The first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1986, Soyinka spoke before an audience of more than 150 people filling a Penn Museum auditorium and many more online in the streamed, hybrid event on March 22.<\/p>\n
Interim President Wendell Pritchett said the study of Africa \u201cis fundamentally important to understanding the world we live in and the planet we hope to nurture and protect\u201d and \u201cis relevant to every facet of contemporary life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis inaugural Distinguished Lecture in African Studies sets our course at Penn for greater attention and deeper integration of Africa, its peoples, cultures, climate, and contributions in our own outlook and understanding,\u201d Pritchett said.<\/p>\n
Camille Z. Charles, professor of sociology, Africana studies, and education, said in an introduction that the annual lecture will highlight \u201cthe most important voices and scholarship in African studies today\u201d and that she could think of \u201cno greater voice, no greater presence\u201d than Soyinka as the inaugural guest.<\/p>\n
From Nigeria, Soyinka has authored more than 40 works, including plays, novels, poetry, essays, and memoirs and is the recipient of numerous national and international honors. His latest novel, \u201cChronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth,\u201d was published in September. He is an emeritus professor at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; has taught at several universities in the United States and England; and has received several academic fellowships.<\/p>\n
Now 87, he lectures internationally and continues to play an active role with artistic, academic, and human rights organizations. During the lecture, he described his views on the complex history of the World Black and African Festival of the Arts and Culture (FESTAC), the next to be held May 23-29 in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Previous festivals were held in 1966, 1977, and 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
laywright, novelist, poet, and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka spoke about arts and culture in Africa as the inaugural guest for the Distinguished Lecture in African Studies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":3834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16],"tags":[7,30,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-3837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture","8":"category-news","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-culture","11":"tag-news"},"yoast_head":"\n