Personalities
Ben Okri: fiction, poetry and work beyond the page
A profile of his documented literary forms, editorial experience and performance work.
What this record covers
Selected books, film and theatre work, public events and honours from 1991 to June 2023. Early publications, later books and exact institutional appointment dates require further research.
Position at the coverage date
Nigerian-born writer with documented literary and cross-media work; historical biographies do not establish every current appointment. [s1] [s2] [s3] [s4] [s5] [s6]
Record details
- Nigerian background
- Booker identifies Okri as born in Nigeria and describes his work as a poet, playwright and novelist. [s1]
- Literary study
- The Poetry Foundation records his study of comparative literature at Essex University in England. [s3]
- Editorial experience
- The Poetry Foundation identifies him as a former poetry editor of West Africa magazine. [s3]
- The Famished Road
- The Booker archive describes the prize-winning novel as set in postcolonial Nigeria and combining everyday experience with a spirit world. [s6]
- Creative process
- In the Booker interview, Okri discusses developing techniques to tell a story rooted in his African childhood. This is his account of his writing. [s4]
- Radio conversation
- BBC’s Cultural Frontline interviewed him about the impact of the Booker Prize and his writing process. [s5]
- Film and theatre
- Booker documents his screenplay for Peter Krüger’s N: The Madness of Reason and a stage adaptation of Camus. [s1]
- Public lectures
- CCCB records his participation in its literary debates, providing dated evidence of public speaking. [s2]
Sources & evidence
- [s1] thebookerprizes.com
- [s2] www.cccb.org
- [s3] www.poetryfoundation.org
- [s4] thebookerprizes.com
- [s5] www.bbc.co.uk
- [s6] thebookerprizes.com
Public update history
— Researched against the cited evidence and independently checked before publication. Coverage limits apply.
— Titles and explanatory text passed the copywriting and source-consistency checks. Sources and data are unchanged.