Ben Okri
A Booker Prize-winning novelist who weaves the spiritual mythology of West Africa into mesmerizing stories that challenge the nature of reality itself.
Born 1959 (age 67)·Nigerian writer·Birthday: March 15·Baby Boomers
Biography
Ben Okri's literary world is one where the boundaries between the living and the ancestral, the real and the spirit realm, dissolve. Born in Nigeria, he spent part of his childhood in London before returning to a country gripped by civil war, an experience that deeply informs his work. His breakthrough came with 'The Famished Road' in 1991, a novel that follows the spirit-child Azaro through a tumultuous African nation. Its lyrical, dreamlike prose and fusion of social critique with Yoruba cosmology won the Booker Prize, making Okri the youngest winner of the award at the time. He has since built a formidable body of work—novels, short stories, poetry, and essays—that refuses simple categorization, insisting on the power of myth to illuminate contemporary crises and the resilience of the human spirit.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Ben was born in 1959, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Ben Was Born
The biggest hits of 1959
#1 Movie
Ben-Hur
Best Picture
Ben-Hur
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Ben's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1959Born
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1964Started school
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1972Became a teenager
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1975Could drive
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1977Could vote
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1980Turned 21
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1989Turned 30
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1999Turned 40
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 50
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2019Turned 60
First image of a black hole; Hong Kong protests
Gas: $2.60/galHome: $224,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Old Town Road" — Lil Nas XBest Picture: Parasite
2026Age 67 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won the Booker Prize in 1991 for his novel 'The Famished Road'.
- Was awarded an OBE in 2001 and later knighted in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to literature.
- Served as Vice-President of the English PEN center, advocating for freedom of expression.
- His body of work includes over ten novels, multiple poetry collections, and volumes of essays.
Did You Know?
He wrote his first novel, 'Flowers and Shadows', at age 19 and saw it published when he was 21.
He is an accomplished poet and has said he writes poetry every day.
Okri is a keen painter and has illustrated some of his own book covers.
He was once a broadcaster for the BBC World Service.
“The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection. Where there is perfection there is no story to tell.”
