Africa’s first Nobel Prize for Literature was announced on October 16, 1986 – exactly 40 years ago.
Awarded to the eminent artist, Oluwole AKINwande Soyinka, the poet, playwright, essayist and global humanist, the announcement was a glorious moment for the continent of Africa and the global Black family as it was the very first time any African would win such a global acclaim in the field of humanities.
To commemorate the anniversary, various literary communes across the globe are staging events of different hues. Of note, Lagos and Rabat (Morocco) are staging two separate events:
Lagos: A themed press conference is holding from 10.30am at the Radisson Hotel, 42/44 Isaac John Street, GRA Ikeja, Lagos, to unveil the 8th edition of Timeless Memories: Elastic Effects of Wole Soyinka – an annual immersive exhibition project staged on the platform of the Lagos Book & Art Festival, LABAF, Nigeria’s longest running literary arts festival organised yearly by the Committee for Relevant Art, CORA.
Convenor of the conference, renowned archivist, Oludamola Adebowale, who conceived and designed the idea of the Timeless Memories, said the press parley was intentionally fixed for October 16 to “commemorate 40 years since Professor Wole Soyinka was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.”
Adebowale, also publisher of leading culture journal, ASIRI, said the conference would “celebrate four decades of a historic literary achievement and the enduring legacy of Wole Soyinka.”
At the conference, the details of the exhibition that would eventually hold during the LABAF, November 16-22 at the Freedom Park, Lagos Island, would be unveiled while the convenor and programme directors of the festival, would field questions from the media and select eminent members of the creative circuits, who have been invited to the conference.
Rabat: The Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco will stage a conference tagged, FORTY YEARS OF THE NOBEL PRIZE (40th Anniversary of Wole Soyinka’s Nobel Prize in Literature) at 1.30pm at the Academy’s office in Rabat. Designed as a global celebration, virtual participation is via zoom at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89591374101?pwd=QkWPYYUsekHHcduhlrmbIf0ldBzl41.1
ID: 895 9137 4101 | Code secret : 279281
Set against the backdrop of the formal launch of the “House of the Worlds of the Books”, which is established to ensure the lasting legacy of Rabat’s designation as UNESCO World Book Capital 2026, the event will be witnessed by “several Nobel Laureates, together with leading intellectuals, scientists, artists and writers from all five continents, to give this gathering an exceptional international dimension,” according to a statement by the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco.
The special guest of honour is the Nobel Prize winner himself, Wole Soyinka, who would be on ground for the celebration. He would be accompanied by his wife, and the novelist-medical doctor, Dr Wale Okediran, who is, however, attending in his capacity as the Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers Association, PAWA.
In its invitation to Soyinka, the Academy states in parts:
The Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco… wishes to take this opportunity to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded to you in 1986, a distinction that honoured not only your remarkable body of work, but also Africa and the enduring cause of intellectual freedom.
The presence of you and your wife will greatly enhance this occasion. For decades, your work and your public engagement have reminded the world that literature is not merely an art of the imagination but also a commitment to truth, a quest for justice and a school of freedom.
Through your exemplary life and career, you have demonstrated how the writer’s voice can remain a bulwark against arbitrariness and an indispensable force in safeguarding human dignity. The tribute that the Academy intends to pay to you on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of your Nobel Prize will also celebrate a body of work that, forty years after its consecration, continues to enlighten consciences and remind us that literature remains one of humanity’s highest expressions of freedom.
Your participation will help make this gathering — dedicated to intercultural dialogue, the circulation of knowledge and the celebration of books—an exceptional occasion, placed under the sign of the meeting of the world’s imaginaries, freedom of thought, justice and the fraternity of knowledge.
Please accept, dear Professor Wole Soyinka, the expression of our profound gratitude for agreeing to return to Morocco, a country with which you have long-standing ties and enduring intellectual friendships, where your readers, admirers and companions in thought eagerly await your return. Your presence will stand as a living testimony to what literature can accomplish in the service of human dignity.
As you will be the first Writer-in-Residence of the House of the Worlds of the Book, we would be grateful if you could let us know, at your convenience, the length of the stay you would wish to spend in Rabat, beginning on or after 10 October 2026.