Podcast appearances and mentions of Ben Okri

Simon and Rachel speak to the novelist Ben Okri. Born in Minna, Nigeria, Ben came to England as a child. He attended school in London before returning to Africa with his parents on the eve of the Nigerian Civil War. He came once more to the UK in 1978 and studied at Essex University. Two years later he published his first novel "Flowers and Shadows". A second, "The Landscapes Within", appeared two years afterwards, before two collections of short stories in 1986 and 1988. In 1991 his novel "The Famished Road" won the Booker Prize, the first time a black writer received that award. Ben's subsequent work includes the novel "Astonishing the Gods" (chosen by the BBC in 2019 as "one of the 100 novels that has shaped our world"), the epic poem "Mental Fight" and the play "The Outsider". We spoke to Ben about his early life in Nigeria and Britain, winning the Booker Prize, and his latest novel, "Madame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken-Hearted". We have recently also overhauled our offer for those ⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠. Our central reward is a - now greatly expanded - sheaf of successful journalistic pitches, which we've solicited from friends of Always Take Notes. In the package we now have successful pitches to, among others, the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Yorker, the Financial Times, the Economist, the London Review of Books, Vanity Fair, Outside magazine, the Spectator, the Sunday Times, Esquire, Granta, the Literary Review, Prospect, Bloomberg Businessweek and GQ. Anyone who supports the show with $5 per month or more will receive the full compendium. Other rewards include signed copies of our podcast book (see below) and the opportunity to take part in a monthly call with the two of us to workshop your own pitches and writing projects. A new edition of “Always Take Notes: Advice From Some Of The World's Greatest Writers” - a book drawing on our podcast interviews - is available now. The updated version now includes insights from over 100 past guests on the podcast, with new contributions from Harlan Coben, Victoria Hislop, Lee Child, Megan Nolan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Philippa Gregory, Jo Nesbø, Paul Theroux, Hisham Matar and Bettany Hughes. You can order it via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Waterstones⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.You can find us online at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠alwaystakenotes.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, on Twitter @takenotesalways and on Instagram @alwaystakenotes. Always Take Notes is presented by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd, and produced by Artemis Irvine. Our music is by Jessica Dannheisser and our logo was designed by James Edgar.

Sir Ben Okri and Colum McCann join Joe Haddow for a war of the words... This is Ben's second appearance on Book Off! (The first author to ever appear on the pod twice)Let's see if he's learnt anything from the last time!He chats about his woozy new novella - "Madame Sosostris And The Festival For The Broken-Hearted' - and the poem that inspired it. We also learn he has read 'War & Peace' FOUR times! And so we get a full Ben Okri style review... Colum's new novel - 'Twist' - is a darkly epic tale of connection, disconnection and destruction. He chats about his research on ships in South Africa and his fascination with what's under the sea - deep down.The writers also discuss the importance of artists and books in this turbulent time, and recommend us some brilliant novels too. THE BOOK OFF"Le Grand Meaulnes" by Alain Fournier VS"When The Bulbul Stopped Singing" by Raja Shehadeh Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's episode 208 and time for us to talk about our Reading Resolutions for 2025! We discuss our love of spreadsheets, the churn of books in public libraries, literacy, unschooling, and more!  You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray

The first title that springs to mind at the mention of William Golding's name is most often Lord of the Flies. The classic story of a group of schoolboys marooned on a desert island all but made his reputation and has somewhat overshadowed his twelve other novels. Golding was a fascinating and often troubled man, a voracious reader who enjoyed the Odyssey in Greek as well as Georgette Heyer and Jilly Cooper and was an influence on many novelists from Stephen King to Penelope Lively, Ben Okri and Kazuo Ishiguro. Definitely a writer ripe for rediscovery. Now, the Slightly Foxed team sit down with the author's daughter Judy and Golding expert Professor Tim Kendall to discuss the life and work of this brave and highly original writer, whose novels transport the reader to distant but entirely believable worlds. His work grapples with the big questions of existence but his originality as a writer sometimes worked against him, and Lord of the Flies was rejected by seven publishers before it was accepted by Charles Monteith at Faber. It was glowingly reviewed and became a bestseller but, behind the scenes, Golding was struggling with his addiction to alcohol and the fame his writing would bring him. After a poor reception from the critics for several of his following books, including both The Spire and The Pyramid, Golding was thrown into a deep depression. This crisis lasted over ten years, but when he finally returned to writing he went on to produce a series of successful novels – including Rites of Passage, winner of the 1980 Booker Prize. In 1983 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.  The usual round of reading recommendations include South from Granada, Gerald Brenan's recollection of the years he spent in an Andalusian village in the 1920s with visits from the Bloomsbury group; Robert Harris's Precipice, a semi-fictional account of the relationship in 1914 between Prime Minister Asquith, and Venetia Stanley, and Penelope Lively's novel Passing On. For episode show notes, please see the Slightly Foxed website. Opening music: Preludio from Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major by Bach Hosted by Rosie Goldsmith Produced by Philippa Goodrich

Poet, author, and playwright Ben Okri reads his story “A Wrinkle in the Realm,” and talks about music and dream logic. Stanford's Dr. Tomás Jiménez speaks about polarization, belonging, and empathy. And podcaster and songwriter Matshidiso returns to SongWriter, and co-writes a song with Ben OkriYou can hear Matshidiso's recent single, Dreams, and her first episode  with Charlie Gilmour, and songs Ben Okri co-wrote with Damon Albarn (Gorillaz, Blur) and Tony Allen, Cosmosis, and with Harper Simon, Wishes and StarsA playlist of Ben Arthur's songs featured in season six (as instrumentals or written as a response to an episode) can be found on Apple Music or SpotifySongWriterPodcast.comInstagram.com/SongWriterPodcastFacebook.com/SongWriterPodcastTikTok.com/@SongWriterPodcastX.com/SnogWriterSeason six is made possible by a grant from Templeton World Charity Foundation

