Order of Book Series
0

Wole Soyinka Books in Order

Wole Soyinka has written 30 books, published between 1963 and 2021. The first book is A Dance of the Forests (1963) and the newest is Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth (2021). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
30
Published
1963–2021
Pages on record
2,723 in 21 of 30 books
Reading time
45–68 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,723 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 21 of 30 titles with a page count on record.

See all 30 books in order Printable Wole Soyinka checklist
Photo of Wole Soyinka, author

Wole Soyinka - Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka, born 13 July 1934 - is a Nigerian writer, playwright and poet. His output runs to three novels, ten short story collections, seven poetry collections, twenty-five plays and five memoirs, plus two translated works and many articles for newspapers and periodicals. The 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature went to Soyinka for a wide cultural perspective and poetic overtones in fashioning the drama of existence. Born into an Anglican Yoruba family in Ake, Abeokuta, he took a preparatory education at Government College, Ibadan, and went on to University College Ibadan. The catalogue lists 30 titles from A Dance of the Forests (1963) to Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth (2021).

How many Wole Soyinka books are there?

Wole Soyinka has 30 books, released between 1963 and 2021.

Wole Soyinka Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 30 Wole Soyinka books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of A Dance of the Forests by Wole Soyinka (1963)
  2. Cover of Kongi's Harvest by Wole Soyinka (1965)
  3. Cover of Madmen and Specialists by Wole Soyinka (1971)
  4. Cover of The Man Died by Wole Soyinka (1972)
  5. Cover of A Shuttle in the Crypt by Wole Soyinka (1972)
  6. Cover of Camwood On The Leaves by Wole Soyinka (1973)
  7. Cover of Aké: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka (1981)
  8. Cover of Opera Wonyosi by Wole Soyinka (1981)
  9. Cover of A Play of Giants by Wole Soyinka (1984)
  10. Cover of Requiem For A Futurologist by Wole Soyinka (1985)
  11. Cover of Mandela's Earth by Wole Soyinka (1988)
  12. Cover of Ìsarà: A Voyage Around "Essay" by Wole Soyinka (1989)
  13. Cover of Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years:A Memoir: 1945 1965 by Wole Soyinka (1994)
  14. Cover of Early Poems by Wole Soyinka (1998)
  15. Cover of Beautification of Area Boy by Wole Soyinka (1999)
  16. Cover of Death and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka (2002)
  17. Cover of King Baabu: by Wole Soyinka (2002)
  1. 1
    A Dance of the Forests1963 · 89 pages · confirmed 1/4
    196389
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Interpreters1965 · confirmed 1/4
    1965–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Road1965 · 110 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1965110
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Kongi's Harvest1965 · 96 pages · confirmed 1/4
    196596
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Idanre and Other Poems1968 · confirmed 1/4
    1968–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Madmen and Specialists1971 · 118 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1971118
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Man Died1972 · 317 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1972317
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    A Shuttle in the Crypt1972 · 89 pages · confirmed 1/4
    197289
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Season of Anomy1973 · confirmed 1/4
    1973–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Camwood On The Leaves1973 · 44 pages · confirmed 1/4
    197344
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Bacchae of Euripides1973 · 97 pages · confirmed 1/4
    197397
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Aké: The Years of Childhood1981 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1981240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Opera Wonyosi1981 · 86 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198186
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    A Play of Giants1984 · 69 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198469
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Requiem For A Futurologist1985 · 56 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198556
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Childe internationale1987 · 26 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198726
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Mandela's Earth1988 · 70 pages · confirmed 1/4
    198870
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Ìsarà: A Voyage Around "Essay"1989 · 262 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1989262
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    From Zia, with love1992 · 101 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1992101
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Ibadan: The Penkelemes Years:A Memoir: 1945 19651994 · 382 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1994382
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Early Poems1998 · 179 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1998179
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Beautification of Area Boy1999 · 108 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1999108
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Death and the King's Horseman2002 · 77 pages · confirmed 1/4
    200277
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    King Baabu:2002 · 107 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2002107
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    Climate of Fear: The Quest for Dignity in a Dehumanized World2005 · confirmed 1/4
    2005–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    The Lion and the Jewel2005 · confirmed 1/4
    2005–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    Jero's Metamorphosis2005 · confirmed 1/4
    2005–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    You Must Set Forth at Dawn2006 · confirmed 1/4
    2006–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    African FolktalesPantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library #152016 · confirmed 2/4
    2016–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth2021 · confirmed 1/4
    2021–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Wole Soyinka books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library in order

1 book
  1. 15. African Folktales

Standalone books

29 books

29 Wole Soyinka titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Wole Soyinka books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 30 Wole Soyinka books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Wole Soyinka

Start with A Dance of the Forests (1963), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Wole Soyinka book?

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth (2021) is the newest Wole Soyinka book released so far.

Is there a new Wole Soyinka book coming?

No next Wole Soyinka book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Wole Soyinka has won

Wikidata records 5 awards for Wole Soyinka. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Golden Magnolia2023Won
  • Weilheim Literature Prize2006Won
  • Benson Medal1990Won
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1986Won
  • Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards1983Won

Wole Soyinka at a glance

Paused
No new Wole Soyinka title has appeared for 5 years. The last was published in 2021.
Release pace
Wole Soyinka books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
2,723 pages across the 21 of 30 books with a recorded length, a median of 97 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Wole Soyinka books, 7 of 30, were published in the 1980s.

What the Wole Soyinka books are about

17 of the 30 Wole Soyinka books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: drama is tagged on 7 of 17. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.