Crucible of the Ages: Essays in Honour of Wole Soyinka at 80
Ivor Agyeman-Duah & Ogochukwu Promise

About the Book

In a career springing nearly six decades, Wole Soyinka has come to symbolise different things to different people. In this extensive and kaleidoscopic anthology, with an insightful foreword by the former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a diverse selection of contributors take a look at the life and career of this multi-faceted icon of our times, a Nobel Laureate, human rights activist, actor, writer, teacher, musician, film maker, poet, politician, hunter, wine connoisseur, art collector, shadow architect as he celebrates this milestone birthday; while at the same time examining the literary and cultural history of West Africa from the 1950s to the present.

A truly unique compendium, the essayists include three African leaders, three Nobel Laureates, distinguished playwrights, novelists, literary critics, historians, academics and public policy practitioners from around the world.

Among the contributors are Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Nadine Gordimer, Margaret Busby, Nicholas Westcott, Toni Morrison, Ama Ata Aidoo, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Kwame Anthony Appiah, Ali Mazrui, Derek Walcott, Atukwei Okai, Cameron Duodu, Yemi Ogunbiyi, Toyin Falola, King of Asante, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, President of the Republic of Ghana, John Mahama and former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki.

"... a valuable publication that should stand the test of all intellectual rigours and, in the end, should be read by every African... It is, above all, a timely volume with majestic, priceless and supreme intellectual importance." - A.B. Assensoh PhD, Indiana University Professor Emeritus and Courtesy Professor of History, University of Oregon-Eugene, USA

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