Wole Soyinka
Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Babatunde Soyinkais a Nigerian playwright and poet. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first African to be honored in that category...
NationalityNigerian
ProfessionPlaywright
Date of Birth13 July 1934
CityAbeokuta, Nigeria
CountryNigeria
access applied attached den home idyllic period unless weeks
An idyllic period of my existence was when I had a den attached to my home... a writing den, and no one had access to that unless they had their own special visa, applied for weeks in advance.
home return
It's the place to begin, always -- to return to home, literally.
home men race
There is only one home to the life of a river-mussel; there is only one home to the life of a tortoise; there is only one shell to the soul of man: there is only one world to the spirit of our race. If that world leaves its course and smashes on boulders of the great void, whose world will give us shelter?
impossible moments pursuing question whether wondered
It's been difficult, and without a question I've had moments when I just wondered whether we're not really pursuing an impossible ideal.
civic nigerian opportunity
an opportunity for Nigerian civic society, an opportunity for the Nigerian military, and an opportunity for the international community.
acted against constitution evidence
Obasanjo has acted sufficiently against the constitution to warrant his impeachment. There is more than enough evidence to warrant his impeachment.
crossed line mockery moving political president total towards
We are moving towards a total mockery of constitutionalism. The president has crossed the line of political toleration.
The Lagos of my childhood was a well-laid-out maritime city.
peace whenever
I like my peace and quiet whenever I can grab it.
figure symbolic
Seven is the magic figure, because that's a symbolic figure of my favorite deity, Ogun.
cannot
All religions accept that there is something called 'criminality.' And criminality cannot be excused by religious fervour.
constant female life maybe
Probably to me the greatest singer, female voice, is Billie Holiday. And one of the most moving for me, I don't know why - maybe it's nostalgia, maybe because my life is one of constant partying, whatever.
fragment human individual share shatter understand war
A war, with its attendant human suffering, must, when that evil is unavoidable, be made to fragment more than buildings: It must shatter the foundations of thought and re-create. Only in this way does every individual share in the cataclysm and understand the purpose of sacrifice.
A tiger does not shout its tigritude, it acts.