OKRI, Ben

Writer, born March 15, 1959, Minna, Niger State. State of Origin; Delta. Education: John Donne's School, Peckham, London; Children's Home School, Sapele, Delta State; Christ High School, Ibadan, Oyo State; Urhobo College, Effurum, Delta State; University of Essex, United Kingdom. Career: Appointed Staff Writer/Librarian, Afriscope magazine, 1978; Poetry Editor, West Africa magazine, 1983-86; Broadcaster, British Broadcasting Corporation, 1983-86; Fellow Commoner, Creative Arts, Trinity College, Cambridge, 1991-93. Awards /Honours: recipient, Commonwealth Prize for Africa, 1987; Paris Review Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, 1987; Booker Prize, The Famished Road, 1991; Premio Letterario Internazionale, Chianti Ruffino-Antico Fattore, 1992; Premio Grinzane Cavour, 1994; The Crystal Award, World Economic Forum, Switzerland, 1995; Social Club: member, PEN Internatioinal. Publicatioins: Flower and Shadows, .1980; The Landscapes Within, 1982; Incidents at the Shrine, 1986; Stars Of The New Curfew, 1988; The Famished Road, 1991; An African Elegy, 1992; Songs Of Enchantment, 1993; Astonishing The Gods, 1995; Birds Of Heaven, 1996; Dangerous Love, 1996. Hobbies: chess, music, travel, theatre,…