Wole Soyinka's career as a writer of drama, poetry, memoirs, novels and essays is dominated by a fierce adherence to human rights and the value of the individual's experience. Throughout his career, Soyinka has retained a basic vision: the exposure of “man's inhumanity to man”; in several of his works, Soyinka presses beyond literary exposure of societal ills to promote change. He has done so through the theatre and lecturing, as well as through daring – some would argue reckless – personal intervention. The first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1986), Soyinka's work may be loosely divided into works of populism and more metaphysically-oriented writings. His reputation will rest, as the abundance of critical coverage attests, on the autobiography,

Aké: the Years of

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Citation: McLuckie, Craig. "Wole Soyinka". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 September 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4161, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4161 Wole Soyinka 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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