The United States has revoked the visa of Nigerian author and playwright Wole Soyinka, who became the first African author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986.<\/p>\n
Speaking at Kongi\u2019s Harvest Gallery in Lagos on Tuesday, Soyinka read aloud from a notice he recently received from the local US consulate, asking him to arrive with his passport so that his visa could be nullified.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n \u201cBring your visa to the US Consulate General Lagos for physical cancellation. To schedule an appointment, please email \u2014 et cetera, et cetera \u2014 in advance of the appointment,\u201d Soyinka said, skimming the letter.<\/p>\n Closing his laptop, the\u00a0 author joked with the audience that he did not have time to fulfil the request.<\/p>\n \u201cI like people who have a sense of humour, and this is one of the most humorous sentences or requests I\u2019ve had of my life,\u201d Soyinka said.<\/p>\n \u201cWould any of you like to volunteer to take my place? Take it for me? I\u2019m a little bit busy and rushed.\u201d<\/p>\n Soyinka\u2019s visa was issued last year, under US President Joe Biden. But in the intervening time, a new president has taken office: Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has overseen a crackdown on immigration, and his administration has removed visas and green cards from individuals whom it sees as out of step with the Republican president\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n At Tuesday\u2019s event, Soyinka struck a bemused tone, though he indicated the visa revocation would prevent him from visiting the US for literary and cultural events.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to assure the consulate, the Americans there, that I\u2019m very content with the revocation of my visa,\u201d Soyinka said.<\/p>\n He also quipped about his past experiences writing about the Ugandan military leader Idi Amin. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s about time also to write a play about Donald Trump,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Soyinka is a towering figure in African literature, with a career that spans genres, from journalism to poetry to translation.<\/p>\n He is the author of several novels, including Season of Anomy and Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, as well as numerous short stories.<\/p>\n The 91-year-old author has also championed the fight against censorship. \u201cBooks and all forms of writing are terror to those who wish to suppress the truth,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n He has lectured on the subject in New York City for PEN America, a free speech nonprofit. As recently as 2021, he returned to the US to present scholar and former colleague Henry Louis Gates Jr with the nonprofit\u2019s Literary Service Award.<\/p>\n But Soyinka is not the first Nobel winner to see his US visa stripped away in the wake of Trump\u2019s return to office, despite the US president\u2019s own ambitions of earning the international prize.<\/p>\n Oscar Arias, a former president of Costa Rica and the winner of the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize, also found his visa cancelled in April.<\/p>\n Arias was previously honoured by the Nobel Committee for his efforts to end armed conflicts in Central American countries like Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala.<\/p>\n While the letter Arias received from the US government gave no reason for his visa\u2019s cancellation, the former president told NPR\u2019s Morning Edition radio show that officials indicated it was because of his ties to China.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring my second administration from 2006 to 2010, I established diplomatic relations with China, and that\u2019s because it has the second-largest economy in the world,\u201d Arias explained.<\/p>\n But, Arias added, he could not rule out the possibility that there were other reasons for his visa\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to imagine that my criticism of President Trump might have played a role,\u201d Arias told NPR. \u201cThe president has a personality that is not open to criticism or disagreements.\u201d<\/p>\n Soyinka likewise has a reputation for being outspoken, both about domestic politics in his native Nigeria and international affairs.<\/p>\n In 2017, he confirmed to the magazine The Atlantic that he had destroyed his US green card \u2014 his permanent residency permit \u2014 to protest Trump\u2019s first election in 2016.<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as Trump is in charge, if I absolutely have to visit the United States, I prefer to go in the queue for a regular visa with others,\u201d he told the magazine.<\/p>\n The point was, he explained, to show that he was \u201cno longer part of the society, not even as a resident\u201d.<\/p>\n In Tuesday\u2019s remarks, Soyinka emphasised he continues to have close friends in the US.<\/p>\n His work had long caused him to face persecution in Nigeria \u2014 though famously, during a stint in solitary confinement, he continued to write using toilet paper \u2014 and eventually, in the 1990s, he sought refuge in the US.<\/p>\n During his time in North America, he took up teaching posts at prestigious universities like Harvard, Yale and Emory.<\/p>\n The Trump administration, however, has pledged to revoke visas from individuals it deems to be a threat to its national security and foreign policy interests.<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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