EARLY SOYINKA

This book contains half a dozen essays on writings by Wole Soyinka composed prior to publication of his first books in 1963. These early works reveal his precocious talent as a writer of stories, dramas, essays, letters, humorous sketches and jokes, the argument being that they cannot be dismissed as juvenilia or immature scribblings for they already exhibit an impressive command of language as well as dexterous handling of techniques of characterization and plot construction. Later essays deal with formal aspects of the plays he published between 1963 and 1973 and his subsequent experience as a theater director at home and abroad. The book concludes with an examination of the mixed Nigerian response to his Nobel Prize for Literature. In this collection of witty and perceptive essays, Lindfors brings to the fore neglected dimensions of Soyinka s genius. At once trenchantly critical and eminently readable, the essays show Lindfors drawing on his expertise in several fields, grappling wi