# Nigerian Literature

> Nigerian literature spans centuries of oral and Ajami traditions in indigenous languages, a mid-20th-century first generation writing in English (Fagunwa, Tutuola, Ekwensi, Achebe, Soyinka), a post-independence and civil-war generation, and a contemporary cohort led by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Wole Soyinka became the first African Nobel laureate in Literature in 1986; full author profiles are indexed at [[notable-nigerian-authors]].

**Category:** Culture & Religion · **Updated:** 2026-07-26 19:36:35 · **Canonical:** https://nigeriastuff.org/a/nigerian-literature

## Key facts
- **Earliest written form:** Ajami (Arabic-script) Hausa literature, from the early 19th century
- **First internationally recognised novel:** Amos Tutuola, The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952)
- **Landmark first-generation novel:** Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (1958)
- **Nobel Prize in Literature:** Wole Soyinka, 1986 — first African laureate
- **Key literary institutions:** The Horn magazine, Black Orpheus review, Mbari Club (Ibadan, from the late 1950s)
- **Leading contemporary novelist:** Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Purple Hibiscus, 2003; Half of a Yellow Sun, 2006)
- **Related index:** [[notable-nigerian-authors]] (author profiles)

## Sources
- Development of the Nigerian Novel / Literature in English — Ojel Anidi (WordPress) (https://ojelanidi.wordpress.com/2021/09/14/development-of-the-nigerian-novel-literature-in-english-by-ojel-anidi%EF%BF%BC/)
- Chinua Achebe: Biography — Biography.com (A&E Television Networks) (https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/chinua-achebe)
- Wole Soyinka: Biography, Playwright, Activist, Nobel Prize Winner — Biography.com (A&E Television Networks) (https://www.biography.com/writer/wole-soyinka)
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Biography — GradeSaver (https://www.gradesaver.com/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie)

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