Somali literature

In preparation for the Somali Day - postponed until 29 June 2021 - the ASCL Library has compiled a web dossier on Somali literature. The dossier consists of selected titles from the ASCL Library Catalogue, extended with sources available through the broader Leiden University Library collection. Titles link to the corresponding record in the online catalogue, which provides additional details and abstracts, where available. A special section has been added under the header “Acquisition trip 2019”, showcasing literary works in Somali purchased at the 12th Hargeysa International Bookfair. The dossier is introduced by ASCL researcher Annachiara Raia and concludes with a selection of links to relevant websites.
For publications on other subjects than literature acquired in Hargeisa in 2019 see this page.

 

Introduction | Selected titles | Selected web resources

Introduction

Language and script

The Somali language (af somaaliga) belongs to the Cushitic language family. It is spoken in Somalia and in adjacent parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, and the Dijbouti Republic.

The documented arrival of Arabs in what was to become Mogadishu dates back to the middle of the 2nd century A.H.—the second half of the eighth century (Cerulli 1927). Islam reached the Somali coast very early, but the Somali language did not adopt an official orthography until 1972. Prior to this, a plethora of scripts (18 writing systems—some indigenous, others Arabic- or Latin-based) were proposed and used over time.

The introduction of Arabic into northern Somaliland is attributed to Sheikh Yuusuf bin Ahmad al-Kawneyn (known as Aw Barkhadle), of Ashrāf descent. It is said that Aw Barkhadle came to Somaliland in the 13th century to proselytize Islam. The sharif Yuusuf introduced a vowel system based on Arabic nomenclature, which facilitated the acquisition of literacy in Arabic. A huge corpus of political and devotional poems in Arabic script was produced under the aegis of Sheekh Aweys (or Uways) Maxamed Baraawii, who was an important religious leader of the Qâdiriyya brotherhood. Sheekh Aweys, a member of the Tunni clan, was born in 1847 in the southern town of Brava, in the Benadir region; after studying in Baghdad, he returned to Brava in 1880. A further advance in the writing of Somali in Arabic script was achieved by Muuse Xaaji Ismaaciil Galaal, who introduced seven completely new signs to properly mark the Somali vowels.

Osman Yusuf Kenadid, meanwhile, was the inventor of  an eponymous indigenous script, Osmania, between 1920 and 1922. In A Nation in Search of Script: The Problem of Establishing a National Orthography for Somali, Hassan Adam says of this purely local script that: “the signs were borrowed neither from Arabic nor Italian but seem to be freely invented, perhaps partially under the influence of the ductus of the Ethiopian writing” (1968: 21). The prominence of the script until late 1971 is attested by the publication of an entire book, Afkeenna iyo fartiisa (“Our Language and Its Script”) in Osmania script published by Industrie Grafiche della Somalia.

The Latin Somali alphabet was eventually officialized on the occasion of the third anniversary of the revolution and became effective on 1 January 1973. Among others, former president Siad Barre has claimed that economic as well as pragmatic reasons underpin the decision to adopt a modified Latin alphabet in Somalia. (Labahn 1982: 172–173).

Poetry

The core of Somali expressive culture is poetry (gabay) and Somalia is rightly regarded as a country of poets. During his visit to Somalia in 1854, the British explorer Sir Richard Burton reported that “the country teems with poets”. Mainly due to the largely pastoral lifestyle of the Somalis, Somali poetry is first and foremost oral poetry. This means that its first realization (composition, dissemination and conservation) occurs without recourse to writing. Three key components form the backbone of Somali poetry: its prosodic pattern; a quantitative meter; and its alliterative form, which is sustained through each line of the poem.  

The genres of Somali poetry span a vast and diverse range of topics, which adapt and change over time and with the culture. Work songs depicting rural activities involving camels are among the oldest Somali oral genres. While these poems (commonly referred to as hees) are not attributed to individual poets, the more prestigious genre of maanso consists of poetic works whose composers are indeed known: the text usually exists and is meant to be memorized verbatim by a so-called reciter. Before tape recorders became widespread in the 1960s, oral poetry was memorized verbatim. The reciter in the Somali context—different from the griots of West Africa or the bards of Yugoslavia —was commonly not a skilled poet, but regarded solely as the mediator of the poetic text (which was never of epic length), addressing the public audience and preserving the poem for the future generations (Andrzejewski 2011). Invective poems addressed to a particular lineage, which, in turn, trigger responses and create a poetic chain (silsila). Two of the most famous in this regard are the Siinley chain of the early 1970s and Deelley of 1979–80, (two series of poems named after their alliterative schemes). They are both popular chains of political poems. One of the most common meters from the 1970s onwards has been jiifto (Orwin 2012).

