View source for Ben Okri

{{Short description|Nigerian writer (born 1959)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Redirect|Okri|the British singer|Natalie Okri|the human rights activist from Ivory Coast|Marie-Paule Djegue Okri}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| honorific-prefix = [[Sir]]
| name             = Ben Okri
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|OBE|FRSL|size=100%}}
| image            = Ben Okri in Tallinn.jpg
| caption          = 
| birth_name       = Ben Golden Emuobowho Okri
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1959|3|15}}
| birth_place      = [[Minna]], Nigeria
| occupation       = Writer
| alma_mater       = [[University of Essex]]
| movement         = [[Postmodern literature|Postmodernism]], [[postcolonial literature|Postcolonialism]]
| genre            = Fiction, essays, poetry
| notableworks     = ''[[The Famished Road]]'' (1991), ''A Way of Being Free'' (1997), ''[[Starbook]]'' (2007), ''A Time for New Dreams'' (2011)
| awards           = [[Booker Prize]] 1991
| website          = {{url|https://benokri.co.uk/}}
| nationality      = Nigeria<br>UK
}}

'''Sir Ben Golden Emuobowho Okri''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE|FRSL}} (born 15 March 1959) is a [[Nigerians|Nigerian]]-born British [[poet]] and [[novelist]].<ref name=britishcouncil>"[http://literature.britishcouncil.org/ben-okri Ben Okri"], British Council, ''Writers Directory''. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302145724/http://literature.britishcouncil.org/ben-okri |date=2 March 2012 }}.</ref> Considered one of the foremost African authors in the [[postmodern literature|postmodern]] and [[postcolonial literature|post-colonial]] traditions,<ref name=guardian-profile>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/12/benokri "Ben Okri"], Editors, ''The Guardian'', 22 July 2008.</ref><ref name=mo>{{cite web|first=Stefaan |last=Anrys|url=http://mo.be/node/22211 |title=Interview with Booker Prize laureate Ben Okri|website=Mondiaal Nieuws|date= 26 August 2009}}</ref> Okri has been compared to authors such as [[Salman Rushdie]] and [[Gabriel García Márquez]].<ref>Dorsman, Robert (2000), [http://nigeria.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=408&x=1 "Ben Okri"], ''Poetry International Web''. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116083112/http://nigeria.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=408&x=1 |date=16 January 2013 }}.</ref> In 1991, his novel ''[[The Famished Road]]'' won the [[Booker Prize]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ben Okri {{!}} The Booker Prizes |url=https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/authors/ben-okri |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=thebookerprizes.com |date=15 March 1959 |language=en}}</ref> Okri was knighted at the [[2023 Birthday Honours]] for services to literature.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/16/martin-amis-ian-mcewan-and-anna-wintour-honoured-in-kings-birthday-list|title=Martin Amis, Ian McEwan and Anna Wintour honoured in king's birthday list|newspaper=The Guardian|first=Caroline|last=Davies|date=16 June 2023}}</ref>

==Biography==
=== Early years and education ===
Ben Okri is a member of the [[Urhobo people]]; his father was Urhobo, and his mother was half-[[Igbo people|Igbo]] ("from [[Nigerian Chieftaincy|a royal family]]").<ref name=britishcouncil/><ref name=freespirit>{{Cite news|author-link=Maya Jaggi|first=Maya|last=Jaggi|date=10 August 2007|title=Free spirit|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/aug/11/fiction.benokri|access-date=2020-05-30|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> He was born in [[Minna]] in [[Geopolitical zones of Nigeria|west central Nigeria]] to Grace and Silver Okri in 1959.<ref name=freespirit /> His father, Silver, moved his family to [[London]], England, when Okri was less than two years old<ref name=mo/> so that he could study law.<ref>{{cite news|first=Juliet |last=Rix|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/26/ben-okri-family-values |title=Ben Okri: My family values|newspaper=The Guardian|date= 25 June 2010}}</ref> Okri thus spent his earliest years in London and attended primary school in [[Peckham]].<ref name=guardian-profile/> In 1966, Silver moved his family back to Nigeria,<ref name="BlackPast">{{cite web|url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/okri-ben-1959/|title=Ben Okri (1959–)|website=[[BlackPast]]|first=Paul |last=Frailey|date=28 December 2011|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref> where he practised law in [[Lagos]], providing free or discounted services for those who could not afford it.<ref name=freespirit/> After attending schools in [[Ibadan]] and [[Ikenne]], Okri began his secondary education at Urhobo College at [[Warri]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ben-Okri|title=Ben Okri|website=Encyclopaedia Britannica|author=((The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica))|date=11 March 2021|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/12/benokri Ben Okri profile], ''The Guardian''.</ref> in 1968, when he was the youngest in his class.<ref name="BlackPast"/> His exposure to the [[Nigerian civil war]]<ref name=sethi>{{cite web|author-link=Anita Sethi|first=Anita|last=Sethi|url=http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/ben-okri-novelist-as-dream-weaver |title=Ben Okri: novelist as dream weaver|work=TheNational|date=1 September 2011}}</ref> and a culture in which his peers at the time claimed to have had visions of spirits<ref name=mo/> provided inspiration for Okri's fiction.

