Ben Okri Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Booker Prize-winning novelist Ben Okri talks about his environmental fairy tale Every Leaf a Hallelujah, written for both children and adults.

Mangoshi seeks a special flower in the forest near her home in Africa. She knows it can save her mother’s life and the village too, but she must find it. The fairy tale is set in a magical world of beauty and colour and among trees that have their own personality and voice. The great baobab tree invites readers to travel the world and see the perils of not listening to nature. Okri’s words are accompanied by drawings by illustrator and textile designer Diana Ejaita.

‘A powerful symphony of a story that will resonate for every reader. We hear the wind in the trees on every page. We only have to listen’ Michael Morpurgo

Okri is a novelist and poet and author of the Booker-winning The Famished Road. Astonishing the Gods was named as one of the BBC’s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.

This event is part of the festival’s programme of African literature and culture.

Age 8+