Ogun's Children: the literature and politics of Wole Soyinka since the Nobel

ONOOKOME OKOME (ed.), Ogun's Children: the literature and politics of Wole Soyinka since the Nobel. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press (pb US$29.95 - O 86543 667 3). 2004, 378 pp.

This collection of 24 essays on Soyinka's post-Nobel works has the great merit of giving a voice to 17 specialists of Anglophone drama from nine Federal and State Nigerian universities, besides studies emanating from South Africa and the US. Most essays are rather short, spanning eight to twelve pages, with the exception of two longer ones: that of Lindfors on Nigerian newspapers' account of the Rotimi-Soyinka controversy on theatre management, and of Udumukwu on the subject of nation in Ngugi and Soyinka.

The book, meant to mark Soyinka's sixtieth birthday celebrations, to be held at the national theatre, Lagos, in June 1994, presents Soyinka's literary works, his films, essays and cultural theories as a celebration of protest, with the post-Nobel works constituting a smooth, almost seamless transition from earlier ones. The choice of works studied offers a multifaceted approach to Soyinka's writing,...