Ben OKRI

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BEN OKRI:

The Nigerian-born poet and novelist Ben Okri was raised in London before returning to his native Nigeria in 1968. With the eruption of the Nigerian civil war, Okri fled the country for Britain once again armed with a grant from the Nigerian government to enable him to read Comparative Literature at Essex University, England.

He was poetry editor of the London-based West Africa magazine and broadcast regularly for the BBC World Service between 1983 and 1985. In 1991, Okri was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel The Famished Road (1991). Set in a Nigerian village, this is the first in a trilogy of novels that tell the story of Azaro, a spirit child.

Songs of Enchantment (1993) and Infinite Riches (1998) followed. Starbook (2007) is his latest work. He now lives in London and is scheduled to speak today about his work and about the contemporary British literary scene.