As one of Britain's foremost poets, Ben Okri is rightly acclaimed for his use of language. Here, the Booker prize-winning author brings both poetry and story together in a fascinating new form, using writing and image pared down to their essentials, where haiku and story meet.

As one of Britain's foremost poets, Ben Okri is rightly acclaimed for his use of language. Here, the Booker prize-winning author brings both poetry and story together in a fascinating new form, using writing and image pared down to their essentials, where haiku and story meet.

This significant title story 'The Comic Destiny' forms the centrepiece of this collection, complemented by thirteen magical stokus. In his new introduction Ben Okri describes it as a talisman, an alchemic instigator for much of his later work. The stoku is a blend of story and haiku. And thirteen, according to the author, is the number of liberation.

All these stories are about freedom. They flow easily, but burn slowly. And they offer the possibility of freedom beyond the confines of our usual perception.

'Moments of genuine insight and poetry' Guardian.

'Okri's writing has a light-as-air elegance, yet its seriousness keeps the stories gravity bound' New Statesman.