ibadan, then University College Ibadan, where he co-founded the Pyrate Confraternity, before leaving for the University of Leeds. In England he edited the university magazine and began writing short stories and recording for the BBC, turning full-time author in the 1950s. Early plays like The Invention (1957), The Swamp Dwellers (1958), and The Lion and the Jewel (1959) were staged at the Royal Court Theatre and on Nigerian radio. Novels followed - The Interpreters (1965), Season of Anomy (1973) - alongside poetry collections, memoirs, and the play Death and the King's Horseman, all threaded with Nigeria's history and his own satirical edge. In July 2024, on his 90th birthday, President Bola Tinubu renamed the National Arts Theatre after him.

Country

Nigeria

In common with Wole

Joke SilvaAlso in Elesin Oba: The King's Horseman (2022)

Tunde KelaniAlso in Ebrohimie Road: A Museum of Memory (2024)

Tyrone SavageAlso in Death and the King's Horseman (2023)

Orlando MartinsAlso in Kongi's Harvest (1970)

Allan KingAlso in Joshua: A Nigerian Portrait (1963)

Odunlade Jonathan AdekolaAlso in Elesin Oba: The King's Horseman (2022)

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