Wole Soyinka's Books

You Must Set Forth at Dawn

A Memoir

By: Wole Soyinka

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The first African to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, as well as a political activist of prodigious energies, Wole Soyinka now follows his modern classic Ake: The Years of Childhood with an equally important chronicle of his turbulent life as an adult in (and in exile from) his beloved, beleaguered homeland. In the tough, humane, and lyrical language that has typified his plays and novels, Soyinka captures the indomitable spirit of Nigeria itself by bringing to life the friends and family who bolstered and inspired him, and by describing the pioneering theater works that defied censure and tradition. Soyinka not only recounts his exile and the terrible reign of General Sani Abacha, but shares vivid memories and playful anecdotes–including his improbable friendship with a prominent Nigerian businessman and the time he smuggled a frozen wildcat into America so that his students could experience a proper Nigerian barbecue. More than a major figure in the world of literature, Wole Soyinka is a courageous voice for human rights, democracy, and freedom. You Must Set Forth at Dawn is an intimate chronicle of his thrilling public life, a meditation on justice and tyranny, and a mesmerizing testament to a ravaged yet hopeful land.

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Page Count

530

Publisher

Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published Date

ISBN 10

0375755144

ISBN 13

9780375755149

Season of Anomy

By: Wole Soyinka

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Season of Anomy

By: Wole Soyinka

From the first Black winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and one of our fiercest political activists—this political novel about the dangers of corruption, greed, and the desire for power is the follow-up to his acclaimed debut novel The Interpreters. An African nation's struggle for independence is interwoven with a tragic love story in this compelling novel. When Ofeyi, who writes advertising jingles for the Cocoa Corporation, is sent on a promotional tour of his unnamed country, he arrives at a coastal village whose remote location has long kept it insulated from the corrupt national government. Here Ofeyi discovers a traditional way of life that is still flourishing and he is inspired to spread its life-affirming values to his suffering country. But challenging the forces of greed and exploitation provokes a horrific response, and when Ofeyi’s beloved wife goes missing, he must travel across a war-scarred landscape in search of her. Infusing the myth of Orpheus with his signature lyricism and moral profundity, Soyinka creates a dazzling story about the clash between idealism and reality.

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Page Count

353

Publisher

Vintage

Published Date

ISBN 10

0593467191

ISBN 13

9780593467190

Collected Plays

By: Wole Soyinka

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Collected Plays

By: Wole Soyinka

`The Lion and the Jewel alone is enough to establish Nigeria as the most fertile new source of English-speaking drama since Synge's discovery of the Western Isles.' The Times The ironic development and consequences of `progress' may be traced through both the themes and the tone of the works included in this second volume of Wole Soyinka's plays. The Lion and the Jewel shows an ineffectual assault on past tradition soundly defeated. In Kongi's Harvest, however, the pretensions of Kongi's regime are also fatal. The denouement points the way forward. The two Brother Jero plays pursue that way, the comic `propheteering' of the earlier play giving way to the sardonic reality of Jero's Metamorphosis. Madmen and Specialists, Soyinka's most pessimistic play, concerns the physical, mental, and moral destruction of modern civil war.

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Page Count

292

Publisher

London ; New York : Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0192811649

ISBN 13

9780192811646

Conversations with Wole Soyinka

By: Wole Soyinka

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Conversations with Wole Soyinka

By: Wole Soyinka

Within these interviews, Soyinka is forthright, clear and eloquent. He addresses many facets of his writing and plumbs pressing issues of culture, society and community.

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Page Count

260

Publisher

Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published Date

ISBN 10

1578063388

ISBN 13

9781578063383

The Invention ; &, the Detainee

By: Wole Soyinka,Zodwa Motsa

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The Invention ; &, the Detainee

By: Wole Soyinka,Zodwa Motsa

This is the first formal publication of two early plays by Soyinka, The Invention (1959) and The Detainee (1965). Widely regarded as Soyinka's first play, The Invention reflects the obsession with race that marked the apartheid regime, and prophetically depicts the beginnings of the crumbling of the apartheid system in the futuristic setting of Johannesburg in 1976. It expresses the concern of the African diapsora with apartheid, which was felt to be an affront to the entire race. The Detainee is a radioplay. The plot foreshadows the writer's own imprisonment and his now familiar concerns about the vagaries of African politics.

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Page Count

100

Publisher

Unisa Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1868883299

ISBN 13

9781868883295

Critical Perspectives on Wole Soyinka

By: Wole Soyinka

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Critical Perspectives on Wole Soyinka

By: Wole Soyinka

Distinguished scholars analyze the plays, poetry, and prose of Wole Smoyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986. Essays trace his career and place his work in the general context of African literature.

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Page Count

288

Publisher

Lynne Rienner Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

0914478494

ISBN 13

9780914478492

Indare and Other Poems

By: Wole Soyinka

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Indare and Other Poems

By: Wole Soyinka

A selection of poetry discussing political tensions and Africa's cultural traditions. Also includes an adaptation of the creation myth of Ogun, the Yoruba God of Iron.

