Head of Zeus will publish Ben Okri’s first children’s book, Every Leaf a Hallelujah, with illustrations by Diana Ejaita.
Pitched as “an enchanting ecological tale set in Africa” with specially commissioned illustrations from Italian-Nigerian artist Ejaita, the book will be featured in six consecutive one-page extracts in The Bookseller from the beginning of July accompanied by a comprehensive publicity and marketing campaign.
Okri is considered one of the foremost African authors in the post-modern and post-colonial traditions and has been compared favourably to authors such as Salman Rushdie and Gabriel García Márquez.
Okri’s success as a writer began when he published his debut novel Flowers and Shadows in 1980, at the age of 21. He then served West Africa magazine as poetry editor from 1983 to 1986 and was a regular contributor to the BBC World Service between 1983 and 1985, continuing to publish throughout this period. His reputation as an author was secured when his novel The Famished Road won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1991, making him the youngest ever winner of the prize at the age of 32.
