Wole Soyinka

The first Black person ever to win the Nobel Prize in Literature gives us a tour de force, his first novel in nearly half a century: a savagely satiric, gleefully irreverent, rollicking fictional meditation on how power and greed can corrupt the soul of a nation ("You don't see things the same way when you encounter a voice like that" --Toni Morrison). In an imaginary Nigeria, a cunning entrepreneur is selling body parts stolen from Dr. Menka's hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Dr. Menka shares the grisly news with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer, and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne--the life of every party--who is about to assume a prestigious post at the United Nations in New York. It now seems that someone is determined that he not make it there. Neither Dr. Menka nor Duyole knows why, or how close the enemy is, how powerful. Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is at once a literary hoot, a crafty whodunit, and a scathing indictment of Nigeria's political elite. It is a stirring call to arms against the abuse of power from one of that country's fiercest political activists, who just happens to be a global literary giant. "Soyinka is one of the best there is today --Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth

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

The Years of Childhood

Aké

A compelling memoir by Africa's first Nobel laureate for literature continues the story that began in his childhood autobiography Ake as Soyinka describes the adventures and mishaps of his adulthood, including his frequent exile from his homeland, his celebrated literary work, and his advocacy for political and human rights. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

A Memoir

You Must Set Forth at Dawn

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • The first Black winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature gives us a tour de force, his first novel in nearly half a century: a savagely satiric, gleefully irreverent, rollicking fictional meditation on how power and greed can corrupt the soul of a nation. In an imaginary Nigeria, a cunning entrepreneur is selling body parts stolen from Dr. Menka's hospital for use in ritualistic practices. Dr. Menka shares the grisly news with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer, and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne. The life of every party, Duyole is about to assume a prestigious post at the United Nations in New York, but it now seems that someone is deter­mined that he not make it there. And neither Dr. Menka nor Duyole knows why, or how close the enemy is, or how powerful. Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth is at once a literary hoot, a crafty whodunit, and a scathing indictment of political and social corrup­tion. It is a stirring call to arms against the abuse of power from one of our fiercest political activists, who also happens to be a global literary giant.

A Novel

"In an unnamed country in Africa, Ofeyi writes propaganda jingles for the National Cocoa Corporation. As a part of his job, he is sent to Aiyeru, a small coastal village whose geographic landscape has largely kept the village insulated from the government and its corruption, to promote the company. Here, Ofeyi witnesses a traditional way of life and values that run counter to their country; this creates an inner shift. In a challenge against the government, Ofeyi soon finds that the revolution may be too difficult to control"--

Season of Anomy

Describes a group of young Nigerian intellectuals trying to do something worthwhile with their lives in a society ruled by corruption, cynicism, social climbing and conformity.

The Interpreters

This is one of the best-known plays by Africa's major dramatist, Wole Soyinka. How the Lion hunts the Jewel is the theme of this ribald comedy.

The Lion and the Jewel

Much to Doctor Menka's horror, a shady but well organised consortium converting body parts to unconventional use is operating out of his hospital. Already at the end of his tether form the horrors he routinely sees in surgery, he shares this latest dvelopment with his oldest college friend, bon viveur, star engineer and Yoruba royal, Duyole Pitan-Payne, who has never before met a puzzle he couldn't solve. Neither realises how close the enemy is, nor how powerful.

Ellah Wakatama Allfrey

The Hay Festival brings its 39 Project to Port Harcourt, Nigeria, to identify the most promising writing talents under the age of 40 from Sub-Saharan Africa and its diaspora. From the list of 39 writers chosen by the judges, editor Allfrey has selected stories, extracts from novels, and other writings, many never before published, to create a collection of some of the most varied and exciting new work in world literature.

new writing from Africa South of the Sahara

Africa39

Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka

The Man Died

Soyinka Wole

Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka

The five plays in this collection are linked by their concern with the spiritual and the social, with belief and ritual as integrating forces for social cohesion.--

Collected Plays: A dance of the forests. The swamp dwellers. The strong breed. The road. The Bacchae of Euripides

A member of the unique generation of African writers and intellectuals who came of age in the last days of colonialism, Wole Soyinka has witnessed the promise of independence and lived through postcolonial failure. He deeply comprehends the pressing problems of Africa, and, an irrepressible essayist and a staunch critic of the oppressive boot, he unhesitatingly speaks out. In this magnificent new work, Soyinka offers a wide-ranging inquiry into Africa's culture, religion, history, imagination, and identity. He seeks to understand how the continent's history is entwined with the histories of others, while exploring Africa's truest assets: "its humanity, the quality and valuation of its own existence, and modes of managing its environment—both physical and intangible (which includes the spiritual)." Fully grasping the extent of Africa's most challenging issues, Soyinka nevertheless refuses defeatism. With eloquence he analyzes problems ranging from the meaning of the past to the threat of theocracy. He asks hard questions about racial attitudes, inter-ethnic and religious violence, the viability of nations whose boundaries were laid out by outsiders, African identity on the continent and among displaced Africans, and more. Soyinka's exploration of Africa relocates the continent in the reader's imagination and maps a course toward an African future of peace and affirmation.