Notes and Links to Mirin Fader's Work      For Episode 257, Pete welcomes Mirin Fader for her second Chills at Will visit, and the two discuss, among other topics, her love of contemporary fiction, how her second book's release is different than that of her first, seeds for her latest book-Dream, about the great Hakeem Olajuwon-coming from her previous blockbuster about Giannis Antetokounmpo, her finding stories within stories while researching the book, and the wonders and legends of Hakeem Olajuwon, from his start in handball and soccer to the ignorant and racist ways he was often viewed, to the role that discipline, creativity, and his faith play in his daily life.       Mirin Fader is a senior staff writer for The Ringer. Her first book, Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA Champion, was a New York Times Bestseller, Los Angeles Times Bestseller, Wall Street Journal Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, Publishers Weekly Bestseller. She has profiled some of the NBA's biggest stars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ja Morant, DeMar DeRozan, and LaMelo Ball, telling the backstories that have shaped some of our most complex, most dominant, heroes. Fader wrote for Bleacher Report from 2017 to 2020 and the Orange County Register from 2013 to 2017. Her work has been featured in the “Best American Sports Writing” series and honored by the Pro Basketball Writers Association, the Associated Press Sports Editors, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, the Football Writers Association of America, and the Los Angeles Press Club.    Buy Dream   Mirin Fader's Website   See Mirin on Tour!   At about 2:50, Mirin discusses her love of fiction and beloved contemporary texts, including Tommy Orange's latest, and Sudanese writer, Rania Mamoun's latest At about 4:40, Mirin responds to Pete's question about any sort of competitiveness within writers in Mirin's cohort, and Pete and Mirin stan Wright Thompson  At about 6:30, Pete highlights Demar Derozan's recent book and Mirin's profile of him for The Ringer At about 9:45, Mirin gives background on her profile of Bronny James and what “lane” she focused on for the piece At about 12:30, Some all-time NBA rankings! At about 14:45, Pete cites the book about Giannis and its lasting greatness At about 15:05, Pete asks Mirin about the run-up to her second book and feedback At about 16:10, Mirin mentions the nostalgia associated with Hakeem Olajuwon At about 17:30, Mirin talks about the “unheralded” nature of Hakeem, as well as the emergence of international basketball players, particularly with African players, for which he was a “prequel” At about 19:25, Mirin gives background on Ben Okri's quote for her epigraph and its connection to Hakeem and devotion and creativity At about 20:10, The two discuss the book's Prologue and LeBron James famous trip to train with Hakeem in 2011 At about 22:40, Henri Yranndo and his importance to Hakeem and his spiritual resurgence is referenced At about 24:00, Mirin discusses her wonderful experiences in going to Hakeem's mosque in Houston At about 25:00, Pete asks Mirin to expand on Hakeem as a “hidden one,” and connections to a hadith quoted from the Koran At about 26:30, The two discuss the book's beginning, and Mirin talks about the bustling city of Lagos, Hakeem's childhood (and later American media racism in describing his youth), and how his father taught him to be proud of his size At about 29:10, Mirin talks about Hakeem's early athletic feats outside of basketball, and how he was “recruited” to finally give in and play basketball At about 31:20, Pete and Mirin reflect on the sad fact that so many interviewees for the book have died recently and how this affects her urgency to get stories on paper At about 32:35, Mirin responds to Pete's wondering about how Hakeem's 1980 Nigerian National Team appearance affected his growth At about 34:10, The “Dream Shake” and Yomi Sangodeyi's greatness and tutoring are explored At about 35:00, Christopher Pond and the supposed origin story of Hakeem's Univ. of Houston landing, as well as problematic parts of the story are probed At about 38:50, Mirin talks about Hakeem's time in Houston and the city's growing Nigerian population  At about 40:10, Mirin expands upon the ignorant and racist ways in which Hakeem was written about, especially in his earlier years, and she shares the story of how him “changing his name” Was emblematic of his humble nature At about 42:55, Mirin highlights how Hakeem was never seen as a draft mistake, even though he was drafted over Michael Jordan, and Pete cites Frank Guidry's book on Houston and how the Forde Center helped Hakeem improve greatly as a Rocket At about 44:15, Pete cites Hakeem's moving letter referenced in the book, and how Mirin charts his rediscovering his faith through some amazing and makes it clear that he never “converted” to Islam At about 46:45, The two reflect on and express the amazement and respect for Hakeem's Ramadan fasting during his playing days At about 47:45, Pete and Mirin stan Hakeem's unforgettable series against David Robinson  At about 48:45, Mirin talks about how Hakeem's faith calls for him to not display iconography and show humility and how the book's cover satisfied the requirements of being respectful  At about 50:45, Mirin shouts out Brazos Bookstore and Skylight Books as good places to buy her book, and shouts out her first tour        You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.       I am very excited to have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review.     Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl      Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content! This month's Patreon bonus episode features segments from conversations with Deesha Philyaw, Luis Alberto Urrea, Chris Stuck, and more, as they reflect on chill-inducing writing and writers that have inspired their own work. I have added a $1 a month tier for “Well-Wishers” and Cheerleaders of the Show.    This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 258 with Porochista Khakpour, the critically acclaimed author of two previous novels, Sons and Other Flammable Objects and The Last Illusion; a memoir, Sick; and a collection of essays, Brown Album. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bookforum, Elle, and many other publications. Her latest book, a chaotic and satirical stellar work, is Tehrangeles. This episode will air on October 22. Lastly, please go to ceasefiretoday.com, which features 10+ actions to help bring about Ceasefire in Gaza.

Arran Stibbe is Professor in Ecological Linguistics at the University of Gloucestershire. In his teaching and research he focuses on how language makes us who we are as people, and the role of language in building the kind of society we live in, using discourse analysis and ecolinguistics. Ecolinguistics examines how language encodes the stories we live by, and shapes how we see ourselves and our relationship with other animals and the earth. This involves linguistic analysis of a wide range of discourses, from advertising which encourages people to buy unnecessary and ecologically damaging products, to the inspirational language of nature writing. He is founder of the International Ecolinguistics Association. In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what's real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?" Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. 00:00 Clips! 01:00 Welcome - "I'm a massive fan of Sentientism. It's a crystal clear worldview that you're expressing... it's an important message that needs to get out there." - Arran's book "Econarrative" 03:39 Arran's Intro - Ecological linguistics... "I get to analyse any kind of discourse that I want to... then I critique the stories that are emerging... based on my ecological philosophy... respecting living beings and wanting them to flourish" - Discourses from Men's Health magazine to the Pork industry handbook to nature poetry, creation stories... "positive ones and negative ones" - "Searching for new stories to live by" - Consulting with @greenpeace  and others on messaging - Stories... Ben Okri: "Stories are the secret reservoirs of values... if we change the stories that individuals and nations live by then we change the individuals and nations themselves" - "If we pay careful attention to the language we can understand these stories that fundamentally underpin our unequal and unsustainable and quite cruel society" - Stories as "cognitive models in our minds that influence how we think, how we talk and how we act"... individuals and across a culture e.g. "The masculine man being strong & not showing emotions & eating lots of meat... a hegemonic story" - Narrative: "A more traditional kind of story you might tell to children at bedtime... sequences of events..." - "I would go with this #meme idea... but I think it's even more fundamental than that... so much of what we're thinking is part of this wider social cognition..." - "Is it a simplification to think of a separate being... you wouldn't exist for more than a few minutes on your own in space... your continued existence depends on breathing..." 11:27 What's Real? 26:35 What and Who Matters? 46:15 A Better World? & much more. Full notes at sentientism.info. 01:12:52 Follow Arran - Arran at the University of Gloucestershire - The Stories We Live By – the free online course - The Ecolinguistics Association - Stibbe, Arran (2024) Econarrative: ethics, ecology and the search for new narratives to live by. London: Bloomsbury - Stibbe, Arran (2021) Ecolinguistics: language, ecology and the stories we live by (second edition). London: Routledge Sentientism is “Evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings.” More at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sentientism.info⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠"I'm a Sentientist" wall⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this simple form⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Everyone, Sentientist or not, is welcome in our ⁠⁠groups⁠⁠. The biggest so far is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here on FaceBook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Come join us there!

It would feel wrong to place labels on Jane Hirshfield. Language would fail to reach there, ironic for someone who has devoted their life to the practice of poetry and the practice of Zen Buddhism. Jane is a modern master, change-maker, and wise and winsome voice. Origins Podcast WebsiteFlourishing Commons NewsletterShow Notes:The Ritual Process by Victor Turner (09:30)nonattachment (14:00)Poem: "My Skeleton" (21:30)Poem: "For What Binds Us" (28:20, read 33:00)Poets for Science (29:10; 56:30)Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (31:00)Poem: "Let Them Not Say" (32:10)Gary Snyder (32:00)Palimpsest (36:20)Poem: "My Hunger" (42:20)Poem: "I Sat in the Sun" (45:30)Man's Search for Meaningby Victor Frankl (48:00)Neti Neti (49:00)Poem: "Possibility: An Assay" (50:30)Stuart Kauffman's theory of adjacent possible (55:30)The 'assay' form of poetry (56:30)Poets for Science in New York Times (57:00)Poem: "On the Fifth Day" (58:40)March for Science (59:00)Wick Poetry Center and David Hassler on Origins (01:01:00)Nobel Science Summit (01:01:00)Videos of poets in poets for science mentioned (01:02:00)Brian Eno (01:06:30)Lightning Round (01:06:00):book: The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf passion: being an embodied person outside of words; natural horsemanshipheart sing: conversationsscrewed up: Poem: "My Failure"Astonishing the Gods by Ben Okri (01:12:00)Find Jane online:The Asking: New & Selected Poems Logo artwork by Cristina GonzalezMusic by swelo on all streaming platforms or @swelomusic on social media

