Wole Soyinka

Soyinka grew up in British-ruled Nigeria. His family was relatively well off; his father was an Anglican minister and the headmaster of a religious school, which meant the family had access to electricity and radio at home. Soyinka studied in Nigeria at a college affiliated with the University of London and relocated to England after graduation, where he pursued an advanced degree at the University of Leeds. The Lion and the Jewel was his second play, and its success allowed him to move to London. Over the next ten years, Soyinka continued to write plays and edit literary periodicals both in England in Nigeria. In the '60s, Soyinka became involved with politics. He was arrested several times and kept in prison for two years, and one of his books was banned in Nigeria. Soyinka wrote Death and the King's Horseman in 1975 during a time of exile from Nigeria, and it's become one of his most famous works. He has been married three times and has five children.