The use of musical accompaniment was pioneered by the composer Cabdullaahi Qarshe, who introduced the oud, an Arabic string instrument, to Somali poetry in the 1940s. The first new genre that emerged from this was the heello, drawing from a prior genre known as belwo. Originally consisting of love poems, the heello genre was subsequently adapted as an important medium for nationalist poetry amid the Somali struggle for independence. As attested by John William Johnson, this heello urban-based genre “was the voice of marginal segments of the society” (Johnson 1995:111). After Somali independence in 1960, the heello genre developed into a modern form of hees, which has become widespread since the 1970s. 

Another genre, known as buraambur, is used exclusively by women in a variety of contexts, mainly dance, and is characterized as being extremely short—mostly between two and five or six lines (Orwin 2012; Banti and Gianntasio 1996). Somali women’s poetry has also played an important role in support of and in opposition to the military regime that came to power in the coup of 1969. Though not widely recognized, Somali woman actively participated in the Somali Youth League and placed poetry at the core of their political arsenal. Notable works include those of Hawa Jibril (Mudug, 1920–2011) and her views on the post-independence reality of her country, which are explored in Somalia—The Untold Story: The War Through the Eyes of Somali Women (El-Bushra & Gardner 2004).

Somali Novels and Writers

Hawa Jibril is one example of the abundance of voices representing what has also been conceived as a country of writers in exile. As pointed out by Nuraddin Farah (Baidoa, 1945– ) in his “A Country in Exile,” for World Literature Today, to date “there is no Somali term to describe the idea of exile—and yet the condition has become familiar to many of my people” (1998: 715). Exile has been depicted by a variety of genres in Somali literature, perhaps the most notable of which encompasses the genres of novel and memoir. The novel as such, Moolla observes, “embodies to the highest degree the features and trends associated with the development of writing in print capitalism” (Moolla 2012: 435–6). Furthermore, precisely because of its particular historical trajectory, the Somali novel has been written in Arabic, Somali, French, Italian and English, and the works of Somali writers have been translated into many languages. Thus, the reader should not be surprised that the depiction of Mogadishu in Farah’s “extroverted African novel” (Julien 2006) on the Somali civil war, Links, mirrors that of Dante Alighieri’s Hell; nor should the reader be disappointed, but rather enthusiastic when a writer such as Igiaba Scego (Rome, 1974– ) is awarded an Italian literary prize such as the Premio Mondello for La mia casa è dove sono (“My Home Is Where I Am,” 2010). Within contemporary creative writing, it is also worth citing novels from the country itself, for instance those depicting Somali experiences in the refugee camps of Kenya (see Bile M. Hashi’s Hammi adduun iyo hasaawe jacayl [“Ambition and Love,” 2010] ).

Among the classics of Somali literature in the Somali language, Faarax M. J. Cawl’s novel Aqoondaaro waa u nacab jacayl (“Ignorance Is the Enemy of Love”), translated into English by Andrzejewski in 1982, is a masterpiece imbued with orality through the interpolation of love poetry.   Cawl’s novel masterfully illustrates the equal value of orality and literature, both essential to shaping the African novel as authentically “African” (Julien 1992). Marriage is a major theme woven into the plot of this novel, a theme—together with that of the journey—that has also remained dear to the latest generation of Somali prose writers, such as Xusseen Sheekh Biixi, who in his novel Waddadii albahaarka  (“The Road of Grief”) uses the theme of marriage to portray the situation of Somalia in the early 1990s, a time of dramatic change for Somalis, whose life was about to change and never be the same again (Orwin 2008; Ali Jimale Ahmed 1989). 

