Talk:Wole Soyinka

Nobel Prize

Didn't Naguib Mahfouz win a Nobel? Technically, Egypt is Africa, right? maybe say "Subsaharan Africa"? dvyost 17:53, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

Wole Soyinka was the first African to win it, in 1986. Mahfouz won it in 1988. And Nadine Gordimer won it in the 90's.--62.6.139.10 10:14, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Now "the first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category" seems to imply that there were other Africans awarded before him. I didn't check the official Nobel website, but this Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_African_Nobel_laureates) only has Albert Camus and Claude Simon before him, both of whom are French [respectively Algeria- and Madagascar-born]. DylanLow108 (talk) 14:28, 25 May 2024 (UTC)

Question

Does anyone know why Soyinka chose to teach at UNLV? Teaching in Las Vegas seems like an odd choice for him, and surely many of the top universities worldwide would love to have him on their faculties. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.232.225.156 (talk • contribs) 02:07, 20 May 2006

Well to my own knowledg i beleive that prof. Wole Soyinka is one of the most talented prof. in the world and he is one that like to study and lecture more about literature and english....well i have seen most of his poems and his dramers ,well they are just so wounderful and nice to read and to watch....... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.190.249.61 (talk • contribs) 07:18, 15 June 2006

Education

"He then studied at the University College, Ibadan (1952-1954)where he founded the pyrates confraternity (an anti-corruption and justice seeking Student organization) and the University of Leeds (1954-1957) from which he received an First class honours degree in English Literature." I'm pretty sure Soyinka got a 2:1 from Leeds. Can't find a source but I'm a leeds student myself and I remember being surprised and encouraged to see that one of the English department's most famous sons didn't in fact get a first. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.157.239.6 (talk) 21:56, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

I can find no evidence that he got a first. Most of the sources and biographies just say he graduated with honours. I have removed it for now until details can be sourced. Span (talk) 22:19, 16 April 2012 (UTC)

Prisonettes

Ian Bogost tells a somewaht compelling story about Soyinka's time in prison and writing short poems called Prisonettes, limited by the conditions of his confinement. See his post about it. Does anyone have a reliable source on this? Should we mention it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Barraponto (talk • contribs) 04:30, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

Nobel Prize for Literature

I feel that the addition to the significance of his Nobel Prize is a must-add. Like the author of the cited source says, it is "thoroughly deserved."NestleNW911 (talk) 23:22, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

The Diaspora

The introduction mentions "the diaspora". This is vague and most people aren't going to know which "diaspora" is being described. My best guess is the refers to a diaspora of black people out of Africa. This term needs to be qualified to tell the reader what diaspora is being referred to.

2001:470:E962:1:9172:BC5B:53BC:411C (talk) 23:09, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Legacy and honours

In 2008, Wole Soyinka was invited to serve as a mentor for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, an international philanthropic programme that pairs masters in their disciplines with emerging talents for a year of one-to-one creative exchange. Out of a very gifted field of candidates, Soyinka chose Tara June Winch as his protégée. — Preceding unsigned comment added by RMP2014 (talk • contribs) 13:22, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

References

Personal life

Is he married? what kind of lifestyle does he live?Bobbyshabangu _talk 20:50, 3 August 2014 (UTC)

Oxford academic

As far as I can tell, he has never held any appointment at the University of Oxford and so ought not to be in Category:Academics of the University of Oxford. This detailed profile doesn't mention teaching at Oxford (although it does mention Cambridge, Harvard, Yale and Cornell). He gave Oxford's 2014 African Studies Annual Lecture [1] but that's not enough to put him within the category (because people aren't categorised according to venues or institutions at which they've given a lecture). If no-one can find something to show that he has held an academic appointment at Oxford then I'll remove the category again. Bencherlite^Talk 19:48, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

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External links modified

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• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110410092723/http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/anglophone/soyinka.html to http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/anglophone/soyinka.html

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External link linkfarm

I removed this set from the EL section:

• Maya Jaggi, "Profile: Ousting monsters", The Guardian, 2 November 2002
• Uchenna Izundu, "Inspiring Nigeria's political dawns", BBC, September 2007.
• Amy Goodman, "Legendary Nigerian Writer Wole Soyinka: Darfur Crisis 'A Blot on the Conscience of the World'", Democracy Now! 18 April 2006.
• Amy Goodman, "Legendary Nigerian Writer Wole Soyinka on Oil in the Niger Delta, the Effect of Iraq on Africa and His New Memoir", Democracy Now! 18/19 April 2006.
• Dave Gilson, "Wole Soyinka: Running to Stand Still", Mother Jones, July/August 2006.
• Paul Brians, "Study guide for The Lion and the Jewel, The Trials of Brother Jero, and Madmen and Specialists", Washington State University.
• "The Climate of Fear", Soyinka's Reith Lectures, BBC, 2004.
• Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, " The Essential Soyinka", African Writing Online, No. 7.
• "Wole Soyinka - Ake: The Years of Childhood", World Book Club, BBC World Service, 29 May 2007.
• Martin Banham, "Wole Soyinka: an appreciation", Leeds African Studies Bulletin, 45 (November 1986), pp. 1–2.
• Archival material at

Most of these are further reading where, seen the size, referencing and the further reading section of the article, I doubt that most add significant data. However, some may be useful as an additional reference. --Dirk Beetstra ^{T C} 09:57, 13 February 2020 (UTC)

LGBT

It should be noted he supports LGBT rights in Nigeria and Africa in general and opposed the 2014 anti homosexuality law in Nigeria Nlivataye (talk) 11:17, 29 September 2020 (UTC)

Albert Camus

@Ymblanter Albert Camus was a French colonialist known as a Pieds-Noir. They never assimilated into the native culture of Algeria because they viewed themselves as superior. The term “indigenous” was only given to the native Muslim inhabitants of Algeria because the Pieds-Noirs were seen as French, not African. Albert Camus and other Pieds-Noirs have always been described as French people. For this same reason, Rudyard Kipling was not an Indian or Asian. Kuing5 (talk) 22:12, 26 November 2021 (UTC)

The current version says "first sub-Saharan African". This is correct and universally accepted by reliable sources. Replacing it by something which sonme sources believe is correct and others thik it is POV is not appropriate.--Ymblanter (talk) 22:17, 26 November 2021 (UTC)

Religion

On Sunday, 20th November, 2022; during a public presentation of his two-volume collection of essays, Soyinka disclosed his religion as Mythologist from his statement which reads: “Do I really need one (religion)? I have never felt I needed one. I am a mythologist. “But religion? No, I don’t worship any deity. But I consider deities as creatively real and therefore my companions in my journey in both the real world and the imaginative world,” he said. Maibadali (talk) 02:37, 22 November 2022 (UTC)

References