Welcome to episode five, Season 2 of The Queen's Reading Room Podcast. This week's episode features none other than poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist, the brilliant Sir Ben Okri - fresh off his appearance at The Queen's Reading Room Festival which took place on June 8th at Hampton Court Palace. What, and who inspires Sir Ben? Prepare to be enlightened as Sir Ben invites the listeners inside his very own reading room, where he reveals his most treasured literary influences. The Queen's Reading Room Podcast is a place for book lovers - and those who wish they loved literature a little more - to be inspired by the bookish confessions of global literary heroes. Authors from all over the world have shared their own literary treasures with us; revealing their favourite writers, most treasured books and earliest reading memories. Discover the joy of reading with The Queens Reading Room podcast, available weekly on all podcast platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vicki is the “Founding Activator” of Coralus, a venture capital company with a unique approach to reimagining the world of entrepreneurship. With a background in social entrepreneurship and a deep commitment to radical generosity, Vicki is a highly hopeful and optimistic individual who is dedicated to making a positive impact on the world. Get book links and resources at http://2pageswithmbs.com and subscribe to the 2 Pages newsletter at https://2pageswithmbs.substack.com. Vicki Saunders reads from "Astonishing the Gods" by Ben Okri. [reading begins at 18:40] Hear us discuss: “I can feel myself being pulled two ways because definitely things are atomizing. Content is coming in shorter and shorter clips. Even paragraphs are shrinking. Shrinking, just like my attention.” [00:00] | "I just don't understand why we… make money, and then give it away to make things better, to solve the crappy things that we did when we made money." [03:04] | “How much energy is this taking? Is it actually creating any impact? And so at some point in the last 30 years, I was like, you know, changing the system is not why I'm here. It's to build a new one.” [11:05] | “How do we want to be together and live together? How do we want to be with one another, to witness each other's gifts, and to share ours with others in this act of reciprocity?” [21:15] | "Dreaming is a muscle. Courage is a muscle. You need to work it, stress it, be kind to it. That's how muscle grows. That's how muscle stays healthy." [37:07]

17. Mark Ecob on book cover design (part 3): The award-winning book cover designer, Mark Ecob, aka Mecob, tells We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan how he does it. We also talk about in this 3 part episode: Ben Okri & Tiger Work, Alexander McCall Smith, Piers Torday, sustainable publishing & the Society of Authors, Roald Dahl, Amazon thumbnails, Will Dean & his book Dark Pines & the great cover by Mark Swan / Kid Ethic, Paul Kingsnorth & the challenge of having a good book cover name, genre fiction tropes, Blackwatertown by Paul Waters, Books by Stevyn Colgan, Ben Tallon's podcast - The Creative Condition, the threat of AI, author Ajay Chowdhury & cover designer Dan Mogford, & Lego. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is writing a new cosy mystery series set in contemporary Delhi - more on that anon. And if you're still stuck for something to read now, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

18. Mark Ecob on book cover design (part 2): The award-winning book cover designer, Mark Ecob, aka Mecob, tells We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan how he does it. We also talk about in this 3 part episode: Ben Okri & Tiger Work, Alexander McCall Smith, Piers Torday, sustainable publishing & the Society of Authors, Roald Dahl, Amazon thumbnails, Will Dean & his book Dark Pines & the great cover by Mark Swan / Kid Ethic, Paul Kingsnorth & the challenge of having a good book cover name, genre fiction tropes, Blackwatertown by Paul Waters, Books by Stevyn Colgan, Ben Tallon's podcast - The Creative Condition, the threat of AI, author Ajay Chowdhury & cover designer Dan Mogford, & Lego. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is writing a new cosy mystery series set in contemporary Delhi - more on that anon. And if you're still stuck for something to read now, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

19. Mark Ecob on book cover design (part 1): The award-winning book cover designer, Mark Ecob, aka Mecob, tells We'd Like A Word hosts Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan how he does it. We also talk about in this 3 part episode: Ben Okri & Tiger Work, Alexander McCall Smith, Piers Torday, sustainable publishing & the Society of Authors, Roald Dahl, Amazon thumbnails, Will Dean & his book Dark Pines & the great cover by Mark Swan / Kid Ethic, Paul Kingsnorth & the challenge of having a good book cover name, genre fiction tropes, Blackwatertown by Paul Waters, Books by Stevyn Colgan, Ben Tallon's podcast - The Creative Condition, the threat of AI, author Ajay Chowdhury & cover designer Dan Mogford, & Lego. We'd Like A Word is a podcast & radio show from authors Paul Waters & Stevyn Colgan. We talk with writers, readers, editors, agents, celebrities, talkers, poets, publishers, booksellers, & audiobook creators about books - fiction & non-fiction. We go out on various radio & podcast platforms. Our website is http://www.wedlikeaword.com for information on Paul, Steve & our guests. We're on Twitter @wedlikeaword & Facebook @wedlikeaword & our email is wedlikeaword@gmail.com Yes, we're embarrassed by the missing apostrophes. We like to hear from you - questions, thoughts, ideas, guest or book suggestions. Perhaps you'd like to come on We'd Like A Word to chat, review or read out passages from books. Paul is writing a new cosy mystery series set in contemporary Delhi - more on that anon. And if you're still stuck for something to read now, may we recommend Blackwatertown, the thriller by Paul Waters or Cockerings, the comic classic by Stevyn Colgan.

In this Grounding Moment, Dr. Rupa Marya Gandhi shares a quote by Ben Okri, read from her book Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice, co-authored with Raj Patel.You can find full transcripts, links, and other information on our website.

When does a book transcend from contemporary literature to a classic? Does someone have to confirm its classic status? And can all Booker Prize novels be considered classics just by being part of the Booker canon? This, and more, is what Jo and James are trying to get to the heart of in this week's episode. Listen in as they discuss what makes a classic novel and chat about which Booker books should be known as classics. In this episode Jo and James: Consider what makes a classic Each pick three novels from the Booker Library that are – or should be – considered classics Discuss the plots of their chosen novels and why they are deserving of classic status Reading list: Something to Answer For by P.H. Newby: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/something-to-answer-for A Month in the Country by J.L. Carr: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/a-month-in-the-country How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/how-late-it-was-how-late St. Urbain's Horseman by Mordecai Richler: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/st-urbains-horseman Atonement by Ian McEwan: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/atonement The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-remains-of-the-day The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-handmaids-tale Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/shuggie-bain Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/schindlers-ark The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-english-patient Autobiography by Morrisey The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/midnights-children The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-siege-of-krishnapur The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-conservationist Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/oscar-and-lucinda The Ghost Road by Pat Barker: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-ghost-road Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/disgrace Staying On by Paul Scott: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/staying-on The Famished Road by Ben Okri: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-famished-road Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/cloud-atlas The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-line-of-beauty Autumn by Ali Smith: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/autumn Crudo by Olivia Laing No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/no-one-is-talking-about-this Waterland by Graham Swift: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/waterland G. by John Berger: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/g Read Alex Clark's piece, “Which novels in the Booker Prize archives should be considered classics?”: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/which-booker-prize-novels-should-be-considered-classics A full transcript of the episode is available at our website: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/the-booker-prize-podcast-episode-33-what-makes-a-classic-novel Follow The Booker Prize Podcast so you never miss an episode. Visit http://thebookerprizes.com/podcast to find out more about us, and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok @thebookerprizes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this short story, Booker Prize–winning Nigerian author and poet Ben Okri envisions the tragedy and peace of a post-human world. Twenty thousand years into the future, an exploration of Earth uncovers the final notes and unfinished stories left by the last human beings in the twilight of their civilization. Reflecting on humanity's genius for extraction and domination, this uncanny tale, narrated by acclaimed British actor Colin Salmon, follows our trajectory into extinction and invites the question: When will we truly comprehend the future we have seeded? Read this story on our website. Find “Thylacine” and other “Short Stories of Apocalypse,” in our inaugural print fiction collection. Learn more about our current immersive exhibition in London. Reserve your free tickets to SHIFTING LANDSCAPES. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In which the Spiders grudgingly admit to not connecting with Ben Okri's legendary The Famished Road, inspiration for the best early Radiohead song, and a novel which works much better in bits and fragments than it does as a unified whole.

