Raised in a nomadic upbringing, Ahmed Ismail Yusuf is the author of three books: Gorgorkii Yimi, a collection of short stories in Somali; The Lion’s Binding Oath, a collection of short stories in English; Somalis in Minnesota, in English; and one (Maana-faay) translated from Somali into English. Raad Raac in Somali and The Lion’s Gazing Guide in English will be released in 2026. His short […]
Hamid Kabir was born in Kabul. After finishing school, he won a scholarship to read Medicine at Moscow Medical Academy. In 1997 he settled in the UK to study International Business with German Language. He worked for HSBC Bank and two world-class software solutions companies before joining Ariana Travel Limited as the Chief Executive Officer. […]
Shakila Azizzada was born in Kabul in Afghanistan in 1964. During her middle school and university years in Kabul, she started writing stories and poems, many of which were published in magazines. Her poems are unusual in their frankness and delicacy, particularly in the way she approaches intimacy and female desire, subjects which are rarely […]
Said Salah is a highly-esteemed playwright, poet, and educationalist who has used his skills as a writer to press for peace in his country. His famous play, Aqoon Iyo Afgarad (Knowledge and Understanding), was written in collaboration with other major Somali poets, including Hadraawi and the late Gaarriye and Musse Abdi Elmi. Said’s work has […]
Muse Cali Faruur is steeped in Somali heritage and culture and is widely esteemed for his expertise Somali tradition and folklore. Famous for his phenomenal memory, he acts as a living storehouse for many of his culture’s most precious and highly-regarded poems and traditions. His courage as a foremost social and political activist is also […]
The leading Somali poet, Faysal Omer Mushteeg Faysal 1945-2012), tragically passed away on 20th September in Dacarburuq on his way to Addis Ababa to apply for a UK visa to attend Somali Week Festival 2012, where he was eagerly expected. Unfortunately, he became very unwell and he had to be taken back to Hargeysa. Sadly […]
Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac ‘Gaarriye’ was born in Hargeysa in 1949 where he continued to live until illness forced him to leave for Norway in 2011. Gaarriye died in Oslo on 30th September, 2012. Gaarriye attended school in Sheikh in Somaliland and then graduated with a degree in biology from the Somali National University, following which […]
Dato (David) Magradze was born in 1962; in 1984 he graduated from Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Philology. He has published several collections of poems, including Marula (1987), Nikala (2002), Salve (2004), Nafexurebi cyalze (The Steps on the Water) (2011) and Giacomo Ponti (2011). His books have been translated into Armenian, English, German, Italian, Russian […]
The prominent Kurdish poet and writer, Abdulla Pashew, is widely regarded as the most popular living Kurdish poet. Born in 1946 in Hawler, the capital city of southern Kurdistan, Abdulla Pashew attended the Teachers’ Training Institute in Hawler before travelling to the former Soviet Union where he obtained an M.A. in Pedagogy, specialising in foreign […]
Masoud Ahmadi was born in 1943 in Kerman, a historical city in central Iran. He moved to Tehran when he was young and became a teacher of philosophy and Persian literature in Tehran high schools. A few years after the Revolution of 1979, he was arrested and spent four years in prison. After his release […]