Ben Okri in conversation

Wednesday 18th October, 7pm, The Poly  Tickets: £8 and £5

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Ben Okri is a Nigerian-born British poet, novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, and activist whose writing challenges perceptions of reality.

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The celebrated author of over a dozen novels, in 1991 he won the Booker Prize for The Famished Road, a book that has been highly influential in the decades since its release.

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His new collection Tiger Work sees him at the height of his powers, turning his cultural activism to the subject of climate change: if we continue to live as we do now, he argues, there will be no world left for us to fix. Combining fiction, essay and poetry, Tiger Work showcases Okri's classic blend of storytelling, fantasy and magic and makes a case for the importance of writers in shaping our responses to the climate crisis.

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What they say:​

'Ben Okri is that rare thing, a literary and social visionary, a writer for whom all three - literature, culture and vision - are profoundly interwoven' Ali Smith
'Okri's rhythmic, folk tale-like prose is beguiling.' Sunday Times 
'Okri's otherworldly literary approach has produced masterpieces.' Independent on Sunday
'Okri's writing has a light-as-air elegance, yet its seriousness keeps the stories gravity-bound.' New Statesman
Approaches the potential cataclysm of climate change from many perspectives in this multi-genre collection, which isboth a work of lyrical imagination and a warning about the dangers we will face unless we take immediate action.' New Yorker

 

About Ben Okri:

Ben Okri was born in Minna, Nigeria. His childhood was divided between Nigeria, where he saw first-hand the consequences of war, and London. He has won many awards over the years, including the Booker Prize for Fiction, and is also an acclaimed essayist, playwright, and poet. In 2019 Astonishing the Gods was named as one of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'.

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