The undisputed god of African literature. OLUWOLE SOYINKA. THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNER IN African LITERATURE.

That awkward moment when you see that the thread is still a page long and you rush to book space only to realize that you don't have anything meaningful to contribute :-

Chris Abani
Ngugi wa Thiongo

FELA ANIKULAPO KUTI

OP don't go and write your own book o....u hear?

In Africa, by my evaluation, none for now. Go back and read works like Arrow of God, Things Fall Apart, No Longer At Ease and the recently written, There Was A Country.

He remains my best Nigerian ever and only second to Nelson Mandela in my ranking of African legendary personalities.

I also see Wole Soyinka as belonging to this class alongside very few other Nigerians and Africans.

Buhari›››››author of Ajala the Travellerv

iyke649:
All those shouting Wole Soyinka should go for a medical check up

U are the one that need to see a doctor.

iyke649:
All those shouting Wole Soyinka should go for a medical check up

Learn how to respect people's opinion on issues bro. People don't have to see things the way you do.

Chinua was a prolific writer no doubt about that..
to be frank,things fall apart and there was a country arent what just any writer will put together..Chinua,I doff my hat.
but for Noble Prize to be won by someone isnt an easy feat..so,I think soyinka, coetzee et all are better...

None

I see nobody

dapyd1:
You guys forget that we are talking about literature as an art, and using the word 'better' does not capture it.
Depending on the reader, critic or environment the criteria for measuring which writer is better will be entirely different.
Why do humans like putting people in a box by classifying them as better or worse.
We have had a horde of brilliant writers over the past century in the African continent, majority of whom even the OP has not read even if you spend every minute of your life reading.

The question is subjective and can only lead to arguments and counter-arguments.

My two cents though.

Take one beer for ma head

Top 5 African Authors of All Time
1. Chinua
Achebe
Chinua Achebe is
one of the best
African
authors who have
contributed a lot in
the field of African
literature. He was
born in 1930, and
schooled at the
University of Ibadan,
Nigeria. His first
groundbreaking
novel titled ‘Things
Fall Apart” was
published in 1958.
This novel made
Chinua Achebe very
popular and it was
then translated to
over 50 languages
due to its high
demand. Later, he
served as the
professor of David
and Marianna Fisher
University as well as
a professor of
African Studies at
the Brown
University in the
Providence, Rhode
Island. He died early
2013 at the age of
82 years old, in
Boston,
Massachusetts.
2. Wole
Soyinka
Wole Soyinka is also
one of the great
heroes in the list of
top and best African
authors who have
won great awards
and honours in the
world of literature.
He was born in
1934 in Nigeria and
he became the first
African author to be
awarded the Nobel
Prize award in
literature. Late
1950’s, he wrote his
very first important
play titled ‘A Dance
of the Forests’ that
satirizes a fledgling
nation by
highlighting that the
present days is no
longer a golden age
than was in the
past. In some cases,
his writing focuses
on the modern West
Africa in a style of
satire, but his belief
and serious intent
in the evils
fundamentals in the
practice of power
are common in his
present work.
3. Amos
Tutuola
Amos Tutuola was
born in 1920,
Abeokuta in
Western Nigeria and
died in 1997. He
was a self-taught
African author who
usually focused his
literature on the
Yoruba folk tales. He
became popular
after gaining the
world fame with his
best story ‘The Palm-
Wine Drunkard’ that
completed in 1946.
4. Camera
Laye
Camera Laye was
born in 1928 in
Kouroussa, Upper
Guinea and later
died in 1980. He
was the first African
author from
a French-
speaking African
country. His French
novel “L’Enfant noir”
made him one of
the best and
important novelists
from the French-
speaking country in
Africa.
5. Dinaw
Mengestu
Dinaw Mengestu
was also one of the
best African
authors who have
contributed greatly
in the field of
African literature. He
was born in 1978 in
Addis Ababa the
capital city of
Ethiopia. He moved
to the USA together
with his sister and
mother two years
after his birth, to
reunite with his
father who had previously fled the country during the Red Terror. He graduated from Georgetown University. So far, he has written two novels titled “The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears” which was established in 2007 and “How to Read the Air” established in 2010. He also recently received a MacArthur Foundation, usually known as “genius grant”.

Camara laye: l'enfant noir

Ferdinand Oyono:une
vie de boy

iyke649:
All those shouting Wole Soyinka should go for a medical check up

People don't have to have the same opinion as you for it to be valid. Soyinka does poems and drama majorly while Achebe is into prose. If we are gonna judge by the biggest award anyone can attain in Literature, we all know which one of them has won it and who hasn't. So my friend, learn to be accepting of other people's views.

Sweetcollins:
Chinua Achebe is not just a household name but a universal figure too...no one else

Outright rubbish !

iyke649:
All those shouting Wole Soyinka should go for a medical check up

No be small Medication dey need oh

Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo Otta

[quote author=iyke649 post=45354985]All those shouting Wole Soyinka should go for a medical check up [/quot
e]


Including those who considered him a better writter than Achebe and awarded him the Nobel Laurette for his workers i guess ?
Remember the decisioner makers were not stewed in tribal, sentimental, petty and chickish cloak like you.

In answer to the Op's question, the international decision-makers on global writters spoke in awarding the laurette to Wole Soyinka.

As far as am concerned, "The Famished Road" by Ben Okri puts him way above Achebe.

someone should please post a link where I can download African and international novels.

asha90:
Anambra born Chinua Achebe is Africa's best and equally the father of the modern African literature.

His works has been translated into over 150 languages across the world. No African has ever achieved this singular feat!

But not according to those world bodies who knew better than you. This is not a decision or question for myopic, archaic people. This is not like the 'award' of SAN a la Nigeria.

Bitterleafsoup:
Chris Abani
Ngugi wa Thiongo

Chris Abani? You're a joker.

Why not go and write your own book instead of comparing peoples book to know which is better. Chinue Achabe is a legend.

Elechi Amadi and Cyprian Ekwensi are in Achebe's class.

Even Flora Nwakpa should be in this category but it's hard to match Achebe because of how he cut across the genres.

If anyone should be close to Achebe it must be Cyprian Ekwensi.

asha90:
Anambra born Chinua Achebe is Africa's best and equally the father of modern African literature.

His works has been translated into over 150 languages across the world. No African has ever achieved this singular feat!

I don't like comparison. Was Chinua Achebe a Nobel laureate before he died? No.
So, don't tell me he is the best. Every writer has his/her own style of writing.

Lalastica is better than all those writers above jor.

Who else if not the noble laureate himself
UNCLE WOLE SOYINKA
THE LIVING LEGEND

iyke649:
All those shouting Wole Soyinka should go for a medical check up

y0ruba nah...always dragging feet with Igbos as if they are mate! SMH

nigeriancritic1:

Camara Laye (The Radiance of the King and African Child)
But "Things Fall Apart" is one of the top 100 books ever written by Man.

have you read Ngugi wa thiongo (weep not child)

T.M David-West a.k.a PrettySpicey ......she's goooooood!

Naija9090:


y0ruba nah...always dragging feet with Igbos as if they are mate! SMH

Shameless being.