Soyinka's road from Abeokuta to Stockholm, 40 years after his Nobel
An exhibition, a documentary and a comic book for young readers will mark four decades since Wole Soyinka became the first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Lagos — Forty years after Wole Soyinka became the first African writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, a Lagos project is retracing the journey that took him there, Premium Times reports.
"Ake to Stockholm" is the eighth edition of Timeless Memories: Elastic Effects of Wole Soyinka, an annual programme started in 2019 to explore the writer's life, work and ideas. The theme follows him from Ake, in Abeokuta, where he spent his early years, to the Swedish capital, where he received the prize in 1986.
What is planned
- An archival exhibition from 16 to 29 November at Kongi's Harvest Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos, with photographs, historical documents and visual stories about his literary journey and the Nobel.
- A short documentary built from archive material and recorded testimony.
- An illustrated comic book that tells his life and work for younger readers.
- A panel discussion, "From Nobel to Posterity: Archiving Wole Soyinka's Literary Legacy", hosted by the Section on Literary Archives of the International Council on Archives, on how to preserve his records and make them available to researchers.
- The Rebel Series (WS in 1986), an exhibition of work by the artist Adewale Kolawole John at Adegbola Gallery, imagining Soyinka around the time of the prize.
The programme is part of the 27th Lagos Book and Art Festival, in partnership with the Committee for Relevant Art.
The curator, Oludamola Adebowale, said the aim goes beyond celebrating the prize: it is to look at the experiences, influences and struggles that shaped Soyinka's road to world recognition, and to keep the record of his life within reach of new generations. Jahman Anikulapo is the project director.
Source: Premium Times, reporting by Ozaveshe Precious, 17 October 2026.