At the age of 14, after being rejected for admission to a short university programme in physics because of his youth and lack of qualifications, Okri experienced a revelation that poetry was his chosen calling.<ref name=scotsmaninterview/> He began writing articles on social and political issues, but these never found a publisher.<ref name=scotsmaninterview/> He then wrote short stories based on those articles, and some were published in women's journals and evening papers.<ref name=scotsmaninterview/> Okri has said that his criticism of the government in some of this early work led to his name being placed on a death list, and necessitated his departure from the country.<ref name=mo/>

=== Move to England, 1978 ===
In 1978, he moved back to England and studied comparative literature at [[Essex University]] with a grant from the Nigerian government.<ref name="ST">{{cite news|first=Nicola |last=Venning|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/time-and-place-ben-okri-flxf60hl7x2|title=Time and place: Ben Okri|newspaper=[[The Sunday Times]]|date= 3 August 2014}}</ref><ref name=scotsmaninterview/> But when funding for his scholarship fell through, Okri found himself homeless, sometimes living in parks and sometimes with friends. He has called this period "very, very important" to his work: "I wrote and wrote in that period... If anything [the desire to write] actually intensified."<ref name=scotsmaninterview/>

Okri's success as a writer began when he published his debut novel, ''Flowers and Shadows'', in 1980, at the age of 21.<ref name=britishcouncil/> From 1983 to 1986, he served as poetry editor of ''[[West Africa (magazine)|West Africa]]'' magazine,<ref name="BlackPast"/> and he regularly contributed to the [[BBC World Service]] between 1983 and 1985, continuing to publish throughout this period.<ref name=britishcouncil/>

His reputation as an author was secured when his novel ''[[The Famished Road]]'' won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1991,<ref name=britishcouncil/><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/mar/15/ben-okri-the-famished-road-was-written-to-give-myself-reasons-to-live "Ben Okri: 'The Famished Road was written to give myself reasons to live{{'"}}], ''The Guardian'', 15 March 2016.</ref> making him the prize's youngest ever winner at 32.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03rxtfp "Ben Okri"], ''The Cultural Frontline'', BBC World Service, 1 May 2016.</ref> The novel was written during the time from 1988 that Okri lived in a [[Notting Hill]] flat that he rented from publisher friend [[Margaret Busby]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/how-ben-okri-wrote-the-famished-road-video|title=Video Interview {{!}} 'You do this or you die': how Ben Okri wrote The Famished Road|first=Paul|last=Davies|website=The Booker Prizes|date=1 February 2023|access-date=1 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://sunnewsonline.com/how-i-wrote-the-famished-road/|title=How I wrote the Famished Road|first=Ben|last=Okri|newspaper=The Sun|location=Nigeria|date=20 May 2023}}</ref> and he has said: 
:"Something about my writing changed round about that time. I acquired a kind of tranquillity. I had been striving for something in my tone of voice as a writer—it was there that it finally came together.... That flat is also where I wrote the short stories that became [1988's] ''Stars of the New Curfew''."<ref name="ST" />

In 1997, Okri was elected vice-president of the English Centre for [[International PEN]] and in 1999 was appointed a member of the board of the [[Royal National Theatre]].<ref name=britishcouncil/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/16373/1/Tunca_Okri_OUP.pdf|chapter=Okri, Ben (1959- )|first=Daria|last=Tunca|title=Dictionary of African Biography|volume=5: Oding-Teres|editor-first=Henry Louis |editor-last=Gates Jr|editor-link=Henry Louis Gates Jr|editor2=[[Emmanuel K. Akyeampong]]|location=New York & Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=2011|pages=23–25}}</ref>

On 26 April 2012, he was appointed vice-president of the [[Caine Prize|Caine Prize for African Writing]], having been on the advisory committee and associated with the prize since it was established 13 years earlier.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Katie |last=Allen|url=http://www.thebookseller.com/news/okri-made-caine-prize-vice-president.html |title=Okri made Caine Prize vice-president|magazine=[[The Bookseller]]|date= 26 April 2012}}</ref>

Okri was appointed as a vice-president of the [[Royal Central School of Speech and Drama]] in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Central announces its new Vice Presidents |url=https://www.cssd.ac.uk/news/central-announces-its-new-vice-presidents |website=The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama |access-date=21 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128105315/https://www.cssd.ac.uk/news/central-announces-its-new-vice-presidents |archive-date=28 November 2022 |date=28 November 2022}}</ref>

==Literary career==
[[File:Quote by Ben Okri on the Memorial Gates at the Hyde Park Corner end of Constitution Hill in London, UK.jpg|thumb|Quote from Okri's ''Mental Fight'' on the [[Memorial Gates, London]]]]
Since the 1980 publication of ''Flowers and Shadows'', Okri has risen to international acclaim, and he often is described as one of Africa's leading writers.<ref name=guardian-profile/><ref name=mo/>

His best known work, ''[[The Famished Road]]'', which won the 1991 [[Booker Prize]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Booker Prizes Backlist {{!}} The Booker Prizes|url=https://thebookerprizes.com/fiction/backlist/1991|access-date=2021-01-08|website=thebookerprizes.com}}</ref> along with ''[[Songs of Enchantment]]'' (1993)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-385-47154-1|title=Songs of Enchantment|website=[[Publishers Weekly]]|date=30 August 1993|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ben-okri/songs-of-enchantment/|title=Songs of Enchantment|website=[[Kirkus Reviews]]|date=15 July 1993|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref> and ''Infinite Riches'' (1998) make up a trilogy that follows Azaro, a spirit-child narrator, through the social and political turmoil of an African nation reminiscent of Okri's remembrance of war-torn Nigeria.<ref name=britishcouncil/>