Gyles talks to the poet, novellist and activist Sir Ben Okri. Born and raised in Nigeria - with a 4 year interlude in Peckham - Ben moved to London for good in his 20s. There, he build upon his success as a writer, and won The Booker Prize with his novel The Famished Road in 1991, when he was just 32 years old. Sir Ben and Gyles talk about Ben's early years in Peckham, his return to Nigeria aged 6, and his formative experiences during the civil war. They talk about Ben's early career working in a paint factory in Lagos, and how he realised that his true calling was writing. Sir Ben's latest book, Tiger Work, poems, stories and essays about climate change, was published in 2023. Ben was knighted in the 2023 Birthday Honours. Please get in touch with us: we're at hello@rosebudpodcast.com and on Twitter and Instagram @therosebudpod. We're keen to hear your Christmas and new year memories - let us know if you have any you'd like to share. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Ben Okri, one of the foremost writers of our age, as he tackles the biggest existential challenge facing the world today, climate change.

The Day of the Politician's Milk, on todays episode I read chapter 6 from Book 2 of Ben Okri's Famished Road and in this installment we continue on, on the part of politicians and false promises --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/motng/support

Our guest co-host. Arianna Reiche, is a Bay Area-born writer based in London. She is the author of the two-story chapbook Warden / Star (Tangerine Press), and At The End Of Every Day (Artia Books/Simon & Schuster). She was also nominated for the 2020 Bridport Prize and the 2020 PANK Magazine Book Contest. She won first prize in Glimmer Train's 2017 Fiction Open and Tupelo Quarterly's 2021 Prose Prize. Her stories have appeared in Ambit Magazine, Joyland, The Mechanics' Institute Review, Berlin's SAND Journal, Feels Blind Literary, Lighthouse Press, and Popshot. Her features have appeared in Art News, The Wall Street Journal, New Scientist, USA Today, The London Fashion Week Daily, Fest Magazine, Vogue International, and Vice. She also researches and lectures in interactive narrative and metafiction at City, University of London.     In Episode 7, Arianna Reiche joins us for a conversation about Place, Peculiarity, & Persistence. We discuss ways we are able to write about place and how that may challenge common conceptions, embracing strange and peculiar perspectives, persisting through life changes, and bearing the brutal bruises of editing.    Questions 1. Place has a lot to do with my fiction - I just wrote a whole novel about the grounds of a theme park, and my next book is set in Berlin - but I often struggle with feeling that I've earned the right to write intimately about any given place. I find that I often sidestep writing about towns/cities/countries with real earnestness because of that, and instead adopt a lens of irony or eeriness. Or I just end up writing about the Bay Area, where I grew up, more than I probably truly want to, because no one can challenge me on my connection to it! Have you ever felt that conflict before? And more generally, how do you approach geography in your work   2. What does writing in earnest and with authenticity-one's OWN sense of what is authentic-look like? How do you capture it on the page to honor our own telling or to honor our truth and perspective? And how, if it all, does that challenge and expand the narratives we see present in certain spaces or among certain people?   3. How do you deal with feeling repelled by your own work during the editing process? It's something I've heard almost every writer I know talk about; I describe the feeling of opening the laptop for your third round of manuscript edits as poking a bruise. How do you stay enthusiastic about your own work when you're frankly just sick of looking at it?     Show Notes 1. At the End of Every Day by Arianna Reiche https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/At-the-End-of-Every-Day/Arianna-Reiche/9781668007945 2. Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez https://bookshop.org/p/books/our-share-of-night-mariana-enriquez/18486460  3. The Age of Magic by Ben Okri https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-age-of-magic-ben-okri/20082895?ean=9781635422689  4. The Ben Okri story about Istanbul is called “Dreaming of Byzantium” found in Prayer for the Living, https://bookshop.org/p/books/prayer-for-the-living-ben-okri/13693373?ean=9781617758638  5. Irenosen Okojie, https://www.irenosenokojie.com/ 6. Helen Oyeyemi, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/59813/helen-oyeyemi/  7. CA Conrad - Poetry Rituals https://somaticpoetryexercises.blogspot.com/2018/08/somatic-poetry-rituals-basics-in-3-parts.html 8. Raymond Queneau, was part of the Oulipo group, a collection of writers and mathematicians who imposed rules on writing to increase creativity. More here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/oulipo#:~:text=An%20acronym%20for%20Ouvroir%20de,and%20mathematician%20Fran%C3%A7ois%20Le%20Lionnais. 9. Kathy Winograd - https://kathrynwinograd.com/about/ 10. La Maison Baldwin, https://www.lamaisonbaldwin.fr/   

In this week's episode, Booker award-winning author Ben Okri combines fiction, essay and poetry in Tiger Work. This incredible collection, inspired by environmental activism, displays his classic blend of storytelling, fantasy and magic in tales that imagine messages sent to us from beyond the end, from those who saw it coming - exhorting us to change now.  'Both a work of lyrical imagination and a warning about the dangers we will face unless we take immediate action' - New Yorker This is an important and incredible collection, and we hope you enjoy Ben's special reading for us. Tiger Work by Ben Okri is published by Apollo, an imprint of Head of Zeus, and available now. We recommend visiting your local indie bookshop or you can support the Literary Salon by getting a copy from our shop on Bookshop.org. Podcast produced and edited by Megan Bay Dorman Programmed by Matt Casbourne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

‘This earth that we love is in grave danger because of us,' reads the first line of Sir Ben Okri's poem, ‘The Broken'.    The poet and Booker-prize winner, who has long been a vocal environmental activist, has seen the effects of the climate catastrophe firsthand, as a young boy growing up in Nigeria, but is optimistic that it's not too late to reverse the damage that's been done to our planet.   Today on Ways to Change the World, Ben Okri tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy about the urgent need for action on climate change, the importance of disruptive protests like Just Stop Oil, and why artists like him should use their voice to encourage people to rise up to the challenge.   Produced by Alice Wagstaffe and Silvia Maresca

Knighted in the King's Birthday Honours, Sir Ben Okri is one of Britain's most significant writers. Influenced by his experiences of both his adopted home and his native Nigeria, his novels span contrasting cultures and traditions. Awarded the Booker Prize in 1991 for The Famished Road, Okri has gone on to establish himself as an author of international repute. Here he discusses his childhood, the Nigerian civil war, a period of homelessness in England, his journey into writing, his knighthood, his championship of the environment and his horror at the climate crisis, his passions outside work, and the changing face of the UK. His latest book, Tiger Work, mixes fiction, essay and poetry in its appeal for change in the face of global warming.  