Music

It would be remiss not to comment on the role of music in Somali literature and culture in this introduction to Somali literature. In the so-called golden era of Somali music in the 1970s and 1980s, musicians sporting afros and wearing black and gold jackets used to perform at Mogadishu nightclubs where people danced until the early hours. In an interview for The Guardian and Nigrizia, Habib Sharaabi and Abdulkadir Korea retell their memories of that golden age. In the late 1980s, when Siad Barre’s regime became particularly repressive, censorship and economic crises forced many musicians to leave the country. The beautiful memories of the country before the civil war are also evoked by contemporary singers based in Hargeisa, Somaliland, like Sahr Halgan, the icon of pan-African music, regarded as a sentinelle somalindaise, and founder of the Sahr Halgan Trio in 2010.

Today, the Hargeisa Cultural Centre, founded in August 2014, serves as a living archive, promoting and preserving the artistic and cultural heritage of Somalis. The centre holds 14,000 cassettes of music, poetry and plays that, during the war, were hidden underground to escape destruction. They were mainly collected through donations from ordinary people or old cassette shops that have since closed their businesses. 

Among those composers whose poetry was written and meant to be set to music, Xasan Daahir Ismaaciil “Weedhsame”’s lyrics, mainly love poems, popularized by YouTube,  must be mentioned.

Djibouti also boasts a long musical tradition (see Cabdalla Xaaji Cismaan and Siciid Maxamuud Gahayr’s Sooyaalka fanka iyo hobollada Jabuuti, Hargeysa, Somaliland: Sagaljet, 2019) that illustrates the important role the media has played in broadcasting Somali-oriented music and voices. Singers such as Siciid Xamarqoodh, Cali Mooge Geeddi, Rooda Axmed and Faadumo Axmed Dhimbiil were generally performing at weddings at the time Radio Djibouti was founded. This station would become the main outlet for these artists’ work, raising their popularity as well their status as an anti-colonial voice during the struggle for independence.

Against All Odds: Make Literature Your Own Religion

Against all the odds, against a country labelled a “no-go area” by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, since 2008, Hargeisa—the capital city of the internationally yet unrecognized Somaliland—has hosted one of the biggest book fairs in the Horn of Africa, where scholars, writers, young storytellers and passionate, educated Africans—who have made literature their own religion—meet and network to build a better present and future for their own societies. From book fairs to our own libraries and educational events, all of these initiatives combined also ensure a better present and future for African studies and the field of African-languages literature.

Annachiara Raia

Up

Selected titles

Acquisition trip 2019 - publications in Somali

This section will be updated regularly in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Novels and short stories

Balanbaalisyahay duul : iyo sheekooyin kale / Jaamac Muuse Jaamac. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Ponte Invisible, 2019.

Hayaan / Cabdixakiim Maxamuud Maxamed "Ubaxle". - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Ponte Invisible (redsea-online), 2019.

Jannadoon / Khadar Cabdi Cabdillaahi (Faraskacad). - Cairo, Egypt: Madbacadda Hiil Press, 2019.
https://lolpanic.ru/watch/Barnaamijka-Qalinka--Khadar-Cabdi-Cabdillaahi-...

Baalkii Madoobaa ee Nolosheyda / Warsame Shiidley. - [Leicester, UK ]: Looh Press, 2018.

Cadaabtii ifka / Xasan Cabdi Madar. - Cairo, Egypt: Madbacadda Hiil Press, 2018.

Gadood / Goray Daahir. - Cairo, Egypt: Hiil Press, 2018.

Isma oga adduun / Xasan Cabdi Madar. - Cairo, Egypti: Hiil Press, 2018.

Ma innaguun baa! : (tiraab -curin) / Siciid Jaamac Xuseen. - Hargeysa: Ponte Invisibile (redsea-online), 2018.

Ninkii qaxootiga & laantiisii dahabka / Yaas Daher. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Sagaljet publications, [2018], 2018.

Shan-daranley / A.A. Garas "Ma-Qaloocshe" ; tifaftirkii: Cabdinaasir Axmed Abraham. - [Mogadishu]: HEMA Books, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Z-TGnuBfI

Bilan / Cabdiraxmaan M. Warmooge. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Cabdiraxmaan M Warmooge, 2017.

