Chancellor's Reading Club
2005 Selection
The Chancellor's Reading Club selection for 2005 is "The Lion and the Jewel," by Wole Soyinka.
About the Author
Wole Soyinka was born in 1934 in what is now Nigeria. He studied first at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and later at the University of Leeds in England. Interested from an early date in drama, he founded a theater group in 1960 and wrote several plays, including "The Lion and the Jewel."
An outspoken defender of human rights, Soyinka was arrested in 1967 and imprisoned for almost two years for his criticism of the civil war in Nigeria. Eventually freed after international protest, he has remained a vocal advocate for the rights of the oppressed.
In 1986 Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. (from "Wole Soyinka" at Nobelprize.org)
About the Selection
"The Lion and the Jewel" is one of Soyinka's first plays, produced in 1959 and published in 1963. The play
"is set in the Yoruba village of Ilunjinte. The main characters are Sidi (the Jewel), 'a true village bell' and Baroka (the Lion), the crafty and powerful Bale of the village, Lakunle, the young teacher, influenced by western ways, and Sadiku, the eldest of Baroka's wives. How the Lion hunts the Jewel is the theme of this ribald comedy." (from The Lion and the Jewel, Oxford University Press, 1963, rear cover)
Study Guides and Resources
Go to the Resources page for more information about Soyinka, his literary works, and Nigerian culture.