Renowned playwright, novelist, essayist and poet Prof Wole Soyinka has revealed his preference for wine, stating that water only takes up space.
The Nobel laureate told CNN’s Larry Madowo in an interview which will be aired this weekend on Globacom-sponsored African Voices Playmakers that a good robust wine either sends one to sleep or inspires one to work.
Mr Madowo shared a snippet of the interview on Thursday on social media.
“Water just takes up space and you know and it belongs to other commodities. So, I am not keen on water. I avoid water as much as possible,” Soyinka said in response to a question about substituting water for wine during the interview.
“A good, robust wine either sends you to sleep right away or inspires you to work. You never know which way it (wine) will work.”
Reflecting on his literary journey and how advancement in technology has impacted his writing, Soyinka explained that he no longer writes on paper.
“I no longer can write on a piece of paper, except maybe scraps of poetry,” he said.
Soyinka, 90, also said he no longer tries to catch up with technology because “it gets too much” after some time.
“And the next thing, you have a machine which talks, and it talks back to you. I said shut up I am the one doing the writing, and then it’s attempting to correct me, what type of nonsense is that?” he asked.
Explaining how he gets inspired to write even at 90, the literary icon said, “I get my best ideas in isolation. And that isolation includes even being on a plane where nobody is talking to me. My space is total isolation.”
