Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka, born Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka on July 13, 1934, in Abeokuta, Nigeria, is a celebrated playwright, poet, and political activist. He made history as the first African laureate to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, recognized for his profound contributions to literature and his unwavering commitment to human rights. Soyinka’s literary career spans several genres, including drama, poetry, and essays, with notable works such as Death and the King’s Horseman and A Dance of the Forests.

In addition to his plays and poetry, Soyinka has authored two novels: The Interpreters (1965) and Season of Anomy (1973). His most recent work, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth (2021), is a political satire that critiques corruption in an imaginary Nigeria through the story of a surgeon uncovering a black-market scheme involving human body parts. This novel marks his return to fiction after nearly five decades.

Soyinka is also known for his memoir You Must Set Forth at Dawn (2006), which reflects on his life experiences, political activism, and the impact of Nigerian history on his personal journey. A prominent voice against oppression and injustice, he continues to inspire readers and activists worldwide with his powerful writings and advocacy for democracy.

  • Drama, Poetry, Novels, Essays, and Memoirs
  • Nigeria
  • 1934
  • Male
  • 2
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    Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth
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    By : Wole Soyinka

    Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

    In a nation cloaked in irony—celebrated as the “happiest on earth” yet corroded by rot beneath its smiles—a doctor uncovers a macabre trade in human body parts, unraveling a sinister conspiracy that binds faith, politics, and power in a deadly knot. Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is a darkly satirical epic, where absurdity and horror walk hand in hand through the corridors of privilege and corruption. Can truth survive in a land where joy is manufactured, and silence is the price of peace? With baroque language and blistering wit, this novel holds up a fractured mirror to society—daring us to ask whether laughter is a balm or a mask. It is a profound and unsettling journey into the theatre of power, where even hope wears a disguise.

    • Originally Published: 2021
    • Publisher: Vintage, 2022
    • Genre: Fiction
    • Pages: 464
    • Book Type: Hardcopy
    • ISBN: 9780593314470
    • Access: Members
  • You Must Set Forth at Dawn
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    By : Wole Soyinka

    You Must Set Forth at Dawn

    In You Must Set Forth at Dawn, the path of memory winds through the ravaged landscapes of postcolonial Nigeria—where poetry meets politics, exile mirrors return, and the personal collides with the historical. With searing clarity and lyrical defiance, the narrator recounts a life lived in pursuit of justice, meaning, and home, even as the sun often rises on betrayal and disillusionment. How does one carry both the fire of resistance and the ache of memory without being consumed? This is a memoir of conscience, haunted by the weight of dreams and anchored by a relentless moral clarity. To read it is to walk alongside a soul who dares to keep setting forth, no matter how dark the night.

    • Originally Published: 2006
    • Publisher: Penguin Random House, 2007
    • Genre: Memoir
    • Pages: 528
    • Book Type: Hardcopy
    • ISBN: 978-0375755149
    • Access: Members