Ben Okri was conceived in the humble community of Minna in the northern part of Nigeria. His mom, Grace Okri, was of the Igbo ethnic gathering. His father, Silver Okri belonged to an Urhobo community. His father was an assistant with Nigerian Railways. He then shifted to London, UK to pursue law studies.
Ben Okri joined the John Donne Primary School at Peckham in London. He needed to come back to Nigeria with his mom in 1966. He went to the schools Ibadan and Ikenne before starting his college at Urhobo College at Warri. He then moved home to Lagos, Nigeria to concentrate all alone on his studies.
Okri portrays 1976 as the year he originally got keen on composing. It was in this year that his father came back from England, carrying with him an assortment of books by different writers. These books were an essential factor in starting Okri’s enthusiasm for writing. He likewise traits his initial works from this chance to his dissatisfaction and inability to pick up the entrance into any Nigerian college.
He discovered work at a paint organization and started composing articles of social analysis. He started submitting these articles to nearby papers. At the point when these articles were dismissed, he composed short stories dependent on them. These short stories were his previously distributed works, acknowledged and imprinted in ladies’ diaries and Nigerian night papers.
Unfit to go to class in Nigeria, Okri came back to England in 1978 at 19 years old to start his education at the University of Essex. He contemplated his education in English and philosophy while taking a shot at his first novel, ‘Flowers and Shadows’ in 1980. Because of his absence of budgetary assets, Okri couldn’t finish his degree at Essex.
He at that point worked from 1983 to 1986 as the verse editorial manager for West Africa magazine. During this time he additionally worked for the BBC Africa administration.
Regardless of his inadequate training, Okri became a fruitful author.
Ben Okri’s Biography
Ben Okri was born on March 15th, 1959. He is a poet from Nigeria. Besides poetry, he is a well-recognized novelist well. He is a famous post-modern and post-colonial writer.
He was born in Minni. It is located in the West-Center of Nigeria. His father was Silver Okri while his mother was Grace. His father belonged to Urhobo while his mother belonged to Igbo. Thus, Ben Okri also belongs to the Urhobo Community.
Ben Okri was only two years old when his father decided to move the family to London. His family shifted to London. The main reason for moving to London was that Silver wanted to pursue his education. He wanted to study law.
The childhood of Ben Okri was spent in London. He got admission in a primary school in Peckham. Silver completed his education of law in 1968 and decided to move back to his native country. The family returned to Nigeria.
Silver then started the practice of Law in Lagos. The greatest point of his practice was that he offered his service for free to those people who were not in a position to afford the process.
Ben Okri`s educational background was not very good and strong. This when he became 14 years old, he applied for a short program at University. The course was in physics. He could not meet the criteria so his admission was rejected. This made him realize that he was destined for poetry. Thus, he started writing articles on various topics of political and social issues. The dilemma was that he could not find a publisher for those articles.
He got disappointed but he then decided to write short stories. He made his written articles the basis for writing short stories. Luckily, he was able to publish some of the stories in journals of women and some evening papers. Due to his writings and criticism on the activities of government, his life was threatened. Thus he thought that the best available option for his life was to leave the country.
In 1978, he left his country and traveled to England. Once in England, he pursued his admission at Essex University. He wanted to complete a degree in comparative literature. He was lucky enough to get admission to a grant from the government of Nigeria.
A time came when the amount of grant was stopped and he became homeless. He then had to live in parks and with various friends for survival. This experience became very important for his later work.
In 1980, when he was only 21, he published his first novel. It was named as ‘Flowers and Shadows.’ This gave him success and recognition. Afterward, he became the poetry editor for ‘West Africa; magazine. He served for this magazine for 3 years. From 1983 to 85, he actively contributed to the BBS world services. At the same time, he also continued publishing his works.
In 1991, his work won the Booker Prize for Fiction. He was awarded this prize for ‘The Famished Road.’ This made him the youngest person to win this prize.
Ben Okri’s Writing Style
Major concern of his writing
He has focused on his incorporation of African fantasy and old stories in his works. He has accentuated on otherworldliness and supernatural quality in his various works. In addition to these, he has also highlighted the Nigerian culture and the specialist issues related to the nation’s endeavors to transcend its third-world status.
Okri has furthermore got acclaim for his utilization of dreamlike detail, components of Nigerian narrating conventions, and Western scholarly procedures. He has followed the footprints of the enchantment realism promoted by Gabriel García Márquez. The critics have set Okri’s works immovably inside the custom of postcolonial composing and contrasting them with regarded Nigerian writers as Chinua Achebe.
Okri’s works habitually center on the political, social, and financial states of contemporary Nigeria. In ‘Flowers and Shadows’, for instance, Okri utilizes paradox and dualism to differentiate the rich and poor zones of a run of the mill Nigerian city. Set in the capital city of Lagos, the novel spotlights on Jeffie who is the ruined offspring of a rich man.
He understands his family’s opulence is the consequence of his father’s degenerate professional interactions. In ‘The Landscapes Within’, Omovo is a craftsman who, to the frustration and disappointment of family, companions, and government authorities, paints the defilement he finds in his day by day life.
‘The Landscapes Within’ read as stories of a nation, Nigeria, battling with neediness, debasement, and now and again war. These topical interests were additionally evolved in ‘The Famished Road’ (1991), for which Okri won the Booker Prize. In light of the Yoruba legend of the abiku the novel is told from the viewpoint of Azaro. He is a youngster who has chosen to remain on earth.
All through the book, the consistent cooperation among reality and the soul world helps one to remember African folktales just as twentieth-century stories enlivened by the oral convention, for example, Amos Tutuola’s. Eventually, the fantasy of the abiku, who is boundlessly passing on and renewed, is expected as an image for the Nigerian country. In 1993, ‘The Famished Road’ was trailed by a spin-off, ‘Songs of Enchantment; the abiku’ set of three was later finished by ‘Infinite Riches’ (1998).