October 16, 1986: Radical Nigerian playwright and novelist Wole Soyinka (left) becomes the first African author and the first black man to win the Nobel Literature Prize. Soyinka fashions the drama of existence in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones, “the Swedish Academy guardians of the literature award said in its citation to the 52-year old Yoruba from Western Nigeria. The $290,000 award to Soyinka comes after intensive pressure on the academy from literary circles to branch out from its traditional choice of European and American authors. Seen here with Djibrill Diallo and Anne Mungai in March 1997 in Nairobi.

Photo|Nation Syndication