Okri's work is particularly difficult to categorise. It has been widely called [[Postmodern literature|postmodern]],<ref name=higher-realities>McCabe, Douglas (2005). "'Higher Realities': New Age Spirituality in Ben Okri's ''The Famished Road''." ''Research in African Literatures'', vol. 36, no. 4, 1–21.</ref> but some scholars have noted that the seeming realism with which he depicts the spirit-world challenges this categorisation. If Okri does attribute reality to a spiritual world, it is claimed, then his "allegiances are not postmodern [because] he still believes that there is something ahistorical or transcendental conferring legitimacy on some, and not other, truth-claims."<ref name=higher-realities/> Alternative characterisations of Okri's work suggest an allegiance to [[Yoruba people|Yoruba folklore]],<ref>[[Ato Quayson|Quayson, Ato]] (1997), ''Transformations in Nigerian Writing'' (Oxford: James Currey).</ref> [[New Age]]ism,<ref name=higher-realities/><ref name=spiritual-realism>[[Anthony Appiah|Appiah, Anthony K.]] (3–10 August 1992), "Spiritual Realism". Review of ''The Famished Road'', by Ben Okri. ''The Nation'', 146–148.</ref> spiritual realism,<ref name=spiritual-realism/> [[magic realism|magical realism]],<ref name=dreams-of-freedom/> visionary materialism,<ref name=dreams-of-freedom/> and [[existentialism]].<ref>Obumselu, Ben (2011), "Ben Okri's ''The Famished Road'': A Re-Evaluation." ''Tydskrif vir Letterkunde'', vol. 48, no. 1, 26–38.</ref>

Against these analyses, Okri has always rejected the categorisation of his work as magical realism, claiming that this categorisation is the result of laziness by critics and likening it to the observation that "a horse ... has four legs and a tail. That doesn't describe it."<ref name=mo/> He has instead described his fiction as obeying a kind of "dream logic"<ref name=sethi/> and said that it is often preoccupied with the "philosophical conundrum ... what is reality?"<ref name=scotsmaninterview/> insisting that:

:I grew up in a tradition where there are simply more dimensions to reality: legends and myths and ancestors and spirits and death ... Which brings the question: what is reality? Everyone's reality is different. For different perceptions of reality we need a different language. We like to think that the world is rational and precise and exactly how we see it, but something erupts in our reality which makes us sense that there's more to the fabric of life. I'm fascinated by the mysterious element that runs through our lives. Everyone is looking out of the world through their emotion and history. Nobody has an absolute reality.<ref name=sethi/>

Okri has noted the effect of personal choices: "Beware of the stories you read or tell; subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness, they are altering your world."<ref>[http://wordsmith.org/words/superbity.html "A Thought for Today ... Ben Okri"], Wordsmith.org, 15 March 2017.</ref>

As well as novels, Okri's published books include collections of poetry, essays and short stories. His short fiction has been described as more realistic and less fantastic than his novels, but it also depicts Africans in communion with spirits,<ref name=britishcouncil/> while his poetry and nonfiction have a more overt political tone, focusing on the potential of Africa and the world to overcome the problems of modernity.<ref name=britishcouncil/><ref>Okri, Ben, [http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2011/a-time-for-new-dreams "A Time for New Dreams"], an interview with Claire Armitstead, ''RSA''. London, 4 April 2011. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119011208/http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2011/a-time-for-new-dreams |date=19 January 2012 }}.</ref>

Okri has also written plays and film scripts, such as the text to [[Peter Krüger (film director)|Peter Krüger]]'s film ''[[N – The Madness of Reason]]'', which won the 2015 [[Ensor Award]] for Best Film.<ref name="benokri.co.uk bio">[https://benokri.co.uk/ "Poet, Novelist, Artist"]. benokri.co.uk.</ref> In 2018, Okri adapted [[Albert Camus]]'s novella ''[[The Stranger (Camus novel)|The Outsider]]'' as a play for the Print Room at [[Coronet Theatre, London|The Coronet Theatre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://societyofauthors.org/soa-profiles/ben-okri/#:~:text=The%20recipient%20of%20many%20honorary,N%3A%20The%20Madness%20of%20Reason.|title=Ben Okri {{!}} Fellow|publisher=[[Society of Authors]]|access-date=14 December 2024}}</ref>

In April 2019, Okri gave the keynote address at the second [[Berlin]] African Book Festival, curated by [[Tsitsi Dangarembga]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jamesmurua.com/a-snapshot-of-the-african-book-festival-2019-in-berlin-germany/|title=A snapshot of the African Book Festival 2019 in Berlin, Germany|first=James|last=Murua|author-link=James Murua|website=James Murua's Literature Blog|date=9 April 2019|access-date=6 September 2022|archive-date=27 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227170354/https://www.jamesmurua.com/a-snapshot-of-the-african-book-festival-2019-in-berlin-germany/|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Okri's volume of collected poems, ''A Fire in My Head: Poems for the Dawn'', was published in 2021, its title inspired by a line in [[Wole Soyinka]]'s poem "Death in the Dawn": "May you never walk / when the road waits, famished."<ref>{{cite web |last=O' Malley |first=JP |date=9 December 2022 |title=Nigeria's Ben Okri: 'At its best, poetry draws our attention away from smallness' |url=https://www.theafricareport.com/264582/nigerias-ben-okri-at-its-best-poetry-draws-our-attention-away-from-smallness/ |website=The Africa Report}}</ref>

