The tough alchemy of Ben Okri : the writer as conceptual artist

"Winner of the Booker Prize for The Famished Road, Ben Okri is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary writers writing today. Featuring a substantial new interview with Ben Okri, a full bibliography of his creative work and covering his complete works, this is the first in-depths study of Okri's themes and artistic vision. Rosemary Gray explores Okri's career long engagement with myth, with Nigerian politics and culture and with environmental crisis in the age of the Anthropocene"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Title Copyrights Dedication Content List of figures Preface Foreword Acknowledgements Part 1 The alchemy of life: ‘To find life in myth and myth in life’ ( Birds of Heaven 1996) 1 Ben Okri’s aphorisms: ‘Music on the wings of a soaring bird 2 Epistemic ecology and ‘diminishing boundaries of a shrinking world’ in ‘Heraclitus’Golden River’ from Wild 3 Ontopoiesis in Okri’s poetic oeuvre and A Time for New Dreams 4 Recovering our true state of being in ‘The Comic Destiny Part 2 Rebalancing the triadic elements of life 5 Apologia pro In Arcadia : A neglected masterpiece 6 ‘Domesticating infinity’ in Mental Fight and Astonishing the Gods 7 Redreaming ways of seeing: Intuitive creativity in The Landscapes Within 8 Promoting the poetic cause in ‘stokus’ from Tales of Freedom Part 3 The mercurial imaginary: The writer as ‘demiurge’ (artist/ craftsman) 9 Sowing ‘a quilt of harmony’: Eco- phenomenology in ‘Lines in Potentis 10 ‘A clear lucid stream of everywhereness’ in Wild : A postmodern perspective 11 Survivalist culture in ‘Laughter beneath the Bridge 12 The poetic muse of archaeology Part 4 The wheel of transformation: The writer as lodestar (guide) 13 Sublime transformative paremiology in A Way of Being Free 14 ‘Th e Standeruppers’: The frightening irony of the Anthropocene 15 Conscious reveries in The Magic Lamp: Dreams of Our Age 16 ‘The Incandescence of the Wind’ (1982): ‘Rain wisdom down upon the earth Part 5 In search of the marvellous: The sacred ziggurat (symbolic celestial mountain) 17 Protean magic in The Mystery Feast and The Magic Lamp 18 ‘An Interval in the Enchantment of Living’: The Age of Magic 19 When chaos is the god of an era: Rediscovering an ‘axis mundi’ in Starbook 20 In conversation with Ben Okri Notes Bibliography Index Ben Okri's aphorisms : 'Music on the wings of a soaring bird' -- Epistemic ecology and the 'diminishing boundaries of a shrinking world' in 'Heraclitus' Golden River' from Wild -- Ontopoiesis in Okri's poetic oeuvre and A Time for New Dreams -- Recovering our true state of being in 'The Comic Destiny' -- Apologia pro In Arcadia : A neglected masterpiece? -- 'Domesticating infinity' in Mental Fight and Astonishing the Gods -- Redreaming ways of seeing : Intuitive creativity in The Landscapes Within -- Promoting the poetic cause in 'stokus' from Tales of Freedom -- Sowing 'a quilt of harmony' : Eco-phenomenology in 'Lines in Potentis' -- 'A clear lucid stream of everywhereness' in Wild : A postmodern perspective -- Survivalist Culture in 'Laughter Beneath the Bridge' -- The poetic muse of archaeology -- Sublime transformative paremiology in A Way of Being Free -- 'The Standeruppers' : The frightening irony of the Anthropocene -- Conscious Reveries in The Magic Lamp : Dreams of Our Age -- 'The Incandescence of the Wind' : 'Rain wisdom down upon this earth' -- Protean Magic in The Mystery Feast and The Magic Lamp -- An Interval in the Enchantment of Living : The Age of Magic -- When chaos is the god of an era : Rediscovering an 'axis mundi' in Starbook -- In conversation with Ben Okri Winner of the Booker Prize for The Famished Road , Ben Okri is widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary writers writing today. Featuring a substantial new interview with Ben Okri himself, a full bibliography of his creative work and covering his complete works, this is the first in-depth study of Okri's themes and artistic vision. Rosemary Gray explores Okri's career-long engagement with myth, Nigerian politics and culture, and with the environmental crisis in the age of the Anthropocene.