Poet Atukwei Okai in London - Nov 10

This is billed as the season finale for the African Writers' Evening series of literature events. Ghanaian poet Atukwei Okai appears in London's Poetry Cafe, in a much anticipated reading. It starts at 6.30pm, Thursday November 10. The starting time will not be a moment later, due to another important event in memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa later in the evening.

Atukwei Okai is the author of 'Oath of the Fomtomfrom' and 'Logorligi Logarithms'. A fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, his poems have been published in numerous anthologies, and his international performances include an acclaimed one at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London in 1975. His poem, Oblongo Concerto was featured in a special meridian-line display at the Millennium Dome exhibition in Greenwich, London.

Nigeria's Femi Osofisan once said that "Okai was the first to try to take African poetry back to one of its primal origins, in percussion, by deliberately violating the syntax and lexicon of English, creating his own rhythms through startling phonetic innovations."

Okai's London appearance this time, is made possible by the efforts of UK-based Ghanaian poet, Nii Ayikwei-Parkes, co-editor of Dance the Guns to Silence - the new anthology of 100 poems celebrating the life of Ken Saro Wiwa.