Ricardo Stuckert via Instagram @ricardostuckert

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has shared photographs of his meeting with Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka during the Nigerian President’s state visit to Brazil. In the photo, President Lula is holding a newly translated edition of Soyinka’s Myth, Literature and the African World, a landmark work of African criticism known for its dense, challenging style.

In an Instagram post, Lula wrote:

“Hoje recebi o presidente da Nigéria e tive também o prazer de encontrar o grande escritor Wole Soyinka, primeiro africano a ganhar o Prêmio Nobel de Literatura. Uma honra celebrar juntos a força da cultura e dos laços entre Brasil e África. ✨”

(“Today I received the President of Nigeria and also had the pleasure of meeting with the great writer Wole Soyinka, first African to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. An honor to celebrate together the strength of culture and the ties between Brazil and Africa. ✨”)

The Brazilian edition of Soyinka’s classic work that the Brazilian president is holding is titled Mito, literatura e o mundo africano and was recently published in Portuguese by Zahar in October 2024 as part of its Biblioteca Africana series. This is the first Brazilian edition and may also be the first translation of the book into Portuguese.

Soyinka’s writing has a reputation for being difficult. His language often turns poetic even when he is stating something simple. Myth, Literature and the African World, published in 1976, is perhaps the prime example of this dense, allusive style. The book rethinks the evolution of African literature through the figure of Ogun, drawing on Yoruba history and cosmology while weaving in Greek mythology, European philosophers from Nietzsche to Carl Jung, and the ideas of the Négritude movement. Over the decades, it has become a global classic, informing the study of Black literatures worldwide. The Brazilian president is in for a treat, if he has a taste for meaty books filled with mythic, historical, and poetic flows that demand a patient reader.

Nigeria’s culture minister, Hannatu Musawa, explained on Instagram that the trip was about building new ties with Brazil in areas like farming, renewable energy, and the creative industries. Earlier this year, the two countries signed their first audiovisual co-production agreement. The visit was also a chance to push cultural diplomacy further, opening space for exchange and collaboration between Nigerian and Brazilian artists.