Alongside his writing, Okri has maintained an interest in visual art since his youth, and in 2023, he collaborated with [[colourist painting|colourist painter]] Rosemary Clunie in ''Firedreams'', at the Bomb Factory, [[Marylebone]], an exhibition of "WordArt" that featured large-scale paintings and sculptural obstructions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bombfactory.org.uk/post/firedreams-benokriandrosemaryclunie-bombfactorymarylebone|title=Firedreams, Ben Okri and Rosemary Clunie - Bomb Factory Marylebone|website=The Bomb Factory|publisher=The Bomb Factory Art Foundation|date=17 March 2023|access-date=31 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lissongallery.com/news/ben-okri-rosemary-clunie-firedreams-at-the-bomb-factory-london|title='Ben Okri & Rosemary Clunie: firedreams' at The Bomb Factory, London|publisher=[[Lisson Gallery|Lisson Gallery London]]|date=22 March 2023|access-date=31 March 2023}}</ref> Okri and Clunie, his long-time friend, had previously brought together their paintings and stories in the 2017 book ''The Magic Lamp: Dreams of Our Age''.<ref name="benokri.co.uk bio" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/mar/21/ben-okri-painting-booker-rosemary-clunie-basquiat-holzer|title=Ben Okri on swapping novels for painting: 'Could these two great rivers of creativity merge?'|first=Ben|last=Okri|newspaper=The Guardian|date=21 March 2023}}</ref>

==Influences==

Okri has described his work as influenced as much by the philosophical texts on his father's bookshelves as by literature,<ref name=scotsmaninterview>[https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/interview-ben-okri-booker-prize-winning-novelist-and-poet-2461748 "Interview: Ben Okri – Booker prize-winning novelist and poet"], ''[[The Scotsman]]'', 5 March 2010.</ref> and cites the influence of [[Francis Bacon]] and [[Michel de Montaigne]] on his ''A Time for New Dreams''.<ref>{{cite magazine|author-link=Saskia Vogel|first=Saskia|last=Vogel|url=http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Interview-Ben-Okri |title=Interview: Ben Okri|magazine=Granta Magazine|date= 7 April 2011}}</ref> His literary influences include ''[[Aesop's Fables]]'', ''[[Arabian Nights]]'', Shakespeare's ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'',<ref name=sethi/> and [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]]'s ''[[The Rime of the Ancient Mariner]]''.<ref name=scotsmaninterview /> Okri's 1999 epic poem, ''Mental Fight'', is named after a quotation from the poet [[William Blake]]'s "[[And did those feet in ancient time|And did those feet ...]]",<ref>Okri, Ben (1999), ''Mental Fight: An Anti-Spell for the 21st Century'' (London: Phoenix House), 1.</ref> and critics have noted a close relationship between Blake and Okri's poetry.<ref name=dreams-of-freedom>Green, Matthew J. A. (2009), "Dreams of Freedom: Magical Realism and Visionary Materialism in Okri and Blake", ''Romanticism'', vol. 15, no. 1, 18–32.</ref>

Okri also was influenced by the [[oral tradition]] of his people and, particularly, by his mother's storytelling: "If my mother wanted to make a point, she wouldn't correct me, she'd tell me a story."<ref name=sethi/> His firsthand experiences of civil war in Nigeria are said to have inspired many of his works.<ref name=sethi />

On the final day of the 2021 [[COP26]] climate meeting in [[Glasgow]], Okri wrote about the existential threat posed by the [[climate crisis]] and how ill{{nbhyph}}equipped humans seem to confront the prospect of their self-inflicted extinction. Indeed, Okri says: "We have to find a new art and a new psychology to penetrate the apathy and the denial that are preventing us making the changes that are inevitable if our world is to survive."<ref name="okri-2021">
{{cite news
 | last1 = Okri | first1 = Ben
 | title = Artists must confront the climate crisis – we must write as if these are the last days
 | date = 12 November 2021
 | work = The Guardian
 | location = London, United Kingdom
 | issn = 0261-3077
 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/12/artists-climate-crisis-write-creativity-imagination
 | access-date = 2021-11-12
}}
</ref>

