Wole Soyinka
History in Remedial Spin
Official Flyer  572kb

Wole Soyinka, lifelong human rights activist, educator, award winning playwright, poet, and author, has in his life been charged with treason for his literary works and been imprisoned without trial. While living under brutal and oppressive African regimes, Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, the first African given the honor, as one "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence". He dedicated his speech of acceptance to Nelson Mandela. A great deal of his writing has been concerned with the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it. Death and the King's Horsemen, Soyinka's most famous play, will grace London's Royal National Theatre this April and also in repertory at Oregon Shakespeare Festival from February 14 until July 5th.

A panel of UC San Diego faculty will participate in a human rights discussion specific to the continent of Africa directly following the keynote address, as well as a book signing with Mr. Soyinka, to take place in the Price Center Ballroom lobby.

    A Conversation with Wole Soyinka — Charlie Rose
     Aug 12, 2008 | Duration: 14 min

Thurgood Marshall College, in the last three years, sponsored artistic and political luminaries to UCSD (Nobel Laureate Poet Derek Walcott, NPR journalist Juan Williams, NAACP Chairperson Julian Bond, Little Rock 9's Dr. Terrence Roberts, Oscar nominated filmmaker Greg Nava, and the father of Chicano theatre Luis Valdez. Wole Soyinka's campus visit is the completion of the Eleanor Roosevelt/Marshall Colleges week long symposium on Human Rights & Global Citizenship last November.

Sponsors

Helen Edison Lecture Series, Thurgood Marshall College, Eleanor Roosevelt College, African American Studies Minor, Dean of Arts & Humanities, African and African-American Studies Research Project, Theatre & Dance Department, Third World Studies

Wole Soyinka
History in Remedial Spin

Wole Soyinka Biography

Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka (born 13 July 1934) is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. Some consider him Africa's most distinguished playwright, as he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, the first African so honored.

Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family, specifically, an Egba family in Abeokuta, Nigeria in 1934. He received a primary school education in Abeokuta and attended secondary school at Government College, Ibadan. He then studied at the University College, Ibadan (1952-1954) and the University of Leeds (1954-1957) from which he received an honours degree in English Literature. He worked as a play reader at the Royal Court Theatre in London before returning to Nigeria to study African drama. He taught in the Universities of Lagos, Ibadan, and Ife (becoming Professor of Comparative Literature there in 1975).

Soyinka has played an active role in Nigeria's political history. In 1967, during the Nigerian Civil War he was arrested by the Federal Government of General Yakubu Gowon and put in solitary confinement for his attempts at brokering a peace between the warring parties. While in prison he wrote poetry which was published in a collection titled Poems from Prison. He was released 22 months later after international attention was drawn to his imprisonment. His experiences in prison are recounted in his book The Man Died: Prison Notes.

He has been an outspoken critic of many Nigerian administrations, and of political tyrannies worldwide, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. A great deal of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". This activism has often exposed him to great personal risk, most notable during the government of the Nigerian dictator General Sani Abacha (1993-1998). During Abacha's dictatorship, Soyinka left the country on voluntary exile and has since been living abroad (mainly in the United States where he was a professor at Emory University in Atlanta). When civilian rule returned in 1999, Soyinka accepted an emeritus post at Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) on the condition that the university bar all former military officers from the position of chancellor. Soyinka is currently the Elias Ghanem Professor of Creative Writing at the English department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

In 2005, he became one of the spearheads of an alternative National conference - PRONACO.

Wole Soyinka
History in Remedial Spin

Map to Price Center Ballroom West

FROM THE NORTH: Exit Interstate 5 at LA JOLLA VILLAGE DRIVE and turn right into the right hand lane. Turn right at Villa La Jolla Drive to enter the UCSD campus. Proceed straight until you reach the Gilman Parking Structure, at the corner of Villa La Jolla Drive and Gilman Drive. Purchase a permit from the attendant and park in Gilman Parking Structure. Follow the pedestrian signage to the Price Center Ballroom West.

FROM THE SOUTH: Exit Interstate 5 at GILMAN DRIVE. Turn left and proceed for about 1.5 miles until you go under the overpass which brings you to the UCSD entrance. Proceed to Gilman Parking Structure, on the left, at the corner of Gilman Drive and La Jolla Drive. Purchase a permit from the attendant and park in Gilman Parking Structure. Follow the pedestrian signage to the Price Center Ballroom West.