Nigerian playwright and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka will read from his newly published memoir, "You Must Set Forth at Dawn" (Random House), during a Sept. 13 event sponsored by The Black Mountain Institute at UNLV. The reading, which is free and open to the public, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the auditorium of the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Natural History, located on the campus of UNLV. The reading will be followed by a book signing and reception.
Soyinka, former Elias Ghanem Chair in Creative Writing in UNLV's Department of English, left the post last year but remains a member of the board of advisors for the new Black Mountain Institute, which is directed by former UNLV president Dr. Carol C. Harter.
The first African to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature and a political activist of prodigious energies, Soyinka now follows his modern classic "Ake: The Years of Childhood" with an equally important chronicle of his turbulent life as an adult in (and in exile from) his beloved, beleaguered homeland.
In the tough, humane, and lyrical language that has typified his plays and novels, Soyinka captures the indomitable spirit of Nigeria itself by bringing to life the friends and family who bolstered and inspired him, and by describing the pioneering theater works that defied censure and tradition.
Soyinka not only recounts his exile and the terrible reign of General Sani Abacha, but shares vivid memories and playful anecdotes-including his improbable friendship with a prominent Nigerian businessman and the time he smuggled a frozen wildcat into America so that his students could experience a proper Nigerian barbecue.
More than a major figure in the world of literature, Wole Soyinka is a courageous voice for human rights, democracy, and freedom. "You Must Set Forth at Dawn" is an intimate chronicle of his thrilling public life, a meditation on justice and tyranny, and a mesmerizing testament to a ravaged yet hopeful land.
For more information about the event, please contact Amber Withycombe at 702-895-5542.
Founded in 2006, the Black Mountain Institute (BMI) is an international center dedicated to advancing literary and cross-cultural dialogue. Named after the long defunct Black Mountain College in North Carolina and Las Vegas' own Black Mountain, it is composed of the Forum on Contemporary Cultures (The Forum), the North American Network of Cities of Asylum (NANCA), and the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML). A center of excellence in modern letters, BMI provides an environment for thinkers and writers from all segments of global society to fight against entrenched perspectives, whatever their political or cultural source.