==Honours and awards==

Okri was appointed [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the [[2001 Birthday Honours]] for services to literature<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1391193.stm|title=Ben Okri: A writer honoured|publisher=BBC News|date=13 June 2001|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ben Okri features in Glo/CNN African Voices|url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/06/ben-okri-features-in-glocnn-african-voices/|date=2011-06-24|website=Vanguard News|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref> and [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] in the [[2023 Birthday Honours]], also for services to literature.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=64082|supp=y|page=B2|date=17 June 2023}}</ref>
* 1987: [[Commonwealth Foundation prizes|Commonwealth Writers Prize]] (Africa Region, Best Book) – ''Incidents at the Shrine''<ref name=encyclopedia.com>{{Cite web|title=Ben Okri {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/okri-ben-1959|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=19 May 2021}}</ref>
* 1987: [[Aga Khan Prize for Fiction]] – ''The Dream Vendor's August''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Acclaimed Author – Ben Okri|url=https://thelondonnigerian.com/2014/09/16/acclaimed-author-ben-okri/|last=|date=2014-09-16|website=The London Nigerian - Community News and Events for Nigerians in UK|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-30|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726202426/https://thelondonnigerian.com/2014/09/16/acclaimed-author-ben-okri/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1988: [[Guardian Fiction Prize]] – ''Stars of the New Curfew'' (shortlisted)<ref>{{Cite news|last=Flood|first=Alison|date=2012-02-13|title=Ben Okri erupts at editor over 'rewriting' claim|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/feb/13/ben-okri-robin-robertson-rewriting|access-date=2020-05-30|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
* 1991–1993: Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts (FCCA), [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Creative Arts Fellowship marks 50 years|url=https://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/news/creative-arts-fellowship-marks-50-years/|publisher=Trinity College, Cambridge|language=en-US|date=21 September 2017|access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* 1991: [[Booker Prize]] – ''[[The Famished Road]]''<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Famished Road {{!}} The Booker Prizes|url=https://thebookerprizes.com/books/famished-road-by|website=thebookerprizes.com|date=January 1991 |access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* 1993: [[Chianti Ruffino-Antico Fattore International Literary Prize]] – ''The Famished Road''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ben Okri - Literature|url=https://literature.britishcouncil.org/writer/ben-okri|website=literature.britishcouncil.org|access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* 1994: [[Grinzane Cavour Prize|Premio Grinzane Cavour]] (Italy) -''The Famished Road''<ref name=encyclopedia.com />
* 1995: [[Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards|Crystal Award]] ([[World Economic Forum]])<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ben Okri|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1006492/ben-okri.html|website=www.penguin.co.uk|access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* 1997: Honorary Doctorate of Literature, awarded by [[University of Westminster]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ben Okri - OnlineNigeria.com|url=https://onlinenigeria.com/nigerianliterature/?blurb=643|last=Aghadiuno|first=Eric|website=onlinenigeria.com|access-date=2020-05-30|archive-date=17 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200717182338/https://onlinenigeria.com/nigerianliterature/?blurb=643|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 1997: Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Literature]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-01 |title=Okri, Ben |url=https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ben-okri/,%20https://rsliterature.org/fellows/ben-okri/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=Royal Society of Literature |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* 1999: {{interlanguage link|Premio Palmi|it}} (Italy) – ''Dangerous Love''<ref>{{Cite web|title=UniVerse :: A United Nations of Poetry :: Ben Okri|url=http://www.universeofpoetry.org/nigeria.shtml|website=www.universeofpoetry.org|access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* 2002: Honorary Doctorate of Literature, awarded by [[University of Essex]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Honorary Graduates - Honorary Graduates - University of Essex|url=https://www1.essex.ac.uk/honorary_graduates/or/2002/ben-okri-oration.aspx|website=www1.essex.ac.uk|access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* 2003: Chosen as one of [[100 Great Black Britons]]<ref>[https://100greatblackbritons.com/list.html ''100 Great Black Britons''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624024043/http://100greatblackbritons.com/list.html |date=24 June 2021 }} website.</ref>
* 2004: Honorary Doctor of Literature, awarded by [[University of Exeter]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ben Okri|url=https://www.cccb.org/en/participants/file/ben-okri/35369|website=CCCB|language=en|access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* 2008: International Literary Award Novi Sad ([[International Novi Sad Literature Festival]], Serbia)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Novi Sad International Literature Festival - Literature Across Frontiers|url=https://www.lit-across-frontiers.org/international-novi-sad-literature-festival/|website=www.lit-across-frontiers.org|date=27 August 2014 |access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* 2009: Honorary Doctorate of Utopia, awarded by [[Universiteit voor het Algemeen Belang]], Belgium<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jWR4nWwWgU "Honorary Degree in Utopia for Ben Okri - Antwerp, Belgium 2010"], YouTube, 10 March 2015.</ref>
* 2010: Honorary Doctorate, awarded by the [[SOAS University of London|School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=SOAS Awards Honorary Doctorate to Mr Ben Okri OBE|url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/fellows/ben-okri-obe/|website=www.soas.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-05-30|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726204118/https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/fellows/ben-okri-obe/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2010: Honorary Doctorate of Arts, awarded by the [[University of Bedfordshire]]<ref name="About Ben Okri">{{cite web|url=https://benokri.co.uk/about-ben-okri/|title=About Ben Okri {{!}} Awards and honours|website=benokri.co.uk|access-date=3 May 2025}}</ref>
* 2014: Honorary Doctorate from the [[University of Pretoria]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-04-23 |title=South African university honours Nigerian author, Ben Okri |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/04/south-african-university-honours-nigerian-author-ben-okri/ |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=Vanguard News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://pmnewsnigeria.com/2014/04/23/nigerian-writerben-okri-to-be-honoured-by-south-african-varsity/|title=Nigerian writer,Ben Okri to be honoured by South African varsity|website=PM News|location=Nigeria|date=23 April 2014|access-date=3 May 2025}}</ref>
* 2014: [[Honorary Fellow]], [[Mansfield College, Oxford]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Booker Prize-winning author in conversation for Ken Hom annual lecture - Oxford Brookes University|url=https://www.brookes.ac.uk/about-brookes/news/booker-prize-winning-author-in-conversation-for-ken-hom-annual-lecture/|website=www.brookes.ac.uk|access-date=2020-05-30|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726202854/https://www.brookes.ac.uk/about-brookes/news/booker-prize-winning-author-in-conversation-for-ken-hom-annual-lecture/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2014: Bad Sex in Fiction Award, ''[[Literary Review]]''<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Jonathan |last=Beckman|url=http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/badsex2014.php |title=Twitching Fairy Penguin|magazine=Literary Review'|date= December 2014}}</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30307247 "Bad Sex in Fiction: Ben Okri scoops 2014 prize"], BBC News, 3 December 2014.</ref><!--http://www.dn.se/dnbok/samsta-sexskildringen-i-litteraturen-utsedd/</ref>-->
* 2020: Honorary Doctorate of Literature awarded by [[Nelson Mandela University]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mandela.ac.za/Leadership-and-Governance/Honorary-Doctorates/Ben-Okri-2020|title=Ben Okri 2020 {{!}} Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa)|publisher=Nelson Mandela University|access-date=3 May 2025}}</ref>

