Ben Okri
Ben Okri
Ben Okri OBE FRSLis a Nigerian poet and novelist. Okri is considered one of the foremost African authors in the post-modern and post-colonial traditions and has been compared favourably to authors such as Salman Rushdie and Gabriel García Márquez...
NationalityNigerian
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth15 March 1959
CountryNigeria
power vision should
If we are true, if we can love, if we have vision, if we can have courage, we can, we should, we ought to, we will...
expression silence enemy
Painters ought to be mute. Speech is the enemy of expression.
miserable homeless wit
I lived rough, by my wits, was homeless, lived on the streets, lived on friends' floors, was happy, was miserable.
writing perfect office
If you are working in an office, where do you find the time to write a novel? But you can finish a short story in five pages. Furthermore, a short story is a perfect place to learn the craft
reality inventing
When you stop inventing reality then you see things as they really are.
down-and doe up-and-down
I learned that life will go through changes - up and down and up again. It's what life does.
artist broken enemy
Wholeness is the enemy of the artist. We ought to be broken, ruined in some way.
people healthy stories
People are as healthy and confident as the stories they tell themselves.
spirit enchanted
We are living in enchanted time. With our spirits right.
scientist
I was going to be a scientist.
home homeless
To anyone who is homeless, I say, find a home.
gold yards neglect
Don't neglect the gold in your own back yard.
home london literature
I went to London because, for me, it was the home of literature. I went there because of Dickens and Shakespeare.
dream children kids
I was told stories, we were all told stories as kids in Nigeria. We had to tell stories that would keep one another interested, and you weren't allowed to tell stories that everybody else knew. You had to dream up new ones.