The Booker Prize-winning author Sir Ben Okri joins Antonia Quirke to reflect on his new collection Tiger Work, intended as a wake up call for a warming world. It blends fiction, essays and poetry inspired by environmental activism in the face of climate crisis. Film director Shamira Raphaela discusses her documentary Shabu, which follows an aspiring teenage musician from Rotterdam during a single summer. Antonia visits Leighton House in London, one of five finalists for this year's Art Fund Museum of the Year award. The Victorian 'studio house' was once the home of Fredric Leighton, artist, collector and former president of the Royal Academy. Presenter: Antonia Quirke Producer: Olivia Skinner

A '70s London squat was home to the writer Dambudzo Marechera when he was writing his first novel The House of Hunger (1978), which was published in the Heinemann African Writers series and has now been issued as a Penguin Classic. Tinashe Mushakavanhu is researching his story and writings. Mufaro Makubika has adapted the coming of age story published by NoViolet Bulawayo in 2013 as a play, which is now touring England. Jocelyn Alexander is involved in creating an archive and oral history documenting Southern Africa's liberation armies and has researched experiences of political imprisonment over 50 years in Zimbabwe. Rana Mitter hosts the conversation. Producer: Ruth Watts We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, in a new adaptation by Mufaro Makubika is a Fifth Word and New Perspectives co-production directed by Monique Touko. It tours to Derby, Manchester, Newcastle, Peterborough, and Bristol The House of Hunger is available as a Penguin Classic You can find more discussions about African writing and history in a collection called Exploring Black History on the Free Thinking programme website https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08t2qbp They include Pettina Gappah on African Empire Stories https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fgxm Louise Egbunike on Pan-Africanism and Nana Oforiatta Ayim on her African encyclopedia https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000c4mf A focus on Wole Soyinka's writing with novelist Ben Okri, academic Louisa Egbunike and playwright Oladipo Agboluaje https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000k35s An exploration of the politics and writing of Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ghhz

Ben Luke talks to Alfredo Jaar about his influences—from writers to film-makers, musicians and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work. Jaar, who was born in 1956, in Santiago, Chile and has been based in New York since the early 1980s, addresses social injustice, human suffering, state-sponsored violence, and imbalances in power between the global north and south. He also explores how these issues are framed in the international media. He has responded to some of the most troubling moments in recent human history, from the military coup in his native Chile in 1973 and its aftermath, to the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s, to wars and covert operations waged by Western powers over multiple decades, and the relentless displacement of refugees across the world. He has done so through uncompromising, searing, yet often deeply moving installations in multiple media. Among much else, he discusses the profound influence of John Cage, Hans Haacke and Marcel Duchamp, his fascination with Pier Paolo Pasolini, a transformative experience watching Simone Forti, and the poetry of Ben Okri. Plus, he gives insight into his studio life, and answers our usual questions, including the ultimate: “What is art for?”Alfredo Jaar: If It Concerns Us, It Concerns You, Goodman Gallery, London 18 April-24 May; Alfredo Jaar: 50 Years Later, Cecilia Brunson Projects, London, 19 April – 19 May 2023. One Million German Passports, Pinakothek del Moderne, Munich, 29 March-27 August; Alfredo exhibition for the 11th Hiroshima Art Prize at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan, 22 July-15 October, and an exhibition at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Santiago, Chile, opens on 14 September. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[REBROADCAST FROM March 3, 2023] For over thirty years, the work of the Booker Prize winning British-Nigerian author Ben Okri, known for his 1991 novel, The Famished Road, has gone unpublished in the U.S. Recently, two of Okri's works have been published in this country, including his latest poetry collection, A Fire in My Head. The collection includes poems about 2020's racial justice protests, the Grenfell Tower disaster, and the pandemic. Okri joins to discuss and read from the collection.

This week, we host a writer and an editor in conversation. Booker-winning novelist and poet Ben Okri and outgoing FT Weekend editor Alec Russell meet in the studio on Alec's last day in the role. They reflect on the political power of poetry, what fiction and non-fiction can teach each other, and the vital role of art. Then, we meet one of London's most notorious and prolific graffiti writers. His name is 10 Foot, and his tag is famous, but he's anonymous. Journalist Miles Ellingham spent months with him, and he and Lilah discuss graffiti's role and the question of who owns a city.--------------Want to say hi? We love hearing from you. Email us at ftweekendpodcast@ft.com. We're on Twitter @ftweekendpod, and Lilah is on Instagram and Twitter @lilahrap. --------------Links:– Ben Okri's piece, ‘The Famished Road and my quest for the imaginative richness of Africa', from Alec's final edition of FT Weekend: https://on.ft.com/3FqbpUr – Miles Ellingham's profile of graffiti writer 10 Foot: https://on.ft.com/3FyP3Qz – Ben Okri's poem for the FT, ‘Grenfell Tower, June 2017': https://on.ft.com/40bFq2i – Alec is on Twitter at @AlecuRussell. Miles is on twitter @milesellingham–The whole Africa special is here, and free-to-read– Other stories by Ben Okri in the FT: https://www.ft.com/stream/f89dd99d-32d8-35de-95df-6e791313c63f–Miles recommends the classic 1982 documentary, ‘Style Wars': https://youtu.be/7DXD1HBaLX0– He also recommends ‘Jisoe' (2014), which has been described as “the best graffiti film ever made”: https://youtu.be/gp8ZNqaG-dE —-------------Our U.S. edition of the FTWeekend Festival is back! Join Jamie Lee Curtis, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Alice Waters, your favourite FT writers, and more on May 20 in Washington, D.C., and online. Register now and save $20 off using promo code weekendpodcast at ft.com/festival-usSpecial offers for Weekend listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial are here: http://ft.com/weekendpodcast.--------------Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For over thirty years, the work of the Booker Prize winning British-Nigerian author Ben Okri, known for his 1991 novel, The Famished Road, has gone unpublished in the U.S. Recently, two of Okri's works have been published in this country, including his latest poetry collection, A Fire in My Head. The collection includes poems about 2020's racial justice protests, the Grenfell Tower disaster, and the pandemic. Okri joins to discuss and read from the collection.  

In episode 241 UNP founder and curator Grant Scott is in his shed reflecting on photography now and how we got here, whilst suggesting advice on photographic practice from Jack Kerouac and Tony Ray-Jones. Plus this week, photographer Mitra Tabrizian takes on the challenge of supplying Grant with an audio file no longer than 5 minutes in length in which she answer's the question ‘What Does Photography Mean to You?' Mitra Tabrizian is an Iranian‐British artist and filmmaker whose photographic work has been exhibited and published widely and represented in major international museums and public collections. Solo museum shows include at Tate Britain in 2008 and the Venice Biennale, Iranian Pavilion in 2015. She was awarded the Royal Academyʼs Rose Award for Photography in 2013 and selected as one of Hundred Heroines: Celebrating Women in Photography Today, by the Royal Photographic Society in 2018. Her short film The Insider was made in collaboration with the Booker Prize Winner, Ben Okri and commissioned to accompany Albert Camus' The Outsider, adapted for the stage by Okri. Screenings of her film-work include at the British Museum and the Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Tabrizian's latest photographic book Off Screen was published in 2019. Her critically acclaimed debut feature Gholam had a theatrical release in 2017 and is now available on BFI player, Amazon Prime and Itunes worldwide. Mitra is currently developing her second feature The Far Mountains with the British Film Institute. www.mitratabrizian.com Dr. Grant Scott is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was first screened in 2018 www.donotbendfilm.com. He is the presenter of the A Photographic Life and In Search of Bill Jay podcasts. © Grant Scott 2022

As we come to the end of Living with the Unknown, we begin again at the beginning. For the final story of our third volume, we journey into the fictional, post-apocalyptic landscape of acclaimed Nigerian poet and novelist Ben Okri. In this short story, superbly narrated by British actor Colin Salmon, a man and a woman inhabit a world abandoned by humans, grappling with what is at stake in beginning a new civilization. Emergence Magazine, Vol 3: Living with the Unknown explores what living in an apocalyptic reality looks like through four themes: Initiation, Ashes, Roots, and Futures. Experience “Chapter Four: Futures.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Gyles & Aphra Brandreth travel to Nigeria to meet Ben Okri. The Booker Prize winning author is a poet, novelist, essayist, short story writer, anthologist, aphorist, and playwright. Ben was born in Minna in the North of Nigeria before moving to England as a young child. Together with his family, aged 7 years old, he returned to Nigeria on the cusp of the civil war, something which was to have a defining impact on his life and work.  Poems in this episode include Ibadan by J. P. Clark, I Anoint My Flesh by Wole Soyinka, Heavensgate For Georgette by Christopher Okibo and three of Ben Okri's poems: An African Elegy; Finding the Present and And If You Should Leave Me. Brought to you from the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, this episode includes guest contributions from Shantall Agoreyo & Olawale Adediran - Masters students from the University of Chester who are part of our Commonwealth Poetry Podcast production team.   

