Soyinka, Wole

Aké : the years of childhood by Wole Soyinka( Book )
54 editions published between 1981 and 2007 in 6 languages and held by 1,975 libraries worldwide
The Nigerian playwright, poet, and novelist recounts his first eleven years growing up under the influence of his parents, traditional Yoruba customs, and Christian missionaries.

Myth, literature, and the African world by Wole Soyinka( Book )
37 editions published between 1976 and 2000 in English and held by 1,462 libraries worldwide

Death and the king's horseman by Wole Soyinka( Book )
42 editions published between 1975 and 2006 in 4 languages and held by 1,412 libraries worldwide
Based on an incident that took place in Nigeria in 1946, this play is a powerful examination of the explosive tension between traditional African culture and the West.

Collected plays by Wole Soyinka( Book )
24 editions published between 1973 and 1996 in English and Undetermined and held by 1,408 libraries worldwide
Winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature, this Nigerian poet, playwright, and novelist writes of the rich cultural traditions as well as the hopes and frustrations of black Africa. This two-volume collection of his plays includes A Dance of the Forests, The Swamp Dwellers, The Strong Breed, The Road, and The Bacchae of Euripides in the first volume, and The Lion and the Jewel, Kongi's Harvest, The Trials of Brother Jero, Jero's Metamorphosis, and Madmen and Specialists in the second volume. --Publisher.

The interpreters by Wole Soyinka( Book )
86 editions published between 1965 and 2003 in 12 languages and held by 1,379 libraries worldwide
The Nobel Laureate's first novel spotlights a small circle of young Nigerian intellectuals living in Lagos.

You must set forth at dawn : a memoir by Wole Soyinka( Book )
17 editions published between 2006 and 2007 in English and held by 1,257 libraries worldwide
A memoir by Africa's first Nobel laureate for literature continues the story that began in his childhood autobiography "Aké" as Soyinka describes the adventures and mishaps of his adulthood, including his frequent exile from his homeland, his celebratedliterary work, and his advocacy for political and human rights.

The open sore of a continent : a personal narrative of the Nigerian crisis by Wole Soyinka( Book )
22 editions published between 1996 and 2000 in English and held by 1,240 libraries worldwide
In The Open Sore of a Continent, Soyinka, whose own Nigerian passport was confiscated by General Abacha in 1994, explores the history and future of Nigeria in a compelling jeremiad that is as intense as it is provocative, learned, and wide-ranging. He deftly explains the shifting dramatic personae of Nigerian history and politics to Westerners unfamiliar with the players and the process, tracing the growth of Nigeria as a player in the world economy, through the corrupt regime of Babangida, the civil war occasioned by the secession of Biafra under the leadership of Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, the lame-duck reign of Ernest Sonekan, and the coup led by General Sani Abacha, arguing that "a glance at the mildewed tapestry of the stubbornly unfinished nation edifice is necessary" to explain where Nigeria can go next. And, in the process of elucidating the Nigerian crisis, Soyinka opens readers to broader questions of nationhood, identity, and the general state of African culture and politics at the end of the twentieth century. Here are a range of issues that investigate the interaction of peoples who have been shaped by the clash of cultures: nationalism, power, corruption, violence, and the enduring legacy of colonialism. In a world tormented by devastation from Bosnia to Rwanda, how do we define a nation: is it simply a condition of the collective mind, a passive, unquestioned habit of cohabitation? Or is what we think of as a nation a rigorous conclusion that derives from history? Is it geography, or is it a bond that transcends accidents of mountain, river, and valley? How do these varying definitions of nationhood impact the people who live under them? Soyinka concludes with a resounding call for international attention to this question: the global community must address the issue of nationhood to prevent further religious mandates and calls for ethnic purity of the sort that have turned Algeria, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Sri Lanka into killing fields.

Isara, a voyage around Essay by Wole Soyinka( Book )
39 editions published between 1989 and 2001 in English and French and held by 1,146 libraries worldwide

The burden of memory, the muse of forgiveness by Wole Soyinka( Book )
13 editions published between 1998 and 2000 in English and held by 1,058 libraries worldwide
"Once repression stops, is reconciliation between oppressor and victim possible? In the face of centuries long devastions wrought on the African continent and her Diaspora by slavery, colonialism, Apartheid, and the manifold faces of racism, what form of recompense could possibly be adequate?"--Jacket.

Mandela's earth and other poems by Wole Soyinka( Book )
21 editions published between 1988 and 1990 in 3 languages and held by 987 libraries worldwide