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Hill and Wang

Published Date

ISBN 10

0809013525

ISBN 13

9780809013524

The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness

By: Wole Soyinka

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The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness

By: Wole Soyinka

Nobel Laureate in Literature Wole Soyinka considers all of Africa--indeed, all the world--as he poses this question: once repression stops, is reconciliation between oppressor and victim possible? In the face of centuries-long devastation wrought on the African continent and her Diaspora by slavery, colonialism, Apartheid, and the manifold faces of racism, what form of recompense could possibly suffice? In a voice as eloquent and humane as it is forceful, Soyinka boldly challenges in these pages the notions of simple forgiveness, confession, and absolution as strategies for social healing. Ultimately, he turns to art--poetry, music, painting, etc.--as the one source that can nourish the seed of reconciliation: art is the generous vessel that can hold together the burden of memory and the hope of forgiveness. Based on Soyinka's Stewart-McMillan lectures delivered at the DuBois Institute at Harvard, The Burden of Memory speaks not only to those concerned specifically with African politics, but also to anyone seeking the path to social justice through some of history's most inhospitable terrain.

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Page Count

145

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0190285435

ISBN 13

9780190285432

Aké

The Years of Childhood ; And, Ìsarà : a Voyage Around Essay

By: Wole Soyinka

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Aké

The Years of Childhood ; And, Ìsarà : a Voyage Around Essay

By: Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka was born in Nigeria in 1934. Educated there and at Leeds University, he worked in the British theatre before returning to West Africa in 1960. In 1986 he became the first African writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

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Page Count

462

Publisher

Random House (UK)

Published Date

ISBN 10

0749396415

ISBN 13

9780749396411

Ibadan

The Penkelemes Years ; a Memoir: 1946-1965

By: Wole Soyinka

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Ibadan

The Penkelemes Years ; a Memoir: 1946-1965

By: Wole Soyinka

This is a sequel to Nobel Prize-winner Wole Soyinka's previous volumes of autobiography, Ake and Isara. It tells the story of Maren, Soyinka's alter ego, as he moves from schooldays in Ibadan to student days in Leeds, stints as a play reader in London, an abortive attempt to become a cafe singer in Paris, travels to other parts of the world, and finally a post as research fellow in drama back in Ibadan. Throughout all his travels he becomes increasingly antagonistic to the corrupt authorities, opposing them firstly through writing and then by direct action.

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Page Count

382

Published Date

ISBN 10

0749395907

ISBN 13

9780749395902

Climate of Fear

By: Wole Soyinka

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Climate of Fear

By: Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka was the first African to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. In this year's prestigious series of Reith Lectures, Soyinka considers fear as a predominant theme in the world of politics

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Page Count

135

Publisher

Profile Books(GB)

Published Date

ISBN 10

1861977832

ISBN 13

9781861977830

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

'Soyinka's greatest novel'

By: Wole Soyinka

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Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

'Soyinka's greatest novel'

By: Wole Soyinka

Soyinka's greatest novel ... No one else can write such a book' - Ben Okri 'A high-jinks state-of-the-nation novel' - Chibundu Onuzo A FINANCIAL TIMES AND SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR A towering figure in world literature, Wole Soyinka aims directly at the corridors of power as he warns against corruption both of high office and of the soul, with a dazzling lightness of touch and gleeful irreverence. Much to Doctor Menka's horror, some cunning entrepreneur has decided to sell body parts from his hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Already at the end of his tether from the horrors he routinely sees in surgery, he shares this latest development with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne, who has never before met a puzzle he couldn't solve. Neither realise how close the enemy is, nor how powerful. Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is at once a savagely witty whodunit, a scathing indictment of Nigeria's political elite, and a provocative call to arms from one of the country's most relentless political activists and an international literary giant. MORE PRAISE FOR WOLE SOYINKA: 'You don't see the things the same when you encounter a voice like that' - Toni Morrison 'One of the best there is today, a poet and a thinker, who knows both how the world works and how the world should work' - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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Page Count

465

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1526638223

ISBN 13

9781526638229

Critical Perspectives on Wole Soyinka

By: Wole Soyinka

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Critical Perspectives on Wole Soyinka

By: Wole Soyinka

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288

Publisher

Lynne Rienner Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

0914478494

ISBN 13

9780914478492

Conversations with Wole Soyinka

By: Wole Soyinka

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Conversations with Wole Soyinka

By: Wole Soyinka

Within these interviews, Soyinka is forthright, clear and eloquent. He addresses many facets of his writing and plumbs pressing issues of culture, society and community.

