Douglas Adams
- 1992-01-05
Ben Okri
The author of The Famished Road celebrates his Booker Prize win.
In 1991, Nigerian-British author Ben Okri was awarded the Booker Prize for his third novel, The Famished Road, coming ahead of a shortlist that included Martin Amis, Roddy Doyle, Rohinton Mistry, Timothy Mo and William Trevor.
In this short video, Okri speaks of being initially a little overwhelmed by his victory, but jokes that "it compensates for all that solitude, all that suffering and sleeplessness" that comes with being a writer.
In a video that characterises Okri as part of a tradition of modern African writing alongside his fellow Nigerian Chinua Achebe, the author explains that "the African world view is one that does not separate between the world of the living and the world of the dead" - something that he sees as opening up huge new territory for writing. But he resists the tendency to associate literature with any particular nation or region, insisting that "books should be allowed to be free."
The intention of this simple government-sponsored film - which would likely have been distributed widely overseas, but particularly in Africa - is clearly not only to champion Okri as a British success story, but to present him as an example of a Britain that has put its colonial past behind it and which is comfortable with its status as an increasingly multicultural society.
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What We Read
Get between the covers with some of the brightest literary stars past and present.
In this hyper-digital age, there's something a bit special about the most medium analogue of all. Literary tastes may have changed over the years, but that cool touch of paper, that light swish as each page curves over is as satisfying as ever. But then, the chances are you're reading this in a public library, so you won't need us to tell you about the wonder of books.
The videos collected here celebrate the joys of reading and the agonies of writing, and highlight how literary tastes have changed (or not) over the years. You'll find some of the giants of the literary scene discussing their work, their creative process and their influences. You'll find books of all kinds - fiction, non-fiction, for readers young, old and anything in between - explored, examined, discussed and reviewed. So why not, to borrow a phrase, curl up with a good video?
13 videos in this collection
1
Douglas Adams
2
Jilly Cooper / Jean Rook (Calendar People)
3
Kazuo Ishiguro with Clive Sinclair
4
Ben Okri
5
Margaret Atwood with Hermione Lee
6
Children's Books
7
Kathy Acker
8
It's Fun to Read [29/12/70]
9
The Book Tower [02/01/85]
10
Barbara Cartland Book 'Getting Older'
11
P.D. James with A.S. Byatt
12
Jill Craigie / Rosamond Lehmann
13