The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) is concluding arrangements for its epic international conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Wole Soyinka’s The Man Died. The conference, with the theme, Literature in the Cause of Governance, 50 Years After Wole Soyinka’s The Man Died, will be supervised by an organising committee under the chairmanship of Prof Gbemisola Adeoti of the Department of English Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Nigeria. Major highlights of the events include, book readings, essay competitions for students, paper presentations, drama adaptations and anniversary banquet. The Man Died is a riveting account of the atrocities perpetrated by the military regime against the civil populace, in which the author was also a major victim – of solitary confinement without trial for 15 grueling months. During the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), Soyinka was arrested and incarcerated for 22 months, most of it spent in solitary confinement in a cell, 4ft by 8ft.

Source: The Guardian August 23, 2020 01:52 UTC