VIDEO: Ben Okri

BEN OKRI

<p>Ben Okri @ 5x15 from 5x15 on Vimeo.</p>

Ben Okri talks about poetry, words and what they mean to him.

Ben Okri is a Nigerian poet and novelist considered one of the finest African writers within the postcolonial tradition. In 1991 he was awarded the Booker prize for his novel The Famished Road, the first in a trilogy of novels. Other recent fiction includes Astonishing the Gods (1995) and Dangerous Love (1996), which was awarded the Premio Palmi (Italy) in 2000. His latest novels are In Arcadia (2002) and Starbook (2007). A collection of poems, An African Elegy, was published in 1992, and an epic poem, Mental Flight, in 1999. He published a collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, in 1997. Ben is a Vice-President of the English Centre of International PEN, a member of the board of the Royal National Theatre, and was awarded an OBE in 2001. In 2009 he published Tales of Freedom bringing together poetry and story. His latest book is Wild, his first collection of poetry in more than a decade.

__________________________

 

Ben Okri on his

'difficult apprenticeship'

In CNN's African Voices, the Booker Prize winning author of 'The Famished Road', Ben Okri, reminisces about his time sleeping rough on the streets of London, unable to finish university, hungry and seeking the warmth of back doors to crouch in. It was difficult getting food and shelter, but "you could always get books" so he did a lot of intense reading because, "By then, I'd already become infected by the creative dream." He got to see London from "a most heartbreaking perspective". Looking back, the celebrated author reflects that his mother would have been horrified to know her son went through low times. However, "If she were here, I'd like to say to her: it was a good thing. It was a good thing."

"It is not important for me as a writer that you leave a piece of writing of mine with either an agreement or even a resonance with what I have said... The best writing is not about the writer, the best writing is absolutely not about the writer, it's about us, it's about the reader." 

Posted by 

>via: http://wordsbody.blogspot.com/2011/06/ben-okri-on-his-difficult.html