“Wole Soyinka at 80: Royal African Society to host Nobel laureate
at The British Library”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, 10 April 2014
WHAT: Wole Soyinka at 80
WHEN: Thursday, 8 May 2014, 18:30-20:30
WHERE: British Library Conference Centre, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB
Wole Soyinka - leading Nigerian playwright, novelist, political activist and the first African
Nobel laureate - will join editor and critic Margaret Busby for a talk organised by The Royal
African Society at The British Library on Thursday, 8 May 2014.
Marking his 80th birthday and the publication of a new book, Crucible of the Ages: Essays in
Honour of Wole Soyinka at 80, Professor Soyinka will reflect on his large body of work and
the relationship between culture and politics, exploring how literature and the arts speak to
the contemporary African experience.
This event forms part of the Royal African Society’s literature programme, which includes
Africa Writes, an annual festival of African literature and books, which takes place at The
British Library from the 11-13th July 2014.
Dr Marion Wallace, the British Library’s Curator for African Studies, said:
‘It’s a great honour and privilege to welcome Professor Soyinka to the British Library. We
are very fortunate to be hosting one of Africa’s most distinguished writers, and the
evening promises to be unmissable. The event is also a wonderful prelude to Africa Writes
2014 and our forthcoming major exhibition, “West Africa: Cultures of the Word”, which
opens in October 2015.’
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For further information, publicity images and to arrange interviews, contact: Sheila Ruiz,
Royal African Society’s Programme Manager, on sheila.ruiz@soas.ac.uk or +44 203073 8337.
Follow us on Twitter (@RoyAfriSoc) and Facebook (facebook.com/AfricaWrites).
Suggested hashtag for this event #Soyinka80
Notes to Editors:
Royal African Society, 36 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD
E: ras@soas.ac.uk / T: 020 3073 8335
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1. Professor Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka, one of Africa’s foremost literary figures, was born in Ake, Abeokuta,
Western Nigeria in 1937. After gaining a degree in English Literature at the University of Leeds, Professor
Soyinka spent some time at the Royal Court Theatre in London as a play reader before returning to Nigeria to
study African drama and becoming a university lecturer. Soyinka has played an active role in Nigeria’s
turbulent political history, spending time imprisoned in solitary confinement for nearly two years (recounted in
his book The Man Died). His criticism of Nigerian governments has often exposed him to great personal risk
and resulted in periods of voluntary exile aboard, most notably in the United States. Soyinka’s work has won
international acclaim for his deployment of rich poetic language steeped in European mythology and the
Yoruba spiritual traditions of West Africa. Nigerian playwright, poet and novelist, Soyinka became the first
African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. In 2005, The Lumina Foundation established The Wole
Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. Inaugurated in 2006, the prize is awarded every other year rotating
between the genres of Drama, Poetry and Prose. The next edition of the prize will take place in Lagos, Nigeria
on Saturday, 3 May 2014. W: www.luminafoundationsoyinkaprize.com
2. Margaret Busby OBE is an award-winning writer, editor, critic and broadcaster. She was co-founder and
editorial director of the London-based publishing company Allison & Busby Limited, and later the editorial
director of Earthscan Publications. Editor of the pioneering volume Daughters of Africa: An International
Anthology of Words and Writing by Women of African Descent (1992), Margaret Busby has contributed to
many other publications, as well as writing drama for BBC radio and the stage. Busby is an ardent campaigner
for diversity in publishing and is currently patron of Independent Black Publishers (IBP) and a member of the
Arts Council’s Diversity in Publishing steering group. Busby has also served as judge for many literary awards
including The Caine Prize for African Writing and The Orange Prize for Fiction.
3. Crucible of the Ages: Essays in Honour of Wole Soyinka at 80 (Ayebia Clarke Publishers, UK) is a book of
essays edited by Ivor Agyeman-Duah and Dr Ogochukwu Promise with a foreword by the former SecretaryGeneral of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku. The most extensive work on Soyinka to date, the 350page compendium features essays from three African leaders - President John Mahama of Ghana, former
President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki and King of Asante-Osei Tutu II - as well as Nobel Laureates Toni
Morrison, Nadine Gordimer, Derek Walcott and numerous novelists, playwrights and distinguished scholars
including Ama Ata Aidoo, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Margaret Busby
and others.
4. Africa Writes is London’s only annual festival of African Literature run by the Royal African Society and
inaugurated in 2012. Africa Writes 2014 is being held in partnership with the British Library, from Friday 11 to
Sunday 13 July 2014. The final festival programme will be announced at the end of May. W:
www.africawrites.org
6. The Royal African Society is a membership organisation that fosters a better understanding of Africa in the
UK and throughout the world. Our goal is to promote Africa globally in the spheres of business, politics,
academia, arts and culture. W: www.royalafricansociety.org
7. The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research
libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific
communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research
collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items
representing every age of written civilisation and includes books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music,
patents, photographs, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. Up to 10 million
people visit the British Library website every year where they can view up to 4 million digitised collection items
and over 40 million pages. W: www.bl.uk
Royal African Society, 36 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PD
E: ras@soas.ac.uk / T: 020 3073 8335
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