Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka is taking up a post as visiting professor at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
The 83-year-old playwright and author told students and journalists at the South African university at the weekend that being an itinerant teacher has become “a way of life” and that the benefit of encountering different cultures during his travels is that “one does not stagnate.”
Soyinka said he and his Johannesburg students might create a play together, as well as discuss history and international relations along with literature.
Soyinka drew laughter after saying: “What I don’t know, I’ll pretend that I know.”
The university says it hopes Soyinka’s periodic presence on campus will boost plans to set up a creative writing programme.
