An African Elegy

by Ben Okri

A collection of poems reflecting Okri's concerns about Africa's colossal economic and political problems.

Genres: Poetry, Africa, African Literature

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Poet and novelist Ben Okri was born in 1959 in Minna, northern Nigeria, to an Igbo mother and Urhobo father. He grew up in London before returning to Nigeria with his family in 1968. Much of his early fiction explores the political violence that he witnessed at first hand during the civil war in Nigeria. He left the country when a grant from the Nigerian government enabled him to read Comparative Literature at Essex University in England.

He was poetry editor for West Africa magazine between 1983 and 1986 and broadcast regularly for the BBC World Service between 1983 and 1985. He was appointed Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College Cambridge in 1991, a post he held until 1993. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1987, and was awarded honorary doctorates from the universities of Westminster (1997) and Essex (2002).

His first two novels, Flowers and Shadows (1980) and The Landscapes Within (1981), are both set in Nigeria and feature as central characters two young men struggling to make sense of the disintegration and chaos happening in both their family and country. The two collections of stories that followed, Incidents at the Shrine (1986) and Stars of the New Curfew (1988), are set in Lagos and London.

In 1991 Okri was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel The Famished Road (1991). Set in a Nigerian village, this is the first in a trilogy of novels which tell the story of Azaro, a spirit child. Azaro's narrative is continued in Songs of Enchantment (1993) and Infinite Riches (1998). Other recent fiction includes Astonishing the Gods (1995) and Dangerous Love (1996), which was awarded the Premio Palmi (Italy) in 2000. His latest novels are In Arcadia (2002) and Starbook (2007).

A collection of poems, An African Elegy, was published in 1992, and an epic poem, Mental Flight, in 1999. A collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, was published in 1997. Ben Okri is also the author of a play, In Exilus.

In his latest book, Tales of Freedom (2009), Okri brings together poetry and story.

Ben Okri is a Vice-President of the English Centre of International PEN, a member of the board of the Royal National Theatre, and was awarded an OBE in 2001. He lives in London.

Reviews

[Arie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely stunning. Really will need to write a full review of this - especially in light of Ben Okri's mesmerising talk at the Auckland Writer's Festival (where yes, I got to meet him and he is - not incredible, or unbelievable, or any such word because that somehow implies unapproachable or beyond-human when he is the very opposite of this... I'll have to think of a word that works, I guess I'll need a little more time...)

Anyway.

"The darkness is gentler than you think" is now in my Top 10 Favourite Ever (Written) Sentences" list (which I may have only just begun in order to add this line to...)

[Alice C · Rating 2 out of 5]

okay i guess… i was trying to figure out why i didn’t like this and i am struggling to get an answer. He overused techniques so that i felt they were obsolete throughout the collection. I suppose i felt that none of the themes were properly developed, maybe it needs some sit-down analysis but it just felt like he was flitting between themes every other line. Some of the imagery was slightly too conventional for my taste - didn’t feel authentic.
But the main reason for the 2 stars rather than 1 is his rhyme scheme! very very clever rhyming, putting emphasis on words in the middle of lines and speeding the pace of some parts.

[Carmijn Gerritsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was a mediocre poetry collection. It didn’t grip me apart from single lines or stanzas. I found myself skimming over some poems, as the poet revolted to similar themes and traditional styles.

[Prince Mondise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of poetry!

[Gareth Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved re-reading this collection after many years. Ben Okri is a masterful poet as much as he is a compelling novelist. Many of these poems are visceral, summoning the lived horrors of repeated political betrayal of the vast mass of ordinary, remarkable people who live under arbitrary authority.
Elsewhere, poems of love and beauty make me gasp. This collection spans a decade and distils much of Okri’s messages in pithy, poetic for,.
Marvellous!

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have become the kind of person who will read anything Ben Okri writes and I'm okay with that. This collection of poems spans a few decades in his writing career. There's poems about politics and about life more broadly. I think I missed some of the sociopolitical context of Africa in the 1980s that would make the political poems even more impactful. Still, I enjoyed this collection and there are several poems I plan to go back and reread.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of Okri. There were a fair few poems that didn't really speak to me in this collection however, the entire collection was worth it simply for the first and last: Lament of the Images and To An English Friend in Africa. The first appeals to a specific interest of mine (cultural looting) and the last one is just so beautiful to read.

[Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

booker prize winner my arse

[Corvinus Maximilus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing about Okri is that you've got to have your head in the right state to hear him. This series of poems is a short easy read though, but some of the poems held nothing for me. My favourites are "They Say" "And if you should leave me" "To an English friend in Africa". They are beautiful words, enough for everyone. I will definitely be reading this over and over again until I hear everything he is saying to me. Brilliant and odd, just like Okri.

[Anne-marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the quite simple style and the themes that Okri draws out as running through time. War, jealousy, love, enchantment.

[Leanne Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this on a second hand stall in the students union many years ago. Just brilliant. Contains my favourite poem in the world, "To an English friend in Africa".

[Manika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am always speechless at such pure beauty.