eGuerrilla:

It is unfair to characterise Soyinka as naive.
The man's virtues should not be mistaken for ignorance or weakness.

Ola Johnson:
Is this "local champiaon" not more popular than your berret wearing scout boy professor, whose "neice", Chimamda Adichie, rubbished the Nobel Laureate Prize because her uncle could not get it?

ngozievergreen:

Are u saying Soyinka is more popular than Achebe?
lwkmd.
I can confidently say u have not traveled out, Achebrs books are read by students worldwide, Soyinka is a local champion; but that's not what this topic is all abt, chill first

ngozievergreen:

Are u saying Soyinka is more popular than Achebe?
lwkmd.
I can confidently say u have not traveled out, Achebrs books are read by students worldwide, Soyinka is a local champion; but that's not what this topic is all abt, chill first

Ola Johnson:
Anumebe, did he also belittle himself when he stood against the Civil War to the extent this was viewed by the FG as tilting in support of Biafra? Indeed WS was right when he said our problem is "recurrent cycle of stupidity."

Gbawe:

Wole Soyinka a "local champion"? Are you not ashamed of yourself? A woman for that matter? I am always gracious to women because you nurture the world but I would not wish you on any man because it is clear bigotry has destroyed your soul. Never mind the 'enmity' that has taken over this forum, the fact is that Nigerians who know what matters would always have respect in their heart for what Achebe and Soyinka have achieved. They are distinguished masters of their craft and only hateful souls will fail to note or celebrate these two very special Nigerians who, ahead of the many looters you all come here to celebrate daily, are part of the greatest gift of Nigeria to the entire universe !!!!

Most African Nations do not have even one individual, in their entire history, they can compare to these two very great men and here we have ugly characters like you constituting yourself into a vile hater of your own fellow citizen you should ordinarily acknowledge and celebrate as some of the greatest men to live exactly as the rest of the world readily does with Soyinka and Achebe. I really pity people like you because there seems to be no limit to your hatred of others. Ask other Africans how they would even love decent understudy 'copies' to Achebe and Soyinka. Yet we have two masters !!! All folks like you can do is satisfy your hateful soul ahead of recognising morality, decency and even self-pride.

ngozievergreen:

Tell that to Omobola Johnson who derides the greatChinua Achebe

ngozievergreen:

Who asked him to sneak into Biafra before?
Chameleons.

And when exactly did he speak for MEND?

ngozievergreen:

Who asked him to sneak into Biafra before?
Chameleons.

And when exactly did he speak for MEND?

JMOI: Forget that old tribalist.

ndu_chucks:

Ode. The civil war has nothing to do with the shepopotamus thingy.

ngozievergreen:

Tell that to Omobola Johnson who derides the greatChinua Achebe

ngozievergreen:

Are u saying Soyinka is more popular than Achebe?
lwkmd.
I can confidently say u have not traveled out, Achebrs books are read by students worldwide, Soyinka is a local champion; but that's not what this topic is all abt, chill first

Some Final Thoughts:

Achebe has a strange position in the canon: he's simultaneously the best-known English-language writer from the African continent, but that knowledge tends to start and stop at a single novel. There's no doubt that Things Fall Apart was a milestone work, but celebration of that milestone has, curiously, dulled interest in his other works.

Though Achebe stopped writing novels after 1987, the range of his work is daunting: short stories, poetry, essays, plays, memoirs, ... even children's books. One good place to start is his collection of essays Hopes and Impediments (1988), an extended meditation on the relationship between Africa and its former colonizers, the lingering heritage of that colonization on history and culture, and the ways in which we might be able to move ahead. Achebe's famous Conrad essay is here, as is an essay on the American writer James Baldwin, who he admired and considered a friend. Achebe's Baldwin essay is especially good, a plea that, though the universe and our fellow species may give us constant reason for pessimism, we cannot give in to despair.

[size=18pt]From there, Achebe can - and should - lead us to other writers. First among them is his friend and fellow Nigerian author Wole Soyinka, a virtual unknown in this country despite having received the Nobel Prize for literature[/size]. In some respects this may be an inevitability of genre - Soyinka's focus has been more on poetry and theatre than prose, and neither makes one a household name in 21st century America - but he's highly worth the effort of seeking out (See Soyinka's statement on Achebe's passing.) If you're willing to stick with poetry, the work of the tragically short-lived Christopher Okigbo is also a must-read.

babyosisi: The truth is that Soyinka won the Nobel,a major feat but sadly it didn't win him the world wide acclaim that Chinua had.

read this, written by an American writer at the death of Achebe
That about summarizes it.
truth be told.
sad to read sha but it is what it is,the Nobel did not bring him fame.
a virtual unknown in the USA meanwhile Achebe's book things fall apart is known worldwide and is a required text here in the USA
read below
not my words
the part I highlighted in red must be painful for Soyinka to read.





http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/22/1196200/-RIP-Chinua-Achebe#

queenmeenat:

Nobel lauret is d WORLD CUP literature, if its as easy as dat and don't 4get dat Dele Olojede jst won dis years LNG award for literature. U can hate as u like bt its our natural endowment. Thanks

9jacrip:

It is normal for people to sing exaggerated eulogies on one's passing.
Wait till it's WS time and you'd be surprised how people will sing his acclaim.

cKaiser: Only an ignoramus would compare Soyinka a Nobel laureate to Achebe

tatiana009:

See how ungrateful you are. You keep repaying people with evil and then you go around crying that everyone hates you. Learn to at least acknowledge the good things people have done!

ngozievergreen:

Go and sit down, yorubas are chameleons and can never be trusted.

