Ben Okri
(1959-), Novelist, poet and short story writerSitter in 4 portraits
Nigerian novelist, poet, short story and script writer. Okri was schooled in London as a child but his family returned to Nigeria on the eve of the Nigerian Civil War. The war was to leave a deep mark on Okri's life. After finishing secondary school, and being too young to start university, he read his way through his father's library and began that summer to write. Okri returned to England in 1978 to study at Essex University, graduating with a degree in Comparative Literature. He wrote and published several short stories and novels before he gained recognition for The Famished Road, which won the 1991 Booker Prize and became an international bestseller. He is the recipient of various honorary doctorates. Okri has been a Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was also Visiting Professor of Literature at Leicester University.
by Mark Gerson
modern bromide print, 1995
NPG x88223
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