Sir Ben Okri was born on 15 March 1959 in Minna, Nigeria. He grew up in a mixed family: his dad was Urhobo, and his mum was half-Igbo, and she came from a royal family. When Ben was still a baby, less than two years old, his dad moved the family to London so he could study law. That’s why Ben spent his very early childhood in London and went to primary school in Peckham.
In 1966, the family moved back to Nigeria, where his father practised law in Lagos and offered free or discounted services to those who couldn’t afford it. Ben Okri attended schools in Ibadan and Ikenne, and in 1968, he started his secondary education at Urhobo College in Warri as the youngest in his class.
His exposure to the Nigerian Civil War and the culture around him, where his peers claimed to have visions of spirits, later inspired much of his fiction.
Discovering his calling and early writing
At 14, after being rejected from a short university physics programme because of his age and lack of qualifications, Okri had a revelation that poetry was his calling. He began writing articles on social and political issues, but they were never published, so he turned them into short stories, some of which appeared in women’s journals and evening papers.
He later said that his criticism of the government in some of this early work put him on a death list, forcing him to leave the country. In 1978, he moved back to England and studied comparative literature at the University of Essex with a Nigerian government grant.
When funding fell through, he became homeless for a time, living in parks or with friends, and he said that period was crucial to his work because he wrote constantly and his desire to write intensified.
Literary breakthrough and Booker Prize success
His literary career began in 1980 when he published his debut novel, Flowers and Shadows, at the age of 21.
From 1983 to 1986, he was poetry editor of West Africa magazine, and he contributed regularly to the BBC World Service between 1983 and 1985 while continuing to publish. His reputation was cemented when his novel The Famished Road won the Booker Prize in 1991, making him the youngest winner at 32.
He wrote that novel while living in a Notting Hill flat rented from publisher friend Margaret Busby from 1988, and he said that period brought a tranquillity to his writing. That same flat was where he wrote the short stories that became Stars of the New Curfew in 1988.
Roles in literary organisations and recognition
Okri was elected vice-president of the English Centre for International PEN in 1997, and in 1999, he joined the board of the Royal National Theatre.
He became vice-president of the Caine Prize for African Writing on 26 April 2012, after being associated with the prize since it began 13 years earlier.
In 2022, he was appointed vice-president of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and in 2023, he was knighted in the Birthday Honours for services to literature.
Literary style and major works
Okri is seen as one of Africa’s top writers and is often called a major figure in postmodern and postcolonial literature. His best-known work is The Famished Road, which is part of a trilogy with Songs of Enchantment (1993) and Infinite Riches (1998).
The trilogy follows Azaro, a spirit-child narrator, through the turmoil of a nation that reflects Okri’s memories of war-torn Nigeria.
His writing is tough to pin down and is often labelled postmodern, but critics argue that his belief in the spirit world challenges that label. Okri doesn’t like being called a magical realist either. He says his work follows a “dream logic” and is all about asking what reality actually is.
He’s said he grew up in a tradition where reality has more dimensions, like legends, myths, ancestors, spirits, and death. So he believes everyone’s reality is different. He also warns that stories we read or tell can subtly alter our world.
Poetry, essays, plays, and visual art
Aside from novels, Okri has published poetry, essays, and short stories, and he has written plays and film scripts. His short fiction tends to be more realistic than his novels, but still shows Africans in communion with spirits.
His poetry and nonfiction often have a political tone, focusing on Africa’s potential and the world’s ability to overcome modern problems. He wrote the text for the film N – The Madness of Reason, which won the 2015 Ensor Award for Best Film, and in 2018, he adapted Albert Camus’s The Outsider into a play.
In April 2019, he gave the keynote address at the Berlin African Book Festival, and in 2021, he published a volume of collected poems titled A Fire in My Head: Poems for the Dawn.
Ben Okri has also worked with visual art since youth, and in 2023, he collaborated with painter Rosemary Clunie on the exhibition Firedreams at the Bomb Factory, Marylebone. They previously combined paintings and stories in the 2017 book The Magic Lamp: Dreams of Our Age.
Influences and inspirations
Okri has said his work is shaped by the philosophical books on his dad’s shelf just as much as by literature. He’s mentioned Francis Bacon and Michel de Montaigne as big influences. He also draws from stories like Aesop’s Fables, Arabian Nights, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
His 1999 epic poem Mental Fight is named after a quotation from William Blake’s poem “And did those feet…”, and critics have noted a close relationship between Blake and Okri’s poetry. He was also shaped by the oral traditions of his people and his mum’s storytelling, and his time living through civil war in Nigeria inspired a lot of his work.
On the final day of the 2021 COP26 climate meeting, he wrote about the existential threat of climate change and argued that humans need a new art and psychology to overcome apathy and denial.
Honours, awards, and recognition
Okri was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2001 Birthday Honours for services to literature, and in 2023, he was knighted for the same reason.
His awards include the 1987 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Incidents at the Shrine, the 1987 Aga Khan Prize for Fiction for The Dream Vendor’s August, and the 1991 Booker Prize for The Famished Road, among many others.
He’s also picked up numerous honorary doctorates and other honours over the years. In 2003, he was named one of the 100 Great Black Britons, and in 2014, he won the Bad Sex in Fiction Award.
Published works and film projects
Novels by Ben Okri
- Flowers and Shadows (1980)
- The Landscapes Within (1981)
- The Famished Road (1991)
- Songs of Enchantment (1993)
- Astonishing the Gods (1995)
- Dangerous Love (1996)
- Infinite Riches (1998)
- In Arcadia (2002)
- Starbook (2007)
- The Age of Magic (2014)
- The Freedom Artist (2019)
Collections of poetry, essays and short stories
- Incidents at the Shrine (1986)
- Stars of the New Curfew (1988)
- An African Elegy (1992)
- Birds of Heaven (1996)
- A Way of Being Free (1997)
- Mental Fight (1999)
- Tales of Freedom (2009)
- A Time for New Dreams (2011)
- Wild (2012)
- The Mystery Feast: Thoughts on Storytelling (2015)
- The Magic Lamp: Dreams of Our Age (2017)
- Rise Like Lions: Poetry for the Many (editor, 2018)
- Prayer for the Living (2019)
- A Fire in My Head: Poems for the Dawn (2021)
Film and other media
- N – The Madness of Reason (film text/script, 2014)
- “A Wrinkle in the Realm” (online fiction, The New Yorker, February 2021)
Ben Okri’s wife and children
Ben Okri’s personal life isn’t very detailed in major profiles, but some biographies and reports say he was married to Victoria Inyama, a Nigerian actress, and they had children together.
Most of them say Okri was married to Nollywood actress Victoria Inyama and the couple has three children together.
There are also reports that they later separated, with mention of accusations from Victoria Inyama.
The children’s names include Mark and Rachael, plus another son whose name isn’t published.
Ben Okri Net Worth
Ben Okri made money through editing and broadcasting, including work as a poetry editor for West Africa magazine and contributions to the BBC.
As his writing career picked up, most of his income started coming from the sales and royalties of his novels, poetry, essays, short stories, and other work. His bestselling books still bring in money years after they were released.
He also earned from prizes and awards, especially the Booker Prize. On top of that, he makes money from public speaking, giving talks and appearing at festivals around the world. He also earns from film and theatre projects, as well as scriptwriting.
Altogether, his net worth is usually estimated at $5 million, though some put it closer to $7 million.