When poet Ben Okri was just seven years old, he and his family moved back to Nigeria on the eve of civil war. Ever since, he has been fascinated by what he calls “cusp moments,” the periods just before catastrophe strikes. His new novel, "The Last Gift of the Master Artists," takes place in an African society just before the Atlantic slave trade. In the book, he sets out to examine the spirit of a culture on the eve of its destruction. In today's episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle's editor in chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Okri to discuss how writing can help us face what we refuse to see, how Buddhist teachings have influenced his work, and why he believes that art is most powerful when it brings us to a point of crisis.

Ben Okri reads his story “The Secret Source,” from the September 19, 2022, issue of the magazine. Okri is the author of eleven novels, including “The Famished Road,” which won the Booker Prize in 1991, and “The Freedom Artist,” which came out in 2019. His poetry collection “A Fire in My Head: Poems for the Dawn” was published last year.

This is our last podcast before our summer break, so we've selected some of our favourite conversations of the last year. ART: We celebrate Patrick Hughes's birthday, talk to Tracey Emin about battling cancer and to gallerist James Burch about drinking with Francis Bacon. BOOKS: Rose Tremain tells us about her novel ‘Lily', Barbara Taylor Bradford explains how she found inspiration to write the prequel to ‘A Woman of Substance', Ben Okri inspires to see trees in a totally new light, we discuss culture wars with Bernardine Evaristo and lyricist Don Black, while talking at Jewish Book Week, makes us laugh. THEATRE: We talk to playwright David Hare about ‘Straight Line Crazy' and the death of the avant garde, actor Nathaniel Parker about playing Henry VIII in Hilary Mantel's ‘The Mirror and the Light', Nick Allott from Cameron Mackintosh regales us with hilarious theatrical anecdotes and Creative Director of the Young Vic, Kwame Kwei-Armah, praises playwright James Graham. HISTORY: Andrew Roberts tells us about George III and A.N. Wilson explains how our Trafalgar Square Christmas tree was a gift from the King of Norway during World War II. MUSIC and DANCE: We talk to ballet-dancer Marcelino Sambé about playing Romeo in Kevin McMillan's ballet, to choreographer Matthew Bourne about his stellar career, to soprano Anush Hovvanisyan about all the Armenians at the Royal Opera House and playing Violetta in Richard Eyre's ‘Traviata' and finally Dylan Jones, polymath and long-standing editor of GQ, tells us what David Bowie was really like. Enjoy the summer. Ed and Charlotte will be back on Sunday September 11th September.

Pages 499 - 507 │ Oxen of the Sun, part I │ Read by Ben OkriBen Okri was born in Minna, Nigeria. His childhood was divided between Nigeria, where he saw first hand the consequences of war, and London. He has won many prizes over the years for his fiction, and is also an acclaimed essayist, playwright, and poet. In 2019 Astonishing the Gods was named as one of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'.*Looking for our author interview podcast? Listen here: https://podfollow.com/shakespeare-and-companySUBSCRIBE NOW FOR EARLY EPISODES AND BONUS FEATURESAll episodes of our Ulysses podcast are free and available to everyone. However, if you want to be the first to hear the recordings, by subscribing, you can now get early access to recordings of complete sections.Subscribe on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/channel/shakespeare-and-company/id6442697026Subscribe on Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/sandcoIn addition a subscription gets you access to regular bonus episodes of our author interview podcast. All money raised goes to supporting “Friends of Shakespeare and Company” the bookshop's non-profit.*Discover more about Shakespeare and Company here: https://shakespeareandcompany.comBuy the Penguin Classics official partner edition of Ulysses here: https://shakespeareandcompany.com/d/9780241552636/ulyssesFind out more about Hay Festival here: https://www.hayfestival.com/homeAdam Biles is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company. Find out more about him here: https://www.adambiles.netBuy a signed copy of his novel FEEDING TIME here: https://shakespeareandcompany.com/S/9781910296684/feeding-timeDr. Lex Paulson is Executive Director of the School of Collective Intelligence at Université Mohammed VI Polytechnique in Morocco.Original music & sound design by Alex Freiman.Hear more from Alex Freiman here: https://open.spotify.com/album/4gfkDcG32HYlXnBqI0xgQX?si=mf0Vw-kuRS-ai15aL9kLNA&dl_branch=1Follow Alex Freiman on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/alex.guitarfreiman/Featuring Flora Hibberd on vocals.Hear more of Flora Hibberd here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5EFG7rqfVfdyaXiRZbRkpSVisit Flora Hibberd's website: This is my website:florahibberd.com and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/florahibberd/ Music production by Adrien Chicot.Hear more from Adrien Chicot here: https://bbact.lnk.to/utco90/Follow Adrien Chicot on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/adrienchicot/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Radio show first broadcast on The Face Radio, Brooklyn at 4pm EST on 10 April 2022. Also online at https://thefaceradio.com/  to donate support.thefaceradio.com/ Track List:    Roxy Music – All I Want Is YouTony Allen – Cosmosis (feat. Ben Okri & Skepta)Idris Muhammad – New OrleansFunkadelic – You And Your Folks, Me And My FolksIrma Thomas – She'll Never Be Your WifeAl Green – Love And HappinessFrank Booker – Be YourselfTalking Heads – I Zimbra (12” Version)Disco Lust – My Music Is FunkAl Tone Edits – Run ItJoy Division – New Dawn FadesMighty Diamonds – Why Me Black Brother WhyBonnie & Klein – Bourbon Street

“Literature may come from a specific place, but it always lives in its own unique kingdom.” –Ben Okri, born in Minna, Nigeria on this day, 1959.

In conversation with Cajetan Iheka, Associate Professor of Literature, Yale University, and author of African Ecomedia: Network Forms, Planetary Politics One of Nigeria's most celebrated authors, Ben Okri is the author of many post-colonial novels, poetry, short story collections, and essays. He rose to international fame in 1980 upon the publication of his first novel, Flowers and Shadows, and is perhaps best known for The Famished Road, winner of the 1991 Booker Prize. A fable about the realities we create for ourselves, Astonishing the Gods was included, almost 25 years after its publication, in the BBC's ''100 Novels That Shaped Our World'' list. Every Leaf a Hallelujah, the tale of a young girl searching for a special flower that can cure her ill mother, is a modern-day fairytale written to be read by adults and children alike. Cajetan Iheka is Associate Professor of English at Yale University, author of Naturalizing Africa: Ecological Violence, Agency, and Postcolonial Resistance in African Literature, editor of Teaching Postcolonial Environmental Literature and Media, and coeditor of African Migration Narratives: Politics, Race, and Space. (recorded 2/28/2022)