Mar la arag / Faarax Xuseen Maxamed. - Leicester, UK: Looh Press, 2017.

Riyo ivo rafaad / Nuradiin Muxumed Ibarahim. - Hargeysa: Boqorka Khadka, 2017.

Ubaxii qaadhay / Umulkheyr Cabdirisaaq Axmed "Arabsiyo.". - Mogdisho, Somalia: [publisher not identified], 2017.

Gurrac / Khadar Cabdi Cabdillaahi (Faraskacad). - [Author]: Khadar Cabdi Cabdillaahi, 2016.

Godadle : kala qarisaye maxaad hadda qaban : dhacdo dhab ah / w/q: Suldaan Nayruus. - [Somalia]: [publisher not identified], 2015.

Habeen-eersi / Dayax Axmed Maxamed (Afraax). - [Mogadishu?]: Dayax Publisher, 2015.

Indha jacayl / qalinkii: abwaan Cali Muumin Cabdilaahi (Shacraawi). - [Somaliland]: Togdheer Printing Center, 2015.

Sahan = Reconnaissance / Abdullahi Noor Hasan (Shino). - Stockholm, Sweden: Scansom Publishers, 2015.

Ka durduuro nabsiga (retribution) / Abdullahi Noor Hassan (Shiino). - Stockholm: Scansom Publishers, 2014.

Laba kala leexday / Cabdiraxmaan Aadan Maxamuud. - Boorama, Somaliland: Blue Sky Printing Press, 2014.

Qiraal = confession / Ali Atore. - Stockholm, Sweden: Scansom Publishers, 2014.
https://youtu.be/qMBVtZFLPy4

Markabkii quusay = The sunken ship / Qasim Hersi Farah. - Stockholm: Scansom Publishers, 2013.

Maskab libaax / Eng. Jamaal Gumar Abrahin (Galmaaxdey). - [Somalia?]: Bilan Print & Design, 2013.

Wiilkii mucjisada ahaa iyo budhcaddii soomalida ahayd / Sheeko Xariir. - Alexandria, VA: Somali Media Network, 2013.

Dadka maxaa ka dhexeeya / Xasan Jamac Yasin. - Hargeisa, Somaliland: Iftin Print, 2012.

Diihaal-reeb / Khaalid Jaamac Qodax. - Hargeysa: Qodax Publishers, 2011.

Guryasamo / Hawa A. Hussein. - Stockholm, Sweden: Scansom Publishers, 2011.

Shufbeel : tiraab soomaaliyeed / Siciid Jaamac Xuseen. - Pisa, Italy: Ponte Invisibile (redsea-online), 2011.

Hammi adduun iyo hasaawe jacayl = Ambition and love / Bile M. Hashi. - Stockholm, Sweden: Scansom Publishers, 2010.

Siraha jacaylka : riwaayad-drama / Saalax Xaashi Carab. - Jabbuuti: Ild, 2009.

Hadhkii madoobaa : riwaayad taariikheed / Najiib al-Kiilaani ; waxa turjumay, Aadan Xasan Aadan (Beleloo). - Jabuuti [Djibouti]: Institut des langues, République de Djibouti, 2008.

Maxbuus nr. 77 = Prisoner no. 77 / Bile M. Hashi. - Stockholm, Sweden: Scansom Publishers, 2008.

Dhib iyo dheef jacayl / Mustafe Fhariif Maxamed. - [Somalia?]: Shirkada Daabacaada ee HIMILO.

Poetry

Haaneed : hal'abuurkii iyo hawraartii Axmed Aw Geeddi / ururintii, habayntii iyo tifaftirkii Axmed Iid Aadan. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Hema Books, 2019.

Halhaysreeb / Cali Ileeye. - Qaahira, Masar [Cairo, Egypt]: Hiil Press, 2019.

Sooyaalka fanka iyo hobollada Jabuuti / waxa qoray: Cabdalla Xaaji Cismaan ; tifaftirkii: Siciid Maxamuud Gahayr. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Sagaljet, 2019.

Xerudhalan : sooyaalka iyo suugaanta geela / Maxamed Saleebaan Axmed. -  Hargaysa, Soomaaliland : Sagaljet, 2019.