Of Africa

A Play of Giants

A Dance of the Forests (Three Crowns)

a Memoir 1946-1965

Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years

La gran novela de Wole Soyinka, el primer africano y primer escritor de raza negra en lograr el premio Nobel de Literatura, tras casi cincuenta años sin publicar ficción. «Soyinka es uno de los grandes de la actualidad.» Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie «De manera incuestionable, el autor más versátil y probablemente el mejor de África.» The New York Times Book Review «Una vez que has oído una voz como la suya, no vuelves a ver las cosas del mismo modo.» Toni Morrison Crónicas desde el país de la gente más feliz de la Tierra es una divertida y amarga sátira política sobre la corrupción en forma de novela de misterio. En una Nigeria imaginaria, pero muy parecida a la real, un grupo de pícaros, predicadores, emprendedores y políticos se ve inmerso en una trama sobre tráfico de miembros humanos robados de un hospital. El médico que desvela ese turbio negocio se lo cuenta a su íntimo amigo, el hombre de moda en el país, que está a punto de incorporarse a un puesto importante en las Naciones Unidas. Pero alguien parece dispuesto a defender el secreto y pronto queda claro que el enemigo es poderoso, y puede estar en cualquier lado. A la vez festín narrativo, historia de intriga y denuncia mordaz de la corrupción, esta novela, la primera de Soyinka en casi cincuenta años, es también un llamamiento conmovedor a movilizarse contra el abuso de poder. La crítica ha dicho: «Cáustica sátira política, relato de misterio, historia de conspiración... la nueva novela del Nobel nigeriano encierra una visión sarcástica y pesimista del poder. [...] Un libro que es una gran batalla, y leerlo es contemplar fascinado cómo Soyinka se da el gusto de meterse en ella.» Juan Gabriel Vásquez, El Cultural «Una pieza monumental, un fresco nadapiadoso de la Nigeria actual que bien puede convertirse en retrato universal de la violencia, el extremismo religioso, el fanatismo, las supersticiones y la utilización del pueblo para fines más ligados a la corrupción que al desarrollo. [...] El humor que destila va quedando congelado en la retina.» Berna González Harbou, El País «El de Soyinka en estas páginas es un territorio fingido, pero febrilmente real. Y lo cuenta con una ironía casi festiva, con una sátira de cierta amargura. [...] Este libro es un mapa de la Nigeria actual, con todo el pasado asomando.» Antonio Lucas, El Mundo «[La novela] le ha permitido acercarse, una vez más, al poder para retratarlo, evidenciar sus defectos y denunciar, siempre con el respaldo de la ironía como herramienta narrativa, los abusos que muchas veces se cometen amparándose en la democracia. [...] Y ese poder, además, pocas veces entiende lo que se le dice, sobre todo si el lenguaje es tan rico en matices, tan extraordinario y complejo como el de Soyinka.» Inés Martín Rodrigo, ABC Cultural «Un libro engalanado de humor para describir un país estremecido.» Javier Ors, La Razón «Por debajo del humor que desprende Soyinka hierve la rabia y la desgracia de que los intelectuales africanos estén condenados a contar la realidad de su tierra desde fuera.» RTVE «Un coloso de la literatura moderna.» Robert McFarlane «Si el espíritu de la democracia africana tiene voz y rostro, son los de Wole Soyinka.» Henry Louis Gates, The New York Times «¿Qué pasaría si Naipaul fuera un hombre feliz? ¿Y si Pritchett hubiera querido a sus padres? ¿Y si Nabokov hubiera nacido en un pueblecito nigeriano y hubiera decidido que la política no era indigna de él? No estoy eligiendo ni usando estos nombres en vano: el sitio de Wole Soyinka, novelista, dramaturgo, crítico y profesor nigeriano, está junto a ese grupo.» John Leonard, The New York Times.

Crónicas desde el país de la gente más feliz de la Tierra

From the first Black winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature—his debut novel about a group of young Nigerian intellectuals trying to come to grips with themselves and their changing country. First published in 1965. Friends since high school, the five young men at the heart of The Interpreters have returned to Lagos after studying abroad to embark on careers as a physician, a journalist, an engineer, a teacher, and an artist. As they navigate wild parties, affairs of the heart, philosophical debates, and professional dilemmas, they struggle to reconcile the cultural traditions and Western influences that have shaped them—and that still divide their country. Soyinka deftly weaves memories of the past through scenes of the present as the five friends move toward an uncertain future. The result is a vividly realized fictional world rendered in prose that pivots easily from satire to tragedy and manages to be both wildly funny and soaringly poetic.

Akiwande Oluwole Soyinka

The 1986 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature--the first African to be awarded the prize--writes a highly incisive and deeply affecting re-creation of colonial Nigeria based on a cache of letters he discovered after his father's death.

Ìsarà, a Voyage Around "Essay"

A collection of poems about human encounters and inhuman isolation, based on the African author's reflections on his imprisonment in Nigeria

Wole Soyinka

About

Books

Join the club