Series Finale: Ben Okri on the Value of Poetry

To end our sequence of films about LITERATURE & MENTAL HEALTH: READING FOR WELLBEING, we return to our leading theme of the restorative power of poetry. In this final interview, Paula Byrne speaks to award-winning poet and novelist Ben Okri about his approach to writing poetry.
Like Stephen Fry, Ben talks to us about the importance of poetic form in shaping and amplifying the content of a poem. He discusses a number of his favourite poets, including Emily Dickinson, Christopher Okigbo and Wole Soyinka, as well as sharing three of his own poems with us. For Ben, the value of poetry, in an increasingly frantic and fearful modern age, is its ability to return to us our inner lives.

[@lilawilson3072]

Thank you for this amazing content. Am now obsessed with Ben Okri 🙌 genius

[@juwainvirgo1241]

I love listening to this brother speak

[@VinoVenitas]

"A voice to happiness." I loved that quote. This was a really nice interview to watch. I loved the energy he had and he made some really nice points in here