==Works==

=== Novels ===
* ''[[Flowers and Shadows]]'' (Harlow: [[Longman]], 1980)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Okri, Ben.|title=Flowers and shadows|year=1989|orig-year= 1980|publisher=Longman|isbn=0-582-03536-8|oclc=1043417403}}</ref>
* ''[[The Landscapes Within]]'' (Harlow: Longman, 1981)<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Ben Okri Bibliography: Primary Sources|url=http://www.cerep.ulg.ac.be/okri/boprim.html|website=www.cerep.ulg.ac.be|access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* ''[[The Famished Road]]'' (London: [[Jonathan Cape]], 1991)<ref>{{Cite news|date=1991-10-23|title=Nigerian Wins British Fiction Award|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/23/books/nigerian-wins-british-fiction-award.html|access-date=2020-05-30|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* ''[[Songs of Enchantment]]'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1993)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/book-review-dreams-boy-earth-songs-enchantment-ben-okri-cape-14-99-pounds-1499011.html|title=BOOK REVIEW / Dreams of a boy on earth: 'Songs of Enchantment' - Ben Okri: Cape, 14.99 pounds|first=Paul |last=Taylor|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=21 March 1993}}</ref>
* ''[[Astonishing the Gods]]'' (London: [[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]], 1995)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ben Okri, Writer, Author, Nigeria Personality Profiles|url=https://www.nigeriagalleria.com/Nigeria/Personality-Profiles/Writers/Ben-Okri.html|website=www.nigeriagalleria.com|access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* ''[[Dangerous Love (novel)|Dangerous Love]]'' (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996)<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dangerous-love-9781784082543/|title=Dangerous Love|publisher=Bloomsbury {{!}} House of Zeus|access-date=27 September 2024|archive-date=30 January 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130105911/https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dangerous-love-9781784082543/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''[[Infinite Riches]]'' (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1998)<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2015|title=Ben Okri: A Selective Bibliography|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/613493|journal=[[Callaloo (literary magazine)|Callaloo]]|language=en|volume=38|issue=5|pages=1004–1005|doi=10.1353/cal.2015.0165|issn=1080-6512|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* ''[[In Arcadia]]'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2002)<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hickling|first=Alfred|date=2002-10-12|title=Review: In Arcadia by Ben Okri|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/oct/12/fiction.benokri|access-date=2020-05-30|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
* ''[[Starbook]]'' (London: [[Rider (imprint)|Rider Books]], 2007)<ref name=freespirit />
* ''[[The Age of Magic]]'' (London: Head of Zeus, 2014)<ref>{{Cite news|date=2014-12-03|title=Author Okri receives bad sex prize|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30307247|access-date=2020-05-30}}</ref>
* ''[[The Freedom Artist]]'' (London: Head of Zeus, 2019)<ref>{{Cite news|title=Book of the day {{!}} The Freedom Artist by Ben Okri review – wake-up call of a world without books|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/12/the-freedom-artist-ben-okri-review|newspaper=The Guardian|first=Stephanie|last=Merritt|language=en|access-date=12 February 2019}}</ref>
* ''[[Every Leaf a Hallelujah]]'' (London: Head of Zeus, 2021)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/16d73c6c-147f-4eb7-808d-a49f79ffb47a|first=Miles|last=Ellingham|title=Every Leaf a Hallelujah by Ben Okri — a plea from the forest|date=18 December 2021|website=[[Financial Times]]|access-date=4 February 2023}}</ref>
* ''The Last Gift of the Master Artists'' (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022)<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://otherpress.com/product/the-last-gift-of-the-master-artists-9781635422795/ |title=The Last Gift of the Master Artists |isbn=978-1-63542-279-5 |language=en |last1=Okri |first1=Ben |date=31 January 2023 |publisher=Other Press, LLC }}</ref>

