Waking the Warriors – Ben Okri

Sun 25 October, 2026 at 1:00 pm

Ben Okri is an acclaimed novelist, essayist, playwright, and poet whose award winning writing  includes the Booker Prize for Fiction for The Famished Road. He will talk about his latest work, Waking the Warriors, a modern fable, born from the ancient legend of the sleeping warriors who wake when the kingdom is in mortal danger. Brilliantly conjured by a virtuoso storyteller, the tale is set in a dystopic world of invading armies, terrified refugees and demotic tyrants. But where the greatest enemy is not the tyrant but the dark forces draining the people’s will to resist. 

‘Fiction’s master enchanter’ Marlon James 

‘Magic is essential, and Okri can spin it’ The Guardian

Sir Ben 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 awards including the Booker Prize for 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’. 

Ben Okri