Dhaxal abwaan : sooyaalkii suugaanta abwaan Dheeg / Maxamed Xirsi Guuleed (Abdibashir), Aadan Daahir Cabdillaahi (Aadan-cadde). - Sweden, Stockholm Cairo, Egypt: Eurosom bokförlag Hiil Press, 2018.

Dhigaal / Xasan Cabdi Madar. - Cairo, Egypt: Hiil Press, 2018.

Hal ka haleel : sooyaalka Hadraawi iyo suugaantiisa : daabacaaddii labaad iyo maansooyinkii dambe / Maxamed Baashe X. Xasan. - [Place of publication not identified]: Garanuug, 2018.

Nuxur : murtidii iyo gabayadii / abwaan: Xasan sheekh Muuse. - Cairo, Egypt: Hiil Press, 2018.

Xabag barsheed : miisaanka maansada Soomaaliyeed (midayn iyo midhiftir) / Cali Sh. Maxamed Cabdi 'Cali Ileeye'. - [London]: Garanuug, 2018.

Xulka Gabayada iyo Xudun Xidhka Suugaanta / w/q: Suldaan Abdi Siyaad (Qabdiid). - Muqdisho, Soomaaliya: Yalax Printing Center, 2018.

Deelleey : saadaal rumowday / ururintii, habayntii & tifaf-tirkii: Boobe Yuusuf Ducaale ; hordhacii, Maxamed Ibraahin Warsame ; gogoldhiggii, Rashiid Sheekh Cabdillaahi. - Hargeysa, Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland: Bobe publications, 2017.

Diiwaanka maansada Timacadde (1920kii-1973kii) / ururintii, qoraalkii & tifaf-tirkii, Boobe Yuusuf Ducaale. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Sagaljet Publications, 2017.

Cilmi Boodheri iyo Jacaylkii taamka Ahaa / Cabdirashiid Maxamed Ismaaciil, Idiris Yuusuf Cilmi. - Hargeysa: Ponte invisibile (readsea-online), 2016.

Diiwaanka siinley : silsiladdii ay kacaanka isa seegeen / Yuusuf Cismaan Cabdille "Shaacir". - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Sagajet Publications, 2016.

Gibil-xidh : miisaanka maansada soomaaliyeed / qoraalkii: bare sare Cabdillahi Diiriye Guul (Prof. Caraale). - Hargeisa, Somaliland: Sagaljet, [2016], 2016.

Irdho / Maxamuud Sheekh Axmed Dalmar. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Ponte Invisible (redsea-online), [2016], 2016.

Summadda soomaalida iyo suugaanta / qoristii, Maxamuud Maxamed Xuseen Ibraahim (Maxamuud Omane). - Hargeysa, Somaliland: [publisher not identified], 2016.

Toloow colka jooja! : maansadii Salaan Maxamed Maxamuud "Salaan Carrabey" / Yuusuf Cismaan Cabdille "Shaacir". - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Sagaljet Publications, 2016.

Awliyooy Lagaa Dood Silsilad-Maanseeddii Alifley / Isku-Dubba-Ridkii iyo tafatirkii, Maxamed Xirsi Guuleed (Abdibashir) ; Ururintii, Axmed Aw Geeddi Maxamuud (Dheeraad) & Siciid Maxamuud Gahayr (Hargeysaawi). - Stockholm, Sweden: Eurosom bokförkag, 2015.

Mahadho : Sooyaalkii iyo Waxqabadkii Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac 'Gaarriye' (1949-2012) / Cabdiraxmaan C. Faarax 'Barwaaqo'. - [Sweden]: Hal-aqoon Publishers, 2015.

Qalin ma koobaan : diiwaanka maansada, Cali Mooge Geeddi 1960kii-2003sii / ururintii & qalinkii Cabdalla Xaaji Cusmaan ; tifaftirkii iyo iskudubbaridkii Maxamed Xirsi Guuleed (Abdibashir). - [Hargeysa, Somaliland]: Madbacadda SagalJet, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z14EOOGrzU

Waayihii iyo gabayadii Samatar Baxnaan : (1906-2000) / Axmed F. Cali "Idaajaa". - [Nairobi]: Zayla Publisher House, 2015.