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Page Count

260

Publisher

Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published Date

ISBN 10

1578063388

ISBN 13

9781578063383

Ibadan

The Penkelemes Years : a Memoir, 1946-65

By: Wole Soyinka

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Ibadan

The Penkelemes Years : a Memoir, 1946-65

By: Wole Soyinka

Ibadan is the third volume in Wole Soyinka's series of memoirs, the sequel to Ake and Isara. In a mixture of fact and fiction - to protect the innocent and nail the guilty and shape an often intolerable reality - it tells of the coming of age of a writer and political activist; and of a nation's betrayal.

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382

Publisher

Methuen Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

0413744205

ISBN 13

9780413744203

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

A Novel

By: Wole Soyinka

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Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

A Novel

By: Wole Soyinka

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • The first Black winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature gives us a tour de force, combining "elements of a murder mystery, a searing political satire and an Alice in Wonderland-like modern allegory of power and deceit" (Los Angeles Times). In an imaginary Nigeria, a cunning entrepreneur is selling body parts stolen from Dr. Menka's hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Dr. Menka shares the grisly news with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer, and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne. The life of every party, Duyole is about to assume a prestigious post at the United Nations in New York, but it now seems that someone is determined that he not make it there. And neither Dr. Menka nor Duyole knows why, or how close the enemy is, or how powerful. Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is at once a literary hoot, a crafty whodunit, and a scathing indictment of political and social corruption. It is a stirring call to arms against the abuse of power from one of our fiercest political activists, who also happens to be a global literary giant.

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465

Publisher

Pantheon

Published Date

ISBN 10

0593320166

ISBN 13

9780593320167

Myth, Literature and the African World

By: Wole Soyinka

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Myth, Literature and the African World

By: Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, here analyses the interconnecting worlds of myth, ritual and literature in Africa.

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Page Count

196

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521398347

ISBN 13

9780521398343

Climate of Fear

The Quest for Dignity in a Dehumanized World

By: Wole Soyinka

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Climate of Fear

The Quest for Dignity in a Dehumanized World

By: Wole Soyinka

In this new book developed from the prestigious Reith Lectures, Nobel Prize—winning author Wole Soyinka, a courageous advocate for human rights around the world, considers fear as the dominant theme in world politics. Decades ago, the idea of collective fear had a tangible face: the atom bomb. Today our shared anxiety has become far more complex and insidious, arising from tyranny, terrorism, and the invisible power of the “quasi state.” As Wole Soyinka suggests, the climate of fear that has enveloped the world was sparked long before September 11, 2001. Rather, it can be traced to 1989, when a passenger plane was brought down by terrorists over the Republic of Niger. From Niger to lower Manhattan to Madrid, this invisible threat has erased distinctions between citizens and soldiers; we’re all potential targets now. In this seminal work, Soyinka explores the implications of this climate of fear: the conflict between power and freedom, the motives behind unthinkable acts of violence, and the meaning of human dignity. Fascinating and disturbing, Climate of Fear is a brilliant and defining work for our age.

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Page Count

178

Publisher

Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published Date

ISBN 10

0812974247

ISBN 13

9780812974249

Kongi's Harvest: a Play

By: Wole Soyinka

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Kongi's Harvest: a Play

By: Wole Soyinka

President Kongi (Wole Soyinka), the dictator of an African developing nation, is trying to modernize his nation after deposing King Oba Danlola (Rasidi Onikoyi). The different tribes are resisting unification, so he tries to reach his goal by any means necessary, including forcing government officials to wear traditional African outfits and seeking advice from the man he deposed. He demands tribute from Danlola in the form of a yam, an important food in the culture. Danlola's former lover Segi brings the dictator the head of her father as sacrifice.

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Page Count

100

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199110859

ISBN 13

9780199110858

Beyond Aesthetics

Use, Abuse, and Dissonance in African Art Traditions

By: Wole Soyinka

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Beyond Aesthetics

Use, Abuse, and Dissonance in African Art Traditions

By: Wole Soyinka

An intimate reflection on culture and tradition, creativity and power, that draws on a lifetime’s commitment to aesthetic encounter The playwright, poet, essayist, novelist, and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka is also a longtime art collector. This book of essays offers a glimpse into the motivations of the collector, as well as a highly personal look at the politics of aesthetics and collecting. Detailing moments of first encounter with objects that drew him in and continue to affect him, Soyinka describes a world of mortals, muses, and deities that imbue the artworks with history and meaning. Beyond Aesthetics is a passionate discussion of the role of identity, tradition, and originality in making, collecting, and exhibiting African art today. Soyinka considers objects that have stirred controversy, and he decries dogmatic efforts—whether colonial or religious—to suppress Africa’s artistic traditions. By turns poetic, provocative, and humorous, Soyinka affirms the power of collecting to reclaim tradition. He urges African artists, filmmakers, collectors, and curators to engage with their aesthetic and cultural histories.

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Age

Page Count

160

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0300247621

ISBN 13

9780300247626

Book's by Wole Soyinka

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