‘Here we are on the edges of the biggest crisis that has ever faced us. We need a new philosophy for these times, for this near-terminal moment in the history of the human. It is out of this I want to propose an existential creativity.' Ben Okri, The Guardian newspaper, November 12, 2021I'm back in Ottawa and I'm going to record this monologue in one take, as I have been doing since the beginning of season 3 of this podcast. So here we go. Today's episode features quotes from Artists must confront the climate crisis – we must write as if these are the last daysby Nigerian novelist and poet Ben Okri from the November 12, 2021 edition of The Guardian newspaper.Here is the first quote from Ben Okri's article: Here we are on the edges of the biggest crisis that has ever faced us. We need a new philosophy for these times, for this near-terminal moment in the history of the human. It is out of this I want to propose an existential creativity. How do I define it? It is the creativity wherein nothing should be wasted. As a writer, it means everything I write should be directed to the immediate end of drawing attention to the dire position we are in as a species. It means that the writing must have no frills. It should speak only truth. In it, the truth must be also beauty. It calls for the highest economy. It means that everything I do must have a singular purpose. It also means that I must write now as if these are the last things I will write, that any of us will write. If you knew you were at the last days of the human story, what would you write? How would you write? What would your aesthetics be? Would you use more words than necessary? What form would poetry truly take? And what would happen to humour? Would we be able to laugh, with the sense of the last days on us?Words like this provide clarity and insight, don't they?I think they help contextualize complexity and they help us cut through destructive fantasies like endless growth.They literally lay out the truth so that we can see, and hear, the world in which we live, as it really is and it reminds me what a zen teacher once told me: ‘Zen practice shows us how to take care and take responsibility with, and as each moment, by opening attention to reality and responding to what actually needs to be done.'It being December, Okri's words are all the more poignant as we enter this crazy period of hyper consumerism that we call the holiday season. This is how Okri concludes his article and I encourage you to read the entire thing: This is the best and most natural home we are ever going to have. And we need to become a new people to deserve it. We are going to have to be new artists to redream it. This is why I propose existential creativity, to serve the unavoidable truth of our times, and a visionary existentialism, to serve the future that we must bring about from the brink of our environmental catastrophe. We can only make a future from the depth of the truth we face now.I'm intrigued by this notion of existential creativity, and I wonder what it might sound like?(Sound of a piece of paper ripping)Maybe it sounds like a piece of paper being torn. Once torn, the paper cannot be put back together again, like Humpty-Dumpty, and one is left holding the pieces. More on the sound of some of these concepts in a future episode. I'll end with an excerpt from episode 87, where theatre artist Kendra Fanconi comments upon Ben Okri's article: We are all artists of the Anthropocene. We inherently are because this is the world that we're living in right now. There's no other world. We were down earlier at Robert's Creek (BC) and it's a salmon bearing stream. I think of it like we're artists in the Anthropocene, like fish would be in the ocean: the water is all around us and the Anthropocene is all around us. I think it may be what Ben Okri is tasking us with is: can you describe the water? It's all we know, but we need to be able to look from this moment now into the future and maybe that's the job of artists. We're the visionaries, we can see the future and we can envision it in different ways. I think he speaks to that too at the end of the article about saying part of why we need to talk about the times we're in now is in relationship to a future, whatever that future looks like. And I do spend a lot of time trying to negotiate my belief in the future.I wish you peace, peace of mind as you negotiate your own belief in the future.  I want to thank Ben Okri and The Guardian newspaper for sharing these words and Kendra for her reflections upon them. And I thank you, for listening. The act of listening, to me, and maybe I should say the art of listening, true listening, sincere and radical listening, through to the depth of the truth, is at the heart of this moment. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays for those frightened by the ecological crisis'. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on April 2, 2024

'We are all artists of the Anthropocene. We inherently are because this is the world that we're living in right now. There's no other world. We were down earlier at Robert's Creek (BC) and it's a salmon bearing stream. I think of it like we're artists in the Anthropocene, like fish would be in the ocean: the water is all around us and the Anthropocene is all around us. I think it may be what Ben Okri is tasking us with is: can you describe the water? It's all we know, but we need to be able to look from this moment now into the future and maybe that's the job of artists. We're the visionaries, we can see the future and we can envision it in different ways. I think he speaks to that too at the end of the article about saying part of why we need to talk about the times we're in now is in relationship to a future, whatever that future looks like. And I do spend a lot of time trying to negotiate my belief in the future.'Kendra Fanconi, Robert's Creek, BC 2021My 2nd conversation with theatre artist and art + climate activist Kendra Fanconi in Robert's Creek, BC about the ‘Artist Brigade', Ben Okri, eco-restoration, eco-grief & reauthoring the world, with excerpts from e43 haley, e30 maggs & é37 lebeau. Robert's Creek is on the ancient and unceded territory of the shishalh Nation.  The shishalh people call Robert's Creek xwesam.  I've known Kendra for many years, first through her work with Radix Theatre then as an arts and environment advocate in the community, notably through The Only Animal company, which she co-founded with Eric Rhys Miller in 2005 and which has created over 30 shows  that ‘take theatre places it has never gone before'. I've always admired Kendra's vision, her calm demeanour, her strategic mind, and deep commitment to environment issues, as you'll hear on our conversation, which recorded in her kitchen in Robert's Creek, BC. My goal with this series of second conversations is to go deeper into issues from our initial conversation, to hear updates on their work as well as their vision for the future. Kendra gave me an update on the ‘Artists Brigade' project, her perspectives Nigerian novelist and poet Ben Okri's call to action Artists must confront the climate crisis – we must write as if these are the last days article, ecological restoration, the work of death doula and climate grief advisor Corey Mathews (Hardeman), the impact of eco-anxiety and about reauthoring the world, including excerpts from e43 haley, e30 maggs & é37 lebeau.Links mentioned during our conversation :Jason DeCaires Taylor (coral reef work)Alana MitchellGreenhouse (two-day climate intensive for Artist Brigade)David Suzuki FoundationI was also moved by this quote from my conversation with Kendra:I think the climate movement is full of love and care. Those are the people who get involved. Even though we have this sort of vision of the angry activists. I think at the heart of it, it's about care and love. And so, I found that definition of climate grief and the link of love and loss to be very reassuring and to know that grieving in community, which may be is, I mentioned to you earlier, this sort of love that I have for this climate brethren, artists who care about climate, that I've found on how nourishing that is for me. Maybe we all do it together? We're locked in this love and loss and we're doing it as a community and versus doing it alone, which I feel like I did do for many years before I got involved in this way. It's just so much better.Excerpt from previous conscient episodes used in e87: David Haley (e43 haley):What I have learned to do, and this is my practice, is to focus on making space. This became clear to me when I read, Lila : An inquiry into morals by Robert Pirsig. Towards the end of the book, he suggests that the most moral act of all, is to create the space for life to move onwards and it was one of those sentences that just rang true with me, and I've held onto that ever since and pursued the making of space, not the filling of it.David Maggs (e30 maggs):Complexity is the world built of relationships and it's a very different thing to engage what is true or real in a complexity framework than it is to engage in it, in what is a modernist Western enlightenment ambition, to identify the absolute objective properties that are intrinsic in any given thing. Everyone is grappling with the fact that the world is exhibiting itself so much in these entanglements of relationships. The arts are completely at home in that world. And so, we've been sort of under the thumb of the old world. We've always been a kind of second-class citizen in an enlightenment rationalist society. But once we move out of that world and we move into a complexity framework, suddenly the arts are entirely at home, and we have capacity in that world that a lot of other sectors don't have. What I've been trying to do with this report (Art and the World After This) is articulate the way in which these different disruptions are putting us in a very different reality and it's a reality in which we go from being a kind of secondary entertaining class to, maybe, having a capacity to sit at the heart of a lot of really critical problem-solving challenges.Anne-Catherine Lebeau (é37 lebeau.):Note: translation from the FrenchFor me, it is certain that we need more collaboration. That's what's interesting. Moving from a 'Take Make Waste' model to 'Care Dare Share'. To me, that says a lot. I think we need to look at everything we have in the arts as a common good that we need to collectively take care of. Often, at the beginning, we talked in terms of doing as little harm as possible to the environment, not harming it, that's often how sustainable development was presented, then by doing research, and by being inspired, among other things, by what is done at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in England, around circular economies, I realized that they talk about how to nourish a new reality. How do you create art that is regenerative? Art that feeds something.Ocean view at Robert's Creek, November 24, 2021Kendra Fanconi, eyes closed, in her Kitchen, Robert's Creek, BC. November 24, 2021Kendra (and cat) at bridge over the creek at her house, Robert's Creek, BC November 24, 2021 *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays for those frightened by the ecological crisis'. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on April 2, 2024