=== Poetry, essays and short story collections ===
* ''Incidents at the Shrine'' (short stories; London: [[Heinemann (publisher)|Heinemann]], 1986)<ref name="Project MUSE 2015 Bibliography ">{{cite journal | title=Ben Okri: A Selective Bibliography | journal=Callaloo | publisher=Project MUSE | volume=38 | issue=5 | year=2015 | issn=1080-6512 | doi=10.1353/cal.2015.0165 | pages=1004–1005}}</ref>
* ''Stars of the New Curfew'' (short stories; London: [[Secker & Warburg]], 1988)<ref>{{Cite news|last=Alleyne|first=Richard|date=2012-02-11|title=Ben Okri 'disappointment' at editor he claims re-wrote his work|journal=Daily Telegraph|language=en-GB|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9075093/Ben-Okri-disappointment-at-editor-he-claims-re-wrote-his-work.html|access-date=2020-05-31|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
* ''An African Elegy'' (poetry; London: Jonathan Cape, 1992)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Visiting Professor - Ben Okri OBE FRSL — University of Leicester|url=https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/english/creativewriting/people/visiting-professor-ben-okri-obe-frsl-1|last=mjs76|website=www2.le.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-05-31|archive-date=26 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726195628/https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/english/creativewriting/people/visiting-professor-ben-okri-obe-frsl-1|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''Birds of Heaven'' (essays; London: Phoenix House, 1996)<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gray|first=Rosemary|date=2018-07-01|title=Ben Okri's Aphorisms: "Music on the Wings of a Soaring Bird"|url=https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/ajis/7/2/article-p17.xml|journal=Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies|language=en|volume=7|issue=2|pages=17–24|doi=10.2478/ajis-2018-0042|doi-access=free|hdl=2263/71561|hdl-access=free}}{{Dead link|date=November 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
* ''A Way of Being Free'' (essays; London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson: 1997; London: Phoenix House, 1997)<ref>{{cite book|url=https://headofzeus.com/books/9781784081843|title=A Way of Being Free|publisher=Head of Zeus|date=9 October 2014|isbn=9781784081843}}</ref>
* ''Mental Fight'' (poetry: London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999; London: Phoenix House, 1999)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/1999/aug/21/1|title=A man in two minds|newspaper=The Guardian|author-link=Roy Hattersley|first=Roy|last=Hattersley|date=21 August 1999}}</ref>
* ''Tales of Freedom'' (short stories; London: Rider & Co., 2009)<ref>{{Cite news|last=Daniel|first=Lucy|date=2009-04-30|title=Tales of Freedom by Ben Okri: review|journal=Daily Telegraph|language=en-GB|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/5251547/Tales-of-Freedom-by-Ben-Okri-review.html|access-date=2020-05-31|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
* ''A Time for New Dreams'' (essays; London: Rider & Co., 2011)<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Ben Okri Bibliography: On the Internet|url=http://www.cerep.ulg.ac.be/okri/boonline.html|website=www.cerep.ulg.ac.be|access-date=2020-05-31}}</ref>
* ''Wild'' (poetry; London: Rider & Co., 2012)<ref>{{cite journal|title='Through a Bending Light': Ben Okri's Poetic Commitment|first=Kathie |last=Birat|journal=Commonwealth Essays and Studies|volume=38 |issue=1|date=2015|pages=45–55 |doi=10.4000/ces.4959 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* ''The Mystery Feast: Thoughts on Storytelling'' (West Hoathly: Clairview Books, Ltd, 2015)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/under-the-sun-a-meditation-by-ben-okri-on-stories-1.2416769|title=Under the Sun: a meditation by Ben Okri on stories|first=Ben |last=Okri|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=4 November 2015}}</ref>
* ''The Magic Lamp: Dreams of Our Age'', with paintings by Rosemary Clunie (Apollo/Head of Zeus, 2017)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nbmagazine.co.uk/the-magic-lamp-dreams-of-our-age-by-ben-okri/|title=The Magic Lamp: Dreams of Our Age by Ben Okri|website=NB Magazine|first=Philipa|last=Coughlan|date=1 February 2019|access-date=10 October 2021|archive-date=10 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010102243/https://nbmagazine.co.uk/the-magic-lamp-dreams-of-our-age-by-ben-okri/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2018/03/ben-okri-s-magic-lamp-collection-morally-ambiguous-tales-our-trying-times|title=Ben Okri's The Magic Lamp is a collection of morally ambiguous tales for our trying times|first=Rebecca |last=Swirsky|website=New Statesman|date=10 March 2018|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref>
* ''Prayer for the Living: Stories'' (London: Head of Zeus, 2019)<ref>{{cite book|url=https://headofzeus.com/books/9781789544589|title=Prayer for the Living|publisher=Head of Zeus}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-immensity-of-brevity-on-ben-okris-prayer-for-the-living/|title=The Immensity of Brevity: On Ben Okri's 'Prayer for the Living'|first=Babi |last=Oloko|website=Los Angeles Review of Books|date=2 February 2021|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref>
* ''A Fire in My Head: Poems for the Dawn'' (London: Head of Zeus, 2021)<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/ben-okris-first-poetry-collection-eight-years-goes-head-zeus-1208570|title=Ben Okri's first poetry collection in eight years goes to Head of Zeus|magazine=The Bookseller|first=Tamsin |last=Hackett|date=1 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://brittlepaper.com/2021/01/ben-okris-first-poetry-collection-in-nine-years-is-out-now/|title=Ben Okri's First Poetry Collection in Nine Years is Out Now|first=Angeline |last=Peterson|website=[[Brittle Paper]]|date=15 January 2021|access-date=10 October 2021}}</ref>
* ''Tiger Work'' (London: Apollo, an imprint of Head of Zeus, 2023)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tiger Work by Ben Okri: 9781635423365 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/723216/tiger-work-by-ben-okri/ |access-date=2024-04-24 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

===As editor===
* ''Rise Like Lions: Poetry for the Many'' (London: [[Hodder & Stoughton]], 2018, {{ISBN|9781473676152}})<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hodder.co.uk/titles/ben-okri-5/rise-like-lions/9781473676152/|title=Rise Like Lions|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://socialistworker.co.uk/socialist-review-archive/rise-lions-poetry-many/|title=Books {{!}} Rise Like Lions: Poetry for the Many|website=Socialist Review|first=Jeff |last=Jackson|issue=438|date=September 2018|access-date=3 May 2025}}</ref>
* ''African Stories'' (London: [[Everyman's Library]] Pocket Classics, 2025, {{ISBN|9781841596372}})<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/461896/african-stories-by-authors-various/9781841596372|title=African Stories|website=penguin.co.uk|publisher=[[Penguin Random House]]|access-date=3 May 2025}}</ref>

