File:Ben_Okri_in_Tallinn.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Ben Okri
Sign in to saveNigerian-born British poet and novelist (1959-)
OverviewAI-generated
Ben Okri is a Nigerian and British writer, journalist, novelist, and author. Born in Minna in 1959, he is a member of the Urhobo people. His notable works include The Famished Road, Lunatics, lovers & poets, Concrete and Ink, Justice and Love, and Infinite Riches. He has written for TheGuardian.com and is recognized in the Booker Prize collection.
Okri received the Booker Prize, the Officer of the Order of the British Empire, and was made a Knight Bachelor. He is educated at the University of Essex and is a member of the Royal Society of Literature, PEN International, the Royal National Theatre, and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. His work is associated with the postmodernism genre and the field of performing arts. He is influenced by Francis Bacon, William Blake, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Synthesized by Vinony from 27 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, TMDb, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1959
- Works
- 91
Top works
- Lunatics, lovers & poets
- Concrete and Ink
- Justice and Love
- The Famished Road
- Infinite Riches
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
Minna, Nigeria
Known for
- Artsnight — Self - Presenter2015
- Great Railway Journeys — Self - Presenter1980
via TMDB
Key facts
- Born
- Ben Golden Emuobowho Okri , ( 1959-03-15 ) 15 March 1959 (age 67) , Minna , Nigeria
- Occupation
- Writer
- Nationality
- Nigeria, UK
- Alma mater
- University of Essex
- Genre
- Fiction, essays, poetry
- Literary movement
- Postmodernism , Postcolonialism
- Notable works
- The Famished Road (1991), A Way of Being Free (1997), Starbook (2007), A Time for New Dreams (2011)
- Notable awards
- Booker Prize 1991
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Ben
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Place of birth
- Minna
- Occupation
- poet
- Educated at
- University of Essex
- Languages spoken
- German
- Award
- Knight Bachelor
- Field of work
- performing arts
- Hair colour
- black hair
- Genre
- Postmodernism
- Image
- Ben Okri in Tallinn.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- date of birth
- 1959-03-15
- Commons category
- Ben Okri
- influenced by
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- P12674
- Gustav von Alvensleben
- ethnic group
- Urhobo people
- has written for
- TheGuardian.com
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Sir Ben Golden Emuobowho Okri OBE FRSL (born 15 March 1959) is a Nigerian-born British poet and novelist. Considered one of the foremost African authors in the postmodern and post-colonial traditions, Okri has been compared to authors such as Salman Rushdie and Gabriel García Márquez. In 1991, his novel The Famished Road won the Booker Prize. Okri was knighted at the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to literature.
Biography
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ben Okri” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.