'I'm interested in what we can do to both mitigate the climate emergency and adapt to it but there's another level which is revisioning the world and maybe that's the one that's most interesting, because unfortunately it's going to be rough for the foreseeable future on earth, but life will go on, with or without humans. I think humans have a place in it, but then we have to figure out how we're going to live with much, much less resources and all the damage that's been done and have a positive view of that. So rethinking and reauthoring the world. David Maggs wrote a really interesting paper about that. There was a paper recently by a Nigerian writer, Ben Okri. I'll put the link in the chat. He talked about how artists must confront the climate crisis and that we must write as if these are our last days. That's where I'm at.'Claude Schryer, November 2021Robin Sokoloski and Janis Monture teach a class in Art Policy, Equity and Activism at Centennial College in Toronto and asked me to be guest speaker on the issue of art and activism on November 23, 2021. The class kindly agreed to have the class recorded as episode 86 of this podcast. I've known Robin from many years in her role with Mass Culture and more recently as a co-founder of the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency (SCALE) network. Robin was also my guest on episode 61 of this podcast. I met Janis many years ago back when I ran the Inter-Arts Office at Canada Council for the Arts in her role with the Woodland Cultural Centre.Before the class Robin suggested I read this article : Assessing the Impact of Artistic Activism, which I recommend to anyone interested in art and activism. The conversation took place in ‘interview' style. Robin asked me four questions: What is the arts role in activism when it comes to positive social good?Can art affect policy? Is there an example you can think of?What role can arts funders play when it comes to art and activism?Share your current interest in art activism. What possibilities do you see within the arts or general public that encourage you to continue this work?My answers, as well as my interaction with students, are in the recording. This episode also includes excerpts from e40 frasz, e82 washable paint, e05 carruthers, e73 judith marcuse – finding the energy to keep moving and e85 tracey friesen – narratives of resilience for a post carbon world.Links referred to in this episode:Artists must confront the climate crisis – we must write as if these are the last days'Canada Council 21-26 Strategic PlanClimate Art WebSCALE-LeSAUTThe times are urgent; let us slow downSome of the arts policy, equity and activism class at centennial college on november 23, 2021 *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays for those frightened by the ecological crisis'. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on April 2, 2024

This week Jools and Jim are joined by Booker Prize winning novelist and poet Ben Okri for a magical metaphorical journey of the mind.Jools and Jim consider how to define an age, while Ben invites the pair to consider the transporting possibilities of music, literature, and even the smell of mince and onions.Ben recalls a vibrant childhood in Lagos, and the three discuss white cars in hot countries, the “cruel smell” of the Thames, and whether a hat can be used as a shopping bag… A Dig! Studios / Warner Music Entertainment podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Young Vic podcast investigates the power of a 4000-year-old story about exile and home: how the tale of Sinuhe inspired Ben Okri to write Changing Destiny. And Kwame Kwei-Armah speaks to Egyptologist Allison Hedges about mummies, myths and the origins of theatre.

This week, The Cultural Frontline is looking at a precious and vital resource: water. Chi Chi Izundu is finding out how issues of water scarcity, water sanitation and climate change are inspiring artists and musicians. The Malian musician Inna Modja tells Chi Chi Izundu about an epic project to combat drought: the Great Green Wall. Spanning eleven countries in Africa's Sahel region, the Great Green Wall is an initiative to grow an incredible 8000 kilometre wall of trees. Inna Modja talks about the film she's made about the project and how the musicians she met on her journey along the wall inspired her. Indian musician and activist Ditty combines her work as a musician with a career as an urban ecologist. She explains how the women working to collect and preserve water in northern India inspired her collaboration with the band Faraway Friends and their new album, Rain is Coming. Nigerian writer Ben Okri has collaborated with British artists Ackroyd & Harvey to create an installation made entirely out of grass and float it down a river in London. He talks about how the living work of art will make us think about climate change. Guatemalan artist Maria Diaz discusses her art installation made of oversized rain-sticks. Nostalgic for the rain of her homeland, whilst living in California with the threat of drought, Maria Diaz created this immersive piece to raise awareness about the importance of the vital resource, water. (Photo: Inna Modja. Credit: Marco Conti Sikic)

How important is story to to human understanding? Today we take a step away from science per se, to look at the role of story in the formation of our world views, for generations our only method alongside direct experience of understanding the world, as opposed the more modern method of hard data from scientific research that we tend to examine on Chasing Consciousness. So we're continuing the all important job of our first series: to establish the limits of what science can know. And today we're going to start understanding how some of the story like information found in the psyche, and perhaps in the way our lives unfold, can give us clues to the nature of human reality and so support our scientific research in psychology. So who better to help us navigate this troublesome academic area than award winning social anthropologist Dr Carla Stang! Carla earned her Ph.D. in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. She has held the position of Visiting Scholar at Columbia University and Associate Researcher at the University of Sydney, and was awarded the Frank Bell Memorial Prize for Anthropology from Cambridge. Based on her fieldwork with the Mehinaku, Carla wrote a book called “A Walk to the River in Amazonia” which we'll be talking about in a bit. She writes for the Dark Mountain collective which advocates ‘uncivilisation', and has created a mysterious new project ‘Imaginal Futures'. Most recently she co-created the first Masters of Philosophy at Schumacher College, and is currently at work on a new book, an ecological, cross-disciplinary and collaborative project. What we discuss in this episode: Part 1 00:00 Tarzan of Greystoke 10:00 How much of a problem is our propensity for narrative over fact? 14:00 Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey or Monomyth examined 24:00 Critiquing the destructive power and domination of others presented in the mono myth 40:00 The uninitiated: we're a society of children 49:00 The Heroine's Journey, Maureen Murdoch and healing the wounded feminine 55:00 Different types of ‘events of consciousness' and mythos Part 2 1:05:30 The importance of interdisciplinary research to get big picture understanding 1:17:00 What's quotidian Amazonian life like; ‘A Walk to the River in Amazonia' Carla's 2011 book 1:53:00 Imagining the stories of the future we want, we can form the world References: Carla Stang ‘A Walk to the River in Amazonia' Imaginal Futures created by Carla Stang, Rachel Flemming and Emma George William James quote, ‘Live life to the fullest' Ben Okri quote ‘We are story beings' Eugène (Eugeniusz) Minkowski 'Vers une cosmologie. Fragments philosophiques' Joseph Campbell quote ‘follow your bliss' Sonu Shamdasani Historian and Redbook publisher 'Lament of the Dead' James Hillman Jung scholar and founder of the field of 'Archetypal Psychology' Freddy's ‘Rites of Passage' podcast show Maureen Murdoch 'The Heroines Journey' Henri Corbin - 'Mundis Imaginalis' Sean Kane - a place telling a tale through human beings

PAUL MENDEZ was born and raised in the Black Country. He now lives in London and is studying for an M.A. in Black British Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has been a performing member of two theatre companies, and worked as a voice actor, appearing on audiobooks by Andrea Levy, Paul Theroux and Ben Okri, most recently recording Ian Wright's A Life in Football for Hachette Audio. As a writer, he has contributed to the Times Literary Supplement and the Brixton Review of Books. Rainbow Milk is his debut novel. About Rainbow Milk An essential and revelatory coming-of-age narrative from a thrilling new voice, Rainbow Milk follows nineteen-year-old Jesse McCarthy as he grapples with his racial and sexual identities against the backdrop of his Jehovah's Witness upbringing. In the 1950s, ex-boxer Norman Alonso is a determined and humble Jamaican who has immigrated to Britain with his wife and children to secure a brighter future. Blighted with unexpected illness and racism, Norman and his family are resilient, but are all too aware that their family will need more than just hope to survive in their new country. At the turn of the millennium, Jesse seeks a fresh start in London, escaping a broken immediate family, a repressive religious community and his depressed hometown in the industrial Black Country. But once he arrives he finds himself at a loss for a new center of gravity, and turns to sex work, music and art to create his own notions of love, masculinity and spirituality. A wholly original novel as tender as it is visceral, Rainbow Milk is a bold reckoning with race, class, sexuality, freedom and religion across generations, time and cultures.

An excerpt from a poem by Ben Okri to give you a boost this Monday www.hopethepa.com

Some of the biggest names from the writing world share their top writing tips.