Ben Okri's novels and stories have been highly acclaimed - the most recent, The Famished Road, won the 1991 Booker Prize for fiction. His writing is characterised by a lyrical, almost musical quality in which he displays the rhythmic touch of the poet. An African Elegy, his first poetry collection, brings together poems which have appeared in The Times, the Guardian, PEN International, the anthology Colours of a New Day and other publications. The title poem was read by the author at the presentation of the Booker prize. An African Elegy is selected from almost ten years of Ben Okri's work and draws for inspiration on his vision of Africa as well as on the everyday material of his life.