Wole Soyinka: Celebrating a literary icon as he adds another year

Professor Wole Soyinka is a literary icon whose works have gained him recognition for decades. He is the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. The achievements of the playwright, poet and essayist have spread across nations in the world.

Early years

He was born on July 13, 1954 and recently clocked 88 years on earth. He attended Government College, Ibadan, Oyo State and University College, Ibadan. Thereafter, he attended University of Leeds in England.

Books

He is the author of The Lion and the Jewel, Kongi’s Harvest, The Trials of Brother Jero, The Man Died, The Interpreters, Ake: The Years of Childhood, You Must Set Forth at Dawn.

The pride of Ogun state

Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun, praised the literary icon on his 88^th birthday. He said, “Ogun is proud to have a son who studied a language; began to teach the owners of the language the language; and invented words for the language, which the owners of the language have never heard of. And now, it has become regular lexicon of their language.

“Professor Wole Soyinka, an emeritus Professor of Comparative Literature and the Black race’s first Nobel Laureate in the Arts of Beautiful Letter (Literature) means many things to different people. he literary world and the academia celebrates him as Kongi, the wordsmith.

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“To the dictators and enemies of democracy, he is a fiery civil fighter. To lovers of democracy, he represents the best in the promotion of people’s rights and good governance. He is a leader, mentor, hunter and connoisseur of best brewed wine to his buddies.”

Quotes

Soyinka is famous for his choice of words. Some of his popular quotes are as follows.

“Art is solace; art is vision and when I pick up a literary work, I am a consumer of literature for its own sake.”

“Before you are a writer, you are a citizen, a human being and therefore the weapons of the citizen are at your disposal to use or not use.”

“Books and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth.”

“A tiger does not shout its tigritude; it acts.”

“The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.”

Soyinka has paid his dues in the art world. His impact has been felt and he will always be remembered as an icon of literature.