Ben Okri

Nigerian-born British poet and novelist (1959-) · Nigeria · On the map · Writers

Sir Ben Golden Emuobowho Okri 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.

Ben Okri is read about 108 times a day, in 41 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 105 days, one point a day.

Something wrong?

Compare Claim

A life in dates

2016“The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering”In their words15 July 2016Musings on Ben Okri and Jeremy Corbyn in conversation at the SouthBank - 15th July 2016Read the whole statement

2014“What if by sheer repetition we become the person we most often pretend to be? Does that mean there is no authentic self?”In their wordsThe Age of Magic (2014)Read the whole statement

“Inverse of the word live is evil.”In their wordsThe Age of Magic (2014)Read the whole statement

“We have no instrument by which to record the absolute nature of reality, because whatever instrument we use is filtered through consciousness.”In their wordsReflecting on consciousness and realityRead the whole statement

“When I was about three years old... I realised that words could move the power in a room.”In their wordsReflecting on discovering the power of languageRead the whole statement

“A writer's task is not merely to describe the world but to deepen our way of seeing it.”In their wordsFrom an interview published on Ben Okri's official websiteRead the whole statement

1997Fellow of the Royal Society of LiteratureAward1991Booker PrizeAward1959Born15 March 1959

People around Ben

Close ties

Also in Deutsch

Media & music

Photos 2

Quote from Okri's Mental Fight on the Memorial Gates, London

In their own words 4

Ben Okri

4 statements, newest first

Maybe true travel is not the transportation of the body, but a change of perception, renewing the mind.
2014 · The Age of Magic (2014), Own words
Maybe one of the worst things that we can do is to diminish the possibility of the universe in our insistence on our description of it.
2014 · Speaking on reality and human perception, Own words
Writing is a way of paying attention to life.
2014 · On the purpose of writing, Own words