Ben Okri expounds and exalts “the genius of inner freedom” in this profound yet controversial article for The Guardian. From James Joyce to Homer, Okri argues that great literature transcends subject; the beauty of art giving the work a greater longevity and relevance:
“It is time that black and African writers woke up from their mesmerism with subject. By it they gain a brief success, a small flutter of fame. Then with time the work sinks; but other works whose subject was perhaps less sensational, but whose art is more compelling, make their way through time and win the appreciation of eternal readers.”