Waayo-sheeg : taariikhda iyo suugaanta Somaliland / Muusa Carab Obsiiye. - [Somalia?]: KAAH Publishers, 2015.

Cilmi-boodhari Caashaqiisii / Maxamed Xirsi Guuleed "Abdibashir". - Stockholm, Sweden: Eurosom bokförlag, 2014.

Hal kaa maqan : maansooyin iyo mahadhooyin xiisale / Abwaan: Cabdiraxiin Sidiiq Cabdilaahi. - [Somalia]: Bilan Print & Design, 2014.

Hagarlaawe : diiwaanka maansooyinka / Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac "Gaarriye". - Hargesya: Sagalet, 2013.

Ilmadii hal-abuurka : maqaallo iyo maansooyin loogu baroor-diiqay : macallin Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac (Gaarriye), 1952kii-2012ka / ururinta iyo tifaf-tirka: Boobe Yuusuf Ducaale. - Hargeysa: Bobe Publications, 2013.

Aan ooyee albaabka ii xidha / Maxamed Xirsi Guuleed (Abdibashir). - Stockholm: [Maxamed Xirsi Guuleed (Abdibashir)], 2012.

Baadi-sooc : suugaan dhiganaha / Axmed Aw Geeddi; tifatirkii : Khaalid Jaamac Qodax. - Pisa: Ponte Invisibile, 2011.

Diwaanka gabayada : Faarax Nuur Wacays, 1870-1935 / [Faarax Nuur Wacays] ; qalinkii: Maxamed Cali Cabdillahi (Saxardiid) ; [hordhac, Maxamed Cali (Saxardiid)]. - [Somalia]: SagalJet, 2010.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJAhP7KgwX8

Sidee buu hableheenna : halabuur u tilmaamay / Maxamed Xirsi Guuleed (Abdibashir). - Stockholm, Sweden: [Omhassan publisher], 2010.

Qarantaab : taxane raadraac taariikheed oo suugaanaysan, heeso, gabayo, maansooyin iyo jiiftooyin kala madaxbannaan / Saalax Xaashi Carab. - Jabbuuti: Machadka Afafka ee Jabuuti (ILD), 2009.

Gobanimo : diiwaan maanso / ururintii, Aadan Xassan Aadan (Beleloo). - [Djibouti]: Machadka Afafka ee Jabuuti, 2008.

Hilimada maansadii hore ee soomaalida. Aw Jaamac Cumar Ciise. - [Somaliland]: Xarunta Cilmi Baadhista ee Jabuuti (CERD), 2005.

Nabadshe : maansada nadadaynta & milicsi suugaaneed : Yuusuf Cismaan Cabdille 'Shaacir' / qalinkii, Yaasiin Jaamac Nuux "Suldaan.". - London: Aftahan Organisation, 2005.

Saabxidh : diiwaan maanso / [Aadan Xassan Aadan "Beleloo"]. - [Djibouti]: [publisher not identified], 2005.

Halgan gobanimo : buraambur iyo geeraar / Mako Shirdoon Sugaal. - [Djibouti?]: Machadka Afafka ee Jabuuti, 2003.

Buuga nuxur / waa gabayadii iyo maansoo yinkii abwaam: Xasan Sh. Muuse (Sii Arag). - [Somalia?]: [publisher not identified).

Buuga samosheeg : iyo waxayabihii uu ka qoray dhaqanka soomaaliyeed / waa gabayadii iyo suugaantii abwaan: Xasan Sh. Muuse Siiarag. - [Somaliland]: [publisher not identified], [2000?].

Haydhaaf / waxaa tafatiray, isku duba riday wakhti badana u huray ; Ilyaas maxamed sh.faarax; Waxaa diwaankan qoray hal-abuur: Caddix Akin Maxamed Cabdi. - [ Somalia?]: [ [publisher not identified].

(About) Somali language and literature

Aqoonbaa aroostay qabyaalad / abwaan: Maxamed Sh Cismaan Maxabe (Maxamed Dheere). - [Somalia?]: Shirkada Daabacaada Xaysiiska, 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgZQwTSHHD8

Xirfado qoraal / Axmed Maxamad Shiraac. - [Mogadishu]: Somali Language Research Institute (SOLARIS), 2019.

