Short, lucid writing is needed in these uncertain times, according to the Booker prize-winning Nigerian author Ben Okri, who is releasing a new poem line by line on Twitter.
"Forms follows adversity – we live in uncertain times. I think we need a new kind of writing that responds to the anxiety of our age and yet has brevity," he said. "My feeling is that these times are perfect for short, lucid forms. We need to get more across in fewer words. The Twitter poem tries to respond to this and the feeling of freedom."
"I sing a new freedom," Okri Twittered yesterday, following it up today with the second line of the poem, "Freedom with discipline", today. The poem was written to mark the release of Okri's new book, Tales of Freedom, in April. The book brings together short stories and poetry in what Okri's publisher described as "a fascinating new form, using writing and image pared down to their essentials, where haiku and story meet". The entire poem will be posted on Okri's Facebook and MySpace pages once it is completed.
The Nigeria-born Okri, who lives in London today, won the Booker prize in 1991 for his novel The Famished Road. He has also won the Commonwealth writers prize for Africa, and was awarded an OBE in 2001.
Last month it emerged that an imposter was on Twitter pretending to be the award-winning poet and memoirist Maya Angelou, with tweets including: "History, despite its wrenching pain/ Cannot be unlived, and if faced/ With courage, need not be lived again".