A Fire in my Head : Poems for the Dawn

Okri, Ben

A Fire in my Head : Poems for the Dawn - Great Britain : Head of Zeus , 2021 - 139p.; 12cmx19cm

This book brings together many of Ben Okri's most acclaimed and politically charged poems.

Some of them like "Grenfell Tower, June 2017", are already familiar . Published in the Financial Times less than ten days after the fire, it was played more than 6 million times on Channel 4's Facebook page, and was retweeted by thousands on Twitter.

"Notre-Dame is Telling Us Something" was first read on BBC Radio 4 , in the aftermath of the cathedral's near destruction . It spoke eloquently of the despair that was felt around the world.

In "Shaved Head Poem", Ben Okri wrote of the confusion and anxiety felt as the world grappled with a health crisis unprecedented in our times.

"Breathing the Light" was his response to the events of summer 2020, when a black man died beneath the knee of a white policeman, a trgedy sparkign a movement for change.

These poems, and others including poems for Ken Saro-Wiwa, Barack Obama, Amnesty and more, make this a uniquely powerful collection that blends anger and tenderness with Ben Okri's inimitable vision.

9781800243002

FP2021/03