Ben Okri

Tag Archives: Ben Okri

Features, Lit Scene, News 2018/04/23

Bringing Achebe’s Masterpiece to Life | Highlights from the 60th Anniversary Reading of Things Fall Apart | Eddie Hewitt

60 years on from the first publication of Things Fall Apart, I was excited to be in Queen Elizabeth Hall at London’s Southbank Centre to pay homage to Chinua Achebe and to enjoy a performance of his masterpiece by a stellar group of readers. A seven hour session of the finest literary entertainment, presented by […]

African Literary Digest: 8 Must-Reads from January, 2017

We ended 2016 with a compilation of our best pieces of the year. The first month of 2017 is gone but it wasn’t arid: there was writing that caught our attention, and both the LGBTIQ group 14 and Afreada magazine released beautiful anthologies. Here are our must-read selections, an unranked list. They’re all online so […]

The Pleasure of Great Prose | Review of Sarah L. Manyika’s Like a Mule | by Yemisi Aribisala

Sarah Ladipo Manyika is a virtuoso at offering the gentle word that can break a bone. Her defiance in written words is as dense and mined as rich fruitcake. Her publishers, Cassava Republic Press urge us to read her new book Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun for the protagonist, Dr. Morayo’s […]

After 25 Years, Ben Okri Writes Beautiful Essay in Honor of the Famished Road

It is hard to believe that 25 years has passed since Ben Okri stunned the world with the story of a Azaro, a spirit child stranded in the human world. Published in 1991, The Famished Road was one of the crowning moments of the 20th century, as far as fiction goes. Okri’s poetic prose and […]

Lesley Nneka Arimah’s New Yorker Story is a Crazy Mix of Genres

For those eager to find new African writing, Lesley Nneka Arimah is a gift. There is nothing rookie about Arimah’s work. Her story “Light” won the Africa category of the Common Wealth Prize and was subsequently published by Granta. Still her New Yorker story, published last week, took many of us by surprise for being ridiculously […]

African Literary Horoscope | Cancer — the Homemakers of the Zodiac

[AFRICAN LITERARY HOROSCOPE is a series featuring satirical astrological interpretations. The idea is to adapt African fiction and poetic works to the needs of readers born under each sign of the Zodiac. We are kicking off the series with Cancer, the sign that falls within June 21 and July 22. If you were born under the sign […]

Paging All Londoners! | Don’t Miss AFRICA WRITES — UK’s Biggest African Literary Event

July 3-5 is the date to mark on your calendar if you live in London or happen to be there. Ben Okri is billed to headline two days of events celebrating African literature. There will be book launches, readings, author appearances, panel discussions to delight fans of African writing. Most of the events will take […]

We are Rooting for Wole Soyinka as He Seeks Prestigious Oxford Professorship

Wole Soyinka is a Nobel laureate, but becoming the Professor of Poetry at Oxford University comes with a whole new kind of prestige. For 300 years, poets of great renown have vied to hold what many say is “the top academic poetry role in the UK.” Oxford Professor of Poetry is an elected post, but the […]