   akinwande oluwole "wole" soyinka (yoruba:  oluwoÌ©lÃ© sÌ©Ã³yinkÃ¡, pronounced "shoyinka"; born 13 july 1934) is a nigerian playwright and poet. he was awarded the 1986 nobel prize in literature, the first african to be so honored. soyinka was born into a yoruba family in abeokuta. after study in nigeria and the uk, he worked with the royal court theatre in london. he went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in theatres and on radio. he took an active role in nigeria's political history and its struggle for independence from great britain. in 1965, he seized the western nigeria broadcasting service studio and broadcast a demand for the cancellation of the western nigeria regional elections. in 1967 during the nigerian civil war, he was arrested by the federal government of general yakubu gowon and put in solitary confinement for two years. soyinka has strongly criticised many nigerian military dictators, especially late general sanni abacha, as well as other political tyrannies, including the mugabe regime in zimbabwe. much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it". during the regime of general sani abacha (1993â98), soyinka escaped from nigeria via the "nadeco route" on a motorcycle. living abroad, mainly in the united states, he was a professor first at cornell university and then at emory university in atlanta, where in 1996 he was appointed robert w. woodruff professor of the arts. abacha proclaimed a death sentence against him "in absentia". with civilian rule restored to nigeria in 1999, soyinka returned to his nation. he has also taught at the universities of [[universi
1934_births 20th-century_Nigerian_writers 20th-century_dramatists_and_playwrights 20th-century_novelists 20th-century_philosophers 21st-century_Nigerian_writers 21st-century_dramatists_and_playwrights Academics_of_the_University_of_Oxford Alumni_of_the_University_of_Leeds Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_Federal_Republic_(Nigeria) Cornell_University_faculty Duke_University_faculty Emory_University_faculty English-language_writers Fellows_of_Churchill_College,_Cambridge Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Literature Former_Anglicans Government_College,_Ibadan_alumni Harvard_University_faculty Living_people Loyola_Marymount_University Nigerian_academics Nigerian_atheists Nigerian_dramatists_and_playwrights Nigerian_essayists Nigerian_expatriates_in_the_United_States Nigerian_novelists Nigerian_philosophers Nigerian_poets Nigerian_prisoners_and_detainees Nigerian_writers Nobel_laureates_in_Literature Obafemi_Awolowo_University_faculty People_from_Abeokuta Political_philosophers Prisoners_and_detainees_of_Nigeria Ransome-Kuti_family Recipients_of_Nigeria_Centenary_Awards University_of_Ibadan_alumni University_of_Lagos_faculty University_of_Nevada,_Las_Vegas_faculty Yale_University_faculty Yoruba_academics Yoruba_dramatists_and_playwrights Yoruba_philosophers Yoruba_poets Yoruba_writers