That's how Awolowo, after Ojukwu helped him get out of prison, supported Ojukwu's biafran ambition, only to go and join hands with the northerners because he was promised the presidential slot.
.
Even though Achebe took him as his friend and was happy for him when he won the Nobel, Achebe later died but what did Soyinka do?
-He started saying that Achebe is wrongly labelled the Father of Modern African Lit (I thought the Nobel prize was the best award? )
- He started insulting African Writers Series -of which Achebe headed, all because he,soyinka didn't qualify to join them.
- He didn't even attend the guy's burial.
.
And u are here telling me abt sneaking into Biafra.

You are a small girl and couldnt have been as wise as Prof Wole Soyinka hence your opinion does not count in his life. I only pray you will achieve a quarter of his success in your life time. But i can say you lack knowledge for saying Ojukwu (a regional head) helped Awolowo ( who was being imprisoned by Federal goverment) out of prison. Pls go and read about Nigeria law and constitution. You can read about hierachy of courts too.
Until the Igbo people learn how to appreciate others and know that no race or tribe is better than another but we have individual strengths in all the tribes that they will be free from the shackles of tribal bigotry.
Who knew what he was up to?
Presently, what is his stand with biafrans?

Ppl that speak from the sides of their mouths shd not be trusted.

babyosisi: The truth is that Soyinka won the Nobel,a major feat but sadly it didn't win him the world wide acclaim that Chinua had.

read this, written by an American writer at the death of Achebe
That about summarizes it.
truth be told.
sad to read sha but it is what it is,the Nobel did not bring him fame.
a virtual unknown in the USA meanwhile Achebe's book things fall apart is known worldwide and is a required text here in the USA
read below
not my words
the part I highlighted in red must be painful for Soyinka to read.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/03/22/1196200/-RIP-
Chinua-Achebe#

BluIvy:
Not to put water on your jive but what do Americans know outside their own little states? Ask one to show you where Nigeria is on the map, they would most likely point to the Sahara desert. And besides Achebe stayed and worked in US for a longtime it is only fair that they would know him better
than Soyinka. And like the fact that your quoted writer of the statement clearly said "an unknown in this country (US)" and last time I check US is not the world.

cKaiser: Only an ignoramus would compare Soyinka a Nobel laureate to Achebe

ngozievergreen: Soyinka is a local champion

ngozievergreen:

Go and sit down, yorubas are chameleons and can never be trusted.

That's how Awolowo, after Ojukwu helped him get out of prison, supported Ojukwu's biafran ambition, only to go and join hands with the northerners because he was promised the presidential slot.
.
Even though Achebe took him as his friend and was happy for him when he won the Nobel, Achebe later died but what did Soyinka do?
-He started saying that Achebe is wrongly labelled the Father of Modern African Lit (I thought the Nobel prize was the best award? )
- He started insulting African Writers Series -of which Achebe headed, all because he,soyinka didn't qualify to join them.
- He didn't even attend the guy's burial.
.
And u are here telling me abt sneaking into Biafra.
Who knew what he was up to?
Presently, what is his stand with biafrans?

Ppl that speak from the sides of their mouths shd not be trusted.

ngozievergreen:

When it is his time, it will be how it will be;
He won the Nobel prize, who the hell is disputing that, but at the end of the day, [b]Whenever African Literature comes up in a discussion its Achebe and not Soyinka[\b]
Soyinka is not popular aside yorubaland.
@ Gbawe, u said u didn't care when Ola was deriding Achebe, but u do care to hear that Soyinka is a local champion? I can see

9jacrip:

It is normal for people to sing exaggerated eulogies on one's passing.
Wait till it's WS time and you'd be surprised how people will sing his acclaim.
Between you make it seem like the award is not organized by these same western nations. Going by Wole's record of receiving honorary degrees from several universities and lecturing in diff schools in that same USA then...

BluIvy:
Not to put water on your jive but what do Americans know outside their own little states? Ask one to show you where Nigeria is on the map, they would most likely point to the Sahara desert. And besides Achebe stayed and worked in US for a longtime it is only fair that they would know him better
than Soyinka. And like the fact that your quoted writer of the statement clearly said "an unknown in this country (US)" and last time I check US is not the world.