Acclaimed Playwright Dr. Wole Soyinka Speaks at Bowie State Wednesday, Apr 4th
Dr. Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, will open the 2007 Spring Arts Festival on Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at 2 pm with a free lecture on the roots of conflict in Africa, its complexities and the future of the continent.
Professor Soyinka’s visit provides a rare opportunity to interact with the Nobel Laureate. The Nigerian-born playwright is also an active essayist, poet, novelist and theatre director. He writes mainly in English, but his works are distinguished by their exploration of "the African world view and are steeped in Yoruba mythology, imagery and dramatic idioms."
From 1967 to 1969 during the Nigerian Civil War, he was imprisoned, mostly in solitary confinement; from this experience emerged "The Man Died." "Ake," his childhood biography, is an acclaimed classic. "You Must Set Forth at Dawn," his adult memoirs, is a heroic saga as well as a compendium of Nigerian history. "Death and the King’s Horseman," a literary masterpiece, explores the cosmic realms of Yoruba tragedy, was given a notable production at Washington Shakespeare Theatre in February, 2006. Other plays include "The Bacchae of Euripides," adapted from Euripides’ classic "The Bacchae;" "Opera Wonyosi, adapted from Brecht’s "Threepenny Opera;" and "King Baabu," adapted from Alfred Jarry’s "Ubu Roi."
Admission is free. For additional information contact [email protected] or call 301 860-3670. The lecture is being held at Bowie State University, in the Martin Luther King Jr. Communications Arts Building – Myers Auditorium, Bowie, MD. For directions, visit http://www.bowiestate.edu
