The works of the Nigerian author Wole Soyinka comprise 25 plays, ten essay collections, seven poetry collections, five memoirs, three novels, and two translated works. His first major plays were The Swamp Dwellers (1958) and The Lion and the Jewel (1959), both of which were performed in Ibadan, Nigeria. Soyinka's unpublished play The Invention (1957) was his first work to be produced at the Royal Court Theatre in 1959, where he worked as a play reader. His play A Dance of the Forests was written and first performed in 1960 as part of the national celebrations of the independence of Nigeria.

After Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu declared the independence of Biafra in 1966, Soyinka was arrested and accused of taking sides following his attempt to negotiate between the Nigerian government and the Biafra separatists. When the Nigerian Civil War ended, he was released in 1969 under amnesty. Madmen and Specialists (1970) was his first play after his release. His arrest and prison experiences were detailed in his first memoir, The Man Died: Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka (1972), which along Poems from Prison was written and smuggled out during his imprisonment. Soyinka has written three novels: The Interpreters (1965); Season of Anomy (1973), and Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth (2021). From 1960 to 1964, he was co-editor of Black Orpheus, and he later edited the literary magazine Transition and anthologies including Poems of Black Africa (1975). He has written two autobiographies: Aké: The Years of Childhood and You Must Set Forth at Dawn. A notable poet, he has written seven poetry collections, including Idanre and Other Poems and A Shuttle in the Crypt.

Soyinka's works often depicts Greek and Yoruba mythology, Christian ideology, Yoruba language and rituals. His influence extends to film and theatre. His plays Death and the King's Horseman and The Man Died have been adapted for stage and screen. He has received many accolades for his works, including the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, Benson Medal, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, and an extended list of honours and awards. In August 2014, he delivered a speech entitled "From Chibok with Love" to the World Humanist Congress in Oxford and was awarded the 2014 International Humanist Award.

Literature

Published plays Source: Three Short Plays: "The Swamp Dwellers", "The Trials of Brother Jero", "The Strong Breed" (1963). Ibadan, Nigeria: Mbari Publications. A Dance of the Forests (1963). London and New York: Oxford University Press/Three Crowns Books. The Lion and the Jewel (1963); London and New York: Oxford University Press/Three Crowns Books. The Road (1965); London and New York: Oxford University Press/Three Crowns Books. Kongi's Harvest (1967); London: Oxford University Press. Madmen and Specialists (1971); London: Eyre Methuen. ; 1972: New York: Hill and Wang. The Bacchae of Euripides: A Communion Rite (1973); London: Eyre Methuen. The Jero Plays (1972); London: Eyre Methuen. (Jero's Metamorphosis (1973). London: Eyre Methuen) Collected Plays, Volume I (1973). London and New York: Oxford University Press. (The Strong Breed (1973). ) Collected Plays, Volume II (1974). London: Oxford University Press. Death and the King's Horseman (1975). London: Eyre Methuen.

Other stage plays, revues, radio and TV plays Source: Unpublished plays are marked with a cross sign: + The Invention (1957). Royal Court Theatre, London. The House of Banigeji, Act 2 in Reflections by F. Ademola (1962). Lagos: African Universities Press. The Republican (1964) Before the Blackout (1965). Ibadan, Nigeria: Orisun Editions. My Father's Burden (6 August 1960). Western Nigerian TV. The Tortoise (18 December 1960). Nigerian Radio Times. Camwood on the Leaves (1973). London: Eyre Methuen. The Detainee (5 September 1965). BBC African Service.

Novels Source: The Interpreters (1965); London: Andre Deutsch. London: Heinemann: African Writers Series (1970). ; 1972: New York: Holmes and Meier. Season of Anomy (1973); London: Rex Collings. Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth (2021); Nigeria: BookCraft. ; New York: Pantheon Books. 2021: London: Bloomsbury Circus. 2023: Paris: Éditions du Seuil. ; La nave di Teseo, Italy.

Short stories Source: Unpublished stories are marked with a cross sign: + Keffi's Birthday Treat (1954). Nigerian Radio Times: Lagos, Nigeria. A Tale of Two Cities (1957). Gryphon; University of Leeds: Leeds. A Tale of Two Cities. (1958). New Nigerian Forum: London. Madame Etienne's Establishment (1957). Gryphon; University of Leeds. Oji River.

Non-fiction The Man Died: Prison Notes of Wole Soyinka (1972). London: Rex Collings. Myth, Literature, and the African World (1976). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Aké: The Years of Childhood (1981). London: Rex Collings. Ìsarà: A Voyage around "Essay" (1989). London: Methuen. Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years: a memoir 1945–1965 (1994). Ibadan, Nigeria: Spectrum Books. The Open Sore of a Continent: A Personal Narrative of the Nigerian Crisis (1996). New York: Oxford University Press:. The Burden of Memory, The Muse of Forgiveness. (1999). New York: Oxford University Press. Climate of Fear: The Quest for Dignity in a Dehumanized World (2005). New York: Random House. You Must Set Forth at Dawn (2006). New York: Random House. Harmattan Haze on an African Spring (2012).

Poetry collections Source: Idanre and Other Poems (1967). Methuen: London. ; 1968: Hill & Wang. Poems from Prison (1969). Rex Collings: London. A Shuttle in the Crypt (1972). London: Rex Collings. ; Eyre Methuen. ; 1987: New York: Hill & Wang. Mandela's Earth and Other Poems (1988). New York: Random House.

Essays and lectures Source: Cor, Teach (1959). University of Ibadan: Ibadan, Nigeria. Oga Look Properly (1960). Nigerian Radio Times: Lagos, Nigeria. The Old Boys' Dinner (1960). Nigerian Radio Times: Lagos, Nigeria. Paris, Wole Soyinka (1960). Nigerian Radio Times: Lagos, Nigeria. The Future of West African Writing (1960). The Horn: Ibadan, Nigeria. Of Power and Change (1966). African Statesman. The Writer in a Modern African State. L'Afrique Actuelle: Paris, France. Who Invented the Teenager?. (1965). The Drum: Lagos, Nigeria. Amos Tutuola on Stage (1963). University of Ibadan: Ibadan, Nigeria. Art, Dialogue, and Outrage: Essays on Literature and Culture (1993). New York: Pantheon Books. Climate of Fear: The Reith Lectures (2004). Reith lectures series. Ibadan, Nigeria: Bookcraft. Of Africa (2012). New Haven: Yale University Press. Beyond Aesthetics: Use, Abuse, and Dissonance in African Art Traditions (2019). New Haven: Yale University Press.

Translations Source: The Forest of a Thousand Daemons (1968). London: Nelson Publishers. (A translation of D. O. Fagunwa's Ògbójú Ọdẹ nínú Igbó Irúnmalẹ̀); 1969: New York: Humanities Press, Inc. In the Forest of Olodumare (2010). (A translation of D. O. Fagunwa's Igbó Olódùmarè.)

Film Blues for a Prodigal (1963) Kongi's Harvest (1973)

References

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