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Wole Soyinka, the 1986 Nobel Laureate for Literature, will address graduates of the College of Dental Medicine at its commencement. The ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 18 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Columbia University Medical Center Garden on Fort Washington Avenue; the entrance is between West 165 and 168 Streets.
Soynika has published more than 30 works and is active in a number of human rights organizations. Born in Western Nigeria into the Yoruba tribe and educated in Ibadan, Nigeria, Soynika continued his studies at the University of Leeds, England, earning an honors degree in English. After graduating, he joined the Royal Court Theatre in London as a play reader. In 1960, he was awarded a Rockefeller grant and returned to Nigeria, where he founded two theater companies.
He is best known for his plays, such as The Swamp Dwellers and The Lion and the Jewel, and novels, including The Interpreters, Season of Anomy, and the memoir You Must Set Forth at Dawn. But Soyinka also has written a number of essays and other writings that cover political themes. He is currently professor emeritus in comparative literature at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria and the Alphonse Fletcher Fellow at the Dubois Institute at Harvard University.
For additional information, contact Melissa Welsh by email at mmw7@columbia.edu or by phone at (212) 305-6881. |