Af-dhaab : af-dhaab wuxuu dhaadayaa oo dhaabayaa dhumucda iyo dhuuxa dhismaha afkeenna : daah-furro mugag leh oo aan hore loo maanmaalin / daahfurrada murti-curiye, Cismaan Cabdinuur Xaashi (Khaliifka). - [Mogadishu?]: Akaaddemiyadda Cakaara, 2018.

Barashada naxwaha af Soomaaliga / Cabdalla Cumar Mansuur & Annarita Puglielli. - Leicester, UK: Looh Press, 2018.

Diiwaanka maahmaahyada iyo adeegsigooda : maxaad ka taqaan aqoonta ku duugan maahmaahyada af Soomaaliga? / qalinkii Kamaal Cagbdillaahi Xuseen. - Nashville, TN: Pollock Printing Company, 2018.

Firsooca sarbeebta Soomaaliga. Volume one / by Maxamed Warsame Hiraabey. - London: Kasmo Publishing Ltd, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He65hiXeig0

Gaax / Ismaaciil C. Ubax. - Italy: Ponte Invisibile Edizioni, 2018.

Hiddo-side : diiwaanka Heesa-dhaqameedka soomaalida / Khadar Xuseen Daahir (Hayl). - Qaahira, Masar: Madbacada Hiil Press, 2018.

Hoobal : Diiwaanka Heesaha Soomaaliyeed. Mawliid Aadam Biixi. - Cairo, Egypt: Hiil Press, 2018.

Kaydka xikmadda soomaalida : 160 Dhacdo ama Sheeko oo ka tegay Maahmaah, Hal-qabsi iyo Tusaale / Sacad Maxamuud Haddi. - Cairo: Hiil Press, 2018.

Soomaali been ma maahmaahdo = Somalis do not lie in proverbs / Georgi Kapchits. - Hargeysa, Somaliand: Redsea-Online Publishing Group, 2018.

Tagtadii toolmooneyd : sooyaalka dhigaalka far Soomaaliga / Axmed Maxamed Ciise (Senda). - Cairo, Egypt: Hiil Press, 2018.

Tigaadda tasawufka / Axmed Ibraahin Cawaale. - Copenhagen, Denmark: Liibaan Publishers, 2018.

Afka Hooyo Waa Hodan (1) / Maxamed Baashe Xaaji Xasan. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Asal Printing Press, 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCqYynSFa_I

Gayaankay wuu i nacay / qoore, Nafiisa Ciise Yuusuf (Tawlan). - [Somalia]: [publisher not identified], 2017.

Hubsiimo / ururintii iyo qoraalkii Guuleed Axmed Xaashi. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Sagaljet Publications, 2017.

Koora dadab : (cishqi iyo colaad) / Axmed Maxamed Cabdi Kulumbo "Axmed-Dareewal.". - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Asal Printing Press, 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t8uxl6jpds

Qaangaadh 2 : qaabku waa qoraallo urursan (mugga II) / qoraaga (by): Maxamed Xaaji Raabbi. - [Somalia]: [publisher not identified] Dawan Printing Press, 2017.

Af-Soomaali / tafatire, Mawliid Cumar Maxamed, Axmed Cabdiraxmaan Maxamed, Cabdiraxmaan Yuusuf Cabdillaahi, Naasir Cabdi Xaashi ; hubiye, Cabdiraxmaan M. Cumar, Cabdirisaaq Oday ; naqshadeeye & sawire, Mawliid Cumar Maxamed, Maxamuud X. Xasan. - Hargeisa, Somaliland: HEMA Books : Masir, 2016.

Deris duraaddii kuu yeel (riwaayad) / Cabbaas Xasan Migil ; [saxidda iyo sargoynta qoraalka: Iddiris Siciid Migil]. - [République de Djibouti]: [Naadiga Oalinleyda iyo Hal'abuurka Soomaaliyeed (SSPEN)], 2016.

