Wole Soyinka: July 13, 1934

Jet, July 17, 1995

Wole Soyinka, Nigerian playwright, poet, novelist, essayist and teacher, was born on this day. He is the first Black writer of any nation to win the Nobel Prize for literature (1986). After graduating from the University of Leeds in England, he worked as a teacher and scriptwriter at the Royal Court Theater in London.

In 1960, Soyinka returned to Nigeria and quickly became an established dramatist, actor and director. In 1967, he was arrested and accused of conspiring with anti-government rebels and later imprisoned for almost 2 years. After his release, he lived in exile in Europe and Ghana. He returned to Nigeria in 1976 and taught classes at Ife University. Soyinka has been a prolific writer of both drama, fiction, poetry, essays and criticism. Some of his works include: A Shuttle in the Crypt, Ake: The Years of Childhood and Madmen and Specialists.