WS: A Life in Full

WS: A Life in Full
Compiled & edited by Bankole Olayebi

This is a beautifully designed and produced picture biography of Wole Soyinka, published in honour of his 70th birthday in 2004. Soyinka, as a dramatist, poet, novelist, essayist, teacher, political activist and literary scholar, is perhaps Africa's most brilliant cultural ambassador and critic. He is a notable commentator on world affairs, and a Nobel laureate, being in 1986 the first African to win the Nobel Prize For Literature. In 2004, he delivered the BBC Reith lectures. His career as a creative artist began at the age of 23, when his first plays were performed in Ibadan and London. Since then, he has produced an extraordinary body of work: over two dozen plays, novels, autobiographies, hundreds of essays, collections of poetry, two films and an album of satirical songs.

Featuring some 600 photographs, dating from 1934 until the present day, from many sources close to home, the international press, and from individuals and institutions, the work traces the extraordinarily full life that Soyinka continues to lead. It considers him in the guises of the creative genius, activist, celebrity, ‘citizen of the world’ and as a man of many laurels. Pictorially, the work documents his life from his childhood, through his decades’ involvement in creative work and political turmoil, to his numerous public and personal engagements in later life. Many photos illustrate his life in the theatre and his plays, as well as the real dramas of his life: the time spent abroad, and his engagement in the political struggle for justice, often at the risk of his own life. The book includes examples of his creative achievements in the poetic medium, an extract from his Nobel lecture, and many photographs of his art collection. As a whole, the assemblage of photographs presents a fascinating mosaic of this multi-faceted personality, who is at once one of the most engaging individuals of our time, and one of Africa’s living legends.

For the special occasion of Soyinka’s 70th birthday and the publication of this book, fellow writers, colleagues, friends and family members from Nigeria and further afield were commissioned to write on various aspects of Soyinka and his life. These contextualise the photographs and provide space for creative reflection. Niyi Osundare is inspired to poetry, which is sprinkled throughout the book, and Soyinka’s first son, Olaokun Soyinka, contributes a personal account. There are further pieces or citations from Bola Ige, Abiola Irele, Femi Johnson, Okey Ndibe, Ulli Beier, Martin Banham, Ben Okri, Femi Osofisan, Justice Kayode Esho, Ngugi wa Thiongo and Nadine Gordimer. In the memorable final contribution, fellow Nigerian poet and scholar, Niyi Osundare, acclaims Soyinka as a generous, resilient and lucky man, in spite of the appalling circumstances he has had thrust upon him. He characterises him as a ‘rooted cosmopolitan’, and as being ’to Africa’s literature what Mandela is to its politics’.

Bankole Olayebi is publisher, writer and illustrator based in Ibadan, Nigeria, with a strong interest in literature and the arts, scholarship, film and photography. In the preparation of this book, he benefited from generous access to a multitude of archives and sources, assistance from Soyinka’s colleagues and friends. Most important of all, he received generous-spirited encouragement and assistance from Wole Soyinka himself, who has made a distinguished imprint on the book.

Cased edition
ISBN: 9782030414
269pp.
col.ill.pl.
2004 Bookcraft
£44.95

Paperback edition
ISBN: 9782030422
269pp.
col.ill.pl.
2004 Bookcraft
£28.95

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