Booker Prize-winning novelist Ben Okri, 67, has shared his thoughts on death, love, and his most unappealing habits in a recent interview. The author of The Famished Road described his worst job as 'looking after the flowerbed on my windowsill' and stated that when we die, 'we don’t die. We change realms. Life is eternal. Living is not.'
Early Life and Career
Born in Minna, Nigeria, Okri spent his childhood between Nigeria and London. He published his first novel, Flowers and Shadows, in 1980 and won the Booker Prize in 1991 for The Famished Road. His novel Astonishing the Gods was selected in 2019 as one of the BBC’s 100 novels 'that shaped our world'. In 2023, he was knighted for services to literature. His latest novel, Waking the Warriors, is published on 16 July. He lives with his partner and their child in London.
Personal Insights and Habits
Okri described his most treasured possession as a photograph of his parents and listed his most unappealing habit as 'gargling loudly with salt water'. When asked about the worst thing anyone has said to him, he recalled: 'You don’t stand a chance of succeeding as a writer in this country. The demographics are against you.' He added that they were wrong: 'The only demographic that counts is the human heart.'
Love, Death, and Philosophy
On love, Okri said he has never said 'I love you' without meaning it, calling love a 'cosmic force'. He described the best kiss of his life as 'a circular breathing kiss, in another incarnation, intuited, never to be repeated.' Regarding death, Okri stated: 'What happens when we die? We don’t die. We change realms. Life is eternal. Living is not. Live while you are alive.'
Regrets and Aspirations
Okri expressed a desire to 'have another crack at being me. I now know how I can be me better and faster, with grander results.' He listed his most important lesson as 'Evolve or perish' and said he would leave his children 'the wisdom to become who they are in the truth of their spirit.'
