Ben Okri
15 March 1959 – present
Ben Okri is a Nigerian-born British poet and novelist whose fiction blends realist narrative with myth and dream. He won the Booker Prize in 1991 for The Famished Road, the first volume of a trilogy narrated by a spirit child, and has since published novels, poetry collections and essays. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2001.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Ben Okri.
- Ada Yonath (1939–2026) Overlapped 67 years →
- Adonis (1930–present) Overlapped 67 years →
- Ai Weiwei (1957–present) Overlapped 67 years →
- Akira Yoshino (1948–present) Overlapped 67 years →
- Alex Ferguson (1941–present) Overlapped 67 years →
- Ali Khamenei (1939–2026) Overlapped 67 years →
Life events
Ben Okri was born in central Nigeria to Urhobo parents.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHis family moved to London while his father studied law, and he spent his early years there.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe family went back to Nigeria during the period of the civil war.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe took up a grant to read comparative literature at Essex.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHis debut novel appeared while he was in his early twenties.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe worked as poetry editor and broadcast for the BBC World Service during the 1980s.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe novel introduced the spirit-child narrator Azaro and opened a trilogy.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe Famished Road received the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1991.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature.
Source: en.wikipedia.org