In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Solomon Azumurana from the Department of English at the University of Lagos, whose research focuses on the comparative study of African and African American novels, gender studies with an emphasis on women’s creative writing, and the intersection of literary theories and fiction.

We dive into the debates surrounding Wole Soyinka’s 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, exploring the controversies that marked his historic win as the first African laureate. Dr. Azumurana sheds light on Soyinka’s play A Dance of the Forests, highlighted by the Swedish Academy during his Nobel ceremony, discussing its themes and significance. We also examine how the play’s dystopian portrayal of the past and present serves as a cautionary vision for the future. Finally, we explore Soyinka’s Nobel lecture, “The Past Must Address the Present,” where he critiques Western intellectual traditions for perpetuating racist ideologies, and discuss how his call to “sever that cord” of unjust traditions resonates with the dystopian themes in A Dance of the Forests.