===Film===
* ''[[N – The Madness of Reason]]'' (feature film, directed by [[Peter Krüger]], 2014)<ref>[http://www.blinkerfilm.de/?p=1720&lang=en "N – The Madness of Reason"], '' Blinkerfilm'', 9 March 2015. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402102105/http://www.blinkerfilm.de/?p=1720&lang=en |date=2 April 2015 }}.</ref>

===Online fiction===
* {{cite magazine|last1=|first1=|date=February 1, 2021|title=A Wrinkle In The Realm |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/02/08/a-wrinkle-in-the-realm <!--accessdate=2021-02-01-->}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* Irene, Michael Oshoke. 2015. [https://aru.figshare.com/articles/thesis/Re-inventing_oral_tradition_in_Ben_Okri_s_trilogy_The_Famished_Road_Songs_of_Enchantment_and_Infinite_Riches_/23756487?file=42194271 ''Re-inventing oral tradition in Ben Okri's trilogy : The Famished Road, Songs of Enchantment and Infinite Riches'']. [[Anglia Ruskin University]], doctoral dissertation.
* Abdelghany, Réhab, [https://africainwords.com/2015/08/24/a-question-of-power-ben-okris-meditations-on-greatness-at-africa-writes/ "A Question of Power: Ben Okri's 'Meditations on Greatness' at Africa Writes"], ''Africa in Words'', 24 August 2015.

==External links==
* [https://benokri.co.uk/ Official website]
* [https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Ben+Okri Ben Okri's AALBC.com Author Profile]
* [https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ben-Okri/66916042616 Ben Okri's official Facebook Page]
* [https://www.myspace.com/ben_okri Ben Okri's MySpace page]
* Ben Okri's [https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/authors/ben-okri official page on the Booker Prizes website].
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMJI8cRcbAQ Full length You Tube video of Ben Okri winning the 1991 Booker Prize].
* [http://www.ulg.ac.be/facphl/uer/d-german/L3/boindex.html The Ben Okri Bibliography] – an extensive bibliography of works by and about Okri, also including a short biography and an introduction to his work.

===Interviews===
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2009/07/090720_theforum_190709.shtml Audio: Ben Okri in conversation on the BBC World Service discussion programme] [[The Forum (BBC World Service)|''The Forum'']], 19 July 2009.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120119011208/http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2011/a-time-for-new-dreams Ben Okri] on RSA Audio, 4 April 2011.
* Simon Joseph Jones, [https://highprofiles.info/interview/ben-okri/ "Soul Man | Ben Okri"] (interview), ''High Profiles'', 31 October 2002.
* [https://www.whyarewehere.tv/people/ben-okri/# Ben Okri: transcript of interview] for the ''Why Are We Here?'' documentary series.
* [https://lithub.com/ben-okri-on-the-strange-magic-of-our-preoccupations/ "Ben Okri on the Strange Magic of Our Preoccupations"]. In Conversation with Mitzi Rapkin on the ''First Draft'' Podcast; via ''[[Literary Hub]]'', February 8, 2021.

===Selected poems===
* [http://riderbooks.tumblr.com/post/3100139249/new-year-poem-from-ben-okri-o-that-abstract-garden "O That Abstract Garden"], a poem by Ben Okri. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112232126/http://riderbooks.tumblr.com/post/3100139249/new-year-poem-from-ben-okri-o-that-abstract-garden |date=12 January 2013 }}.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130112215218/http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/ontheline/explore/poetry/benokri.htm "The Awakening Age"], on the line millennium poem by Okri.
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2039260.stm "Poetic tribute to England clash"], BBC News, 11 June, 2002. "Draw" – a poem written by Okri to mark the England World Cup match with Nigeria.

* [http://www.tate.org.uk/40artists40days/ben_okri.html "40 Artists, 40 Days"], Tate, 2012. "Lines in Potentis", a poem by Okri. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114154002/http://www2.tate.org.uk/40artists40days/ben_okri.html |date=14 November 2017 }}.
* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/aug/21/poetry.usa "Children of the Dream"], ''The Guardian'', 21 August 2003 – a poem by Okri celebrating the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120426203857/http://odewire.com/54290/dancing-with-change.html "Dancing With Change"] (''Ode Wire'', April 2007 issue), a poem by Ben Okri.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130112232352/http://www.rhgdigital.co.uk/blogs/ebury/?p=196 "I sing a new freedom"] (Ebury Publishing, 3 April 2009), a poem by Ben Okri.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130112232126/http://www.rhgdigital.co.uk/blogs/ebury/?p=349 "As clouds pass above our heads..."] (Ebury Publishing, 2 February 2010), a poem by Ben Okri.

{{Ben Okri}}
{{Booker Prize}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okri, Ben}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century English novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Nigerian essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century Nigerian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Nigerian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Nigerian poets]]
[[Category:20th-century short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Nigerian essayists]]
[[Category:21st-century Nigerian male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Nigerian novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Nigerian poets]]
[[Category:21st-century Nigerian short story writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Essex]]
[[Category:Black British writers]]
[[Category:Booker Prize winners]]
[[Category:English fantasy writers]]
[[Category:English male novelists]]
[[Category:English people of Nigerian descent]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Magical realism writers]]
[[Category:Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Nigerian fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Nigerian male novelists]]
[[Category:Nigerian male poets]]
[[Category:Nigerian male short story writers]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category: Nigerian recipients of British titles]]
[[Category:People from Minna]]
[[Category:People from Peckham]]
[[Category:The New Yorker people]]
[[Category:Urhobo people]]
[[Category:Weird fiction writers]]