Six essays on writings by Wole Soyinka composed prior to the publication of his first books in 1963. These early works reveal his precocious talent as a writer of stories, dramas, essays, letters, humorous sketches and jokes, the argument being that they cannot be dismissed as juvenilia or immature scribblings for they already exhibit an impressive command of language as well as dexterous handling of techniques of characterisation and plot construction. Concludes with an examination of the mixed Nigerian response to his Nobel Prize for Literature.