Pagineborn 1934 · Abeokuta, Nigeria · also known as Soyinka, Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka became the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1986. A playwright, poet, novelist and fearless critic of dictatorship, he was imprisoned for nearly two years during the Nigerian Civil War (The Man Died). His plays blend Yoruba myth with modern theatre — The Lion and the Jewel and Death and the King’s Horseman (1975) — and his memoir Aké: The Years of Childhood (1981) is one of Africa’s best-loved books.
Begin with Aké: The Years of Childhood.
Part of our African Literature reading list — print it, email it to yourself or share it.
Olaudah Equiano · Sol Plaatje · Chinua Achebe · Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o · Naguib Mahfouz · Mariama Bâ · Nadine Gordimer · J. M. Coetzee · Bessie Head · Tsitsi Dangarembga · Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Wole Soyinka became the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1986. A playwright, poet, novelist and fearless critic of dictatorship, he was imprisoned for nearly two years during the Nigerian Civil War (The Man Died).
Aké: The Years of Childhood is usually considered Wole Soyinka’s best-known work, followed by Death and the King’s Horseman, The Lion and the Jewel.
Most readers start with Aké: The Years of Childhood.
Both refer to the same writer. Other spellings and names include Soyinka, Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka.
Wole Soyinka’s books are still under copyright, so they are not free to download, but many can be borrowed free from your public library or Open Library — we link to them below.