11 May 2010
Booker Prize winner Ben Okri interviewed at Barbican
Library
Award winning novelist and poet, Ben Okri, will be interviewed
by literary activist and publisher, Kadija George, at Barbican
Library on Wednesday 19 May at 7.30pm.
Okri, whose watershed novel, The Famished Road, won the Booker
Prize in 1991 has attracted a host of international awards and was
awarded an OBE in 2001. He is also vice-President of the English
Centre of International PEN and a member of the Board of the
National Theatre. His recent work includes a novel, Starbook, and a
book of short stories entitled Tales of Freedom.
Kadija George is a lecturer, publisher and managing editor of
Sable and has received several achievement awards for her work in
arts and literature.
John Lake from Barbican Library says: “We’re delighted that Ben
Okri, a novelist of considerable standing, has agreed to come to
the library to talk about his work with Kadija. I hope that people
will be encouraged to come to meet him and hear about his fantastic
writing, which draws keenly on his first-hand experiences of living
in Nigeria. Ben will also be happy to sign copies of his books
after the interview.”
Tickets cost £6.00 (£4.00 concessions) and are available from
the Barbican Centre Box Office on 020 7638 8891 or online at
www.barbican.org.uk
Ends
Notes for editors
About the City of London Corporation:
The City of London Corporation is a uniquely diverse organisation.
It supports and promotes the City as the world leader in
international finance and business services and provides local
services and policing for those working in, living in and visiting
the Square Mile. It also provides valued services to London and the
nation. These include the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School
of Music & Drama; the Guildhall Library and Art Gallery and
London Metropolitan Archive; a range of education provision
(including three City Academies); five Thames bridges (including
Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge); the Central Criminal Court
at Old Bailey; over 10,000 acres of open spaces (including
Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest), and three wholesale food
markets. It is also London’s Port Health Authority and runs the
Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow. It works in partnership with
neighbouring boroughs on the regeneration of surrounding areas and
the City Bridge Trust, which it oversees, donates more than £15m to
charity annually.
Press contact
(including interview bids with Ben Okri)
Andrew Buckingham, Press Officer (Features), City of London
Corporation
Tel: 020 7332 1452 / Mobile: 07795 333 060
Email:
andrew.buckingham@cityoflondon.gov.uk