Wole Soyinka is a playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist born in Abeokuta, Nigeria in 1934.

He won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature with his debut novel, The Interpreters, becoming the first-ever African laureate. He has since won many other prizes such as the Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award in 2009 and the Anisfield-Wolf book Award, Lifetime Achievement in 2012.

A prominent political activist, Soyinka was imprisoned for nearly two years during the Nigerian Civil War and was later exiled. He continues to fight against government corruption and oppression worldwide.