Kayd Somali Arts and Culture, in collaboration with Redseaonline Cultural Foundation and The Poetry Translation Centre, are proud to present the annual Somali Week Festival. The festival, an integral part of the Black History Month celebrations, will run from Saturday 22nd to Sunday 30th October 2011 in London.

The festival offers the best of Somali arts and culture, both old and new, presenting a mix of events including poetry, literature, music and panel discussions.

The theme of this year's festival is translation. Somali Week 2011 will be introduced by Sarah Maguire, Director of the Poetry Translation Centre. Her discussion of the significance of translation will be followed by a presentation by Dr Mpalive-Hangson, reader in English and Humanities at Birkbeck University.

Three leading Somali poets are visiting the UK especially for the festival. Jaamac Kadiye Cilmi, Saado Cabdi Amarre and Axmed Shiikh Jaamac are all reading together to launch the Somali Week Festival 2011 at what promises to be a very exciting event. These three poets have been co translated by Maxamed Xasan 'Alto' and Sarah Maguire especially for Somali Week and Sarah will be reading their translations for the very first time tonight.