The writer Ben Okri, with his Nigerian roots, talks about food. The food he ate at Minna, the heaps of groundnuts, the different styles of British foods. Should there be a revival of Nigerian Food?
‘I was nearly shot because I couldn’t speak my dad’s language’
Ben Okri has made a name for himself as writer, based in The United Kingdom, with his Nigerian roots. Now he is making a name for his adaptation of a famous novel by the French-Algerian writer Albert Camus. He turned the novel into a play. He wanted to stress the situation of the Arab with … Continue reading ‘I was nearly shot because I couldn’t speak my dad’s language’
Sixth edition of LLF starts Feb 24
So what does LLF stand for? Maybe your are thinking of of a Festival. You are right. One of the ‘L’s must be from literature. You are right for the second time. But what about the second ‘L’? Lingala? Luanda? Lomé? Lodwar? The other ‘L’ stands for Lahore, the capital city of Pakistan. Two writers … Continue reading Sixth edition of LLF starts Feb 24
Ben Okri’s powerful Grenfell Tower
The Tower of London burned. The flames coloured the tall building. The Tower stood in Grenfell, a multiple layer of people at the verges of society, the people huddled on staircases and sought ways out of the inferno. Ben Okri wrote a poem about the poor in the Tower.
‘The Famished Road was written to give myself reasons to live’
Can you remember the day that the famous book “The Famished Road” was published? The book was written by the Nigeria-born writer Ben Okri. The book was published 25 years ago and now Ben Okri looks back at his book and the reasons why he wrote the book. Read his thoughts here.
afrofuturism:
Ben Okri, the British/Nigerian, caused a stir when he tackled the topic of the genres and topics in African writing. Zukiswa Wanner revives our memories in the run to the forthcoming literary sessions at several Goethe Institutes, one among them in Nairobi. Look out for the Afrofutures Festival, starting on October 31.
books touched by Africa 