Dugsiga hoose/dhexe af-Somaali : buugga ardayga / qorayaasha: Cabdirisaaq Maxamed Cabdillaahi (Oday), Siciis Maxamuud Gahayr (Hargeysaawi), Ibraahim Jaamac Dhamc, Siciid Gaydh Khare ; tifaftirayaasha: Rashiid Cabdi Muuse (Rashiid soomaali), Cabdirisaaq Maxamed Cabdillaahi (Oday) ; naqshadda jaldiga iyo Habaynta: Xaamud Khayre Yuusuf, Yuusuf Xasan Maxamud. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Hema Books, 2016.

Far tasawdey : far Soomaalidii u horreysey ee reer Soomaalilayn / Cabdiraxmaan C. Faarax "Guri Barwaaqo.". - Hargeysa [Somalia]: Hal-aqoon Publishers, 2016.

Magac bilaash uma baxo : ujeeddooyinka magacyada iyo naanaysaha Soomaaliyeed / Cabdiraxmaan C. Faarax "Guri Barwaaqo". - Hargeysa: Hal-aqoon Publishers, 2016.

Nuxur-I : "diiwaan maahmaahyo Soomaaliyeed" / Cabdiraxmaan Sheekh Khaliif. - Muqdisho: [publisher not identified], 2016.

Xigtaysiga xikmadda. - [Somaliland]: Bahda Xigasho, 2016.

1000-ka ugu caansan murtida & maahmaahyada Soomaaliyeed / w/q: C/qaadir Nuur Xuseen (Maax). - [Somalia]: [Zayla Publisher], 2015.

Diiwaanka sheekooyinka qarniga : 1410 sheeko / waxaa diyaariyey: Cabdilqaadir Nuur Xuseen (Maax). - Muqdisho, Soomaaliya: [Publisher not identified], 2015.

Sheeko-Waayeel / hal-abuur: Cabdinaasir Cali Cabdiraxmaan (Afrika Cali). - Burao: Burao Printing Center, 2015.

Alif la kordhabay : barashada afka hooyo / Mohamud M. (Dirios). - Stockholm, Sweden: Scansom Publishers, 2014.

Ababiye : maahmaahda iyo nolosha : buuggan waxa uu xambaarsan yahay 600 oo maahmaahood oo la sharxay, kuna saabsan barbaarinta carruurta / Cabdulqaadir Nuur Xusseen (Maax). - [Mogadishu]: Hormuud Telecom, 2013.

Baqayo rogad : waxa ku jira saddex riwaayadood : Baqayo rogad waan abuuri karnaa nolol rajo / Cabdiraxmaan Yuusuf Cartan. - Pisa Hargeysa, Somaliland: Ponte Invisibile Redsea-Online.Com, 2011.

Iga baro Af-Soomaaliga / qore: C/casiis Maxamed Yoonis (Ansaari). - [Somalia?]: [publisher not identified], 2011.

Baro Soomaaliya / ururintii iyo diyaarintii: dr. Yuusuf Axmed Hiraabe. - [Somalia?] Power Technology Print, [2010?].

Wanqalkii nabsiga : riwaayad-drama / Saalax Xaashi Carab. - Jabbuuti: Ild, 2009.

War and peace : an anthology of Somali literature = Suugaanta nabadda iyo colaadda / introduced and edited by Rashiid Sheekh Cabdillaahi 'Gadhweyne' ; collected by Axmed Aw Geeddi and Ismaciil Aw Aadan ; translated by Martin Orwin with help from Maxamed Xasan 'Alto'. - London : Progressio, 2009.
https://www.progressio.org.uk/sites/default/files/War-and-peace.pdf

Higgaadda iyo qorista / Yuusuf X. Cabdullaahi Xasan. - Stockholm: Författares Bokmaskin, 2008.

Afka hooyo iyo aqoonta guud. Yuusuf X. Cabdullaahi Xasan. - [Stockholm]: [Författares Bokmaskin], 2001.

Halgankii loo galay qoridda af soomaaliga 1949-1972 / SSc Sharif Salax Maxamed Cali. - Mogadishu: [Publisher not identified], 2000.

Buugga suugaanta iyo dhaqanka ee raad raac / Xasan Shiikh Muuse Sii'arag. - Somaliland: Dayax Printing Center, [2000?],

Naxwaha sifayneed ee Afsoomaaliga : mugga kowaad (mi) : ereyeynta / gore: Maxamed x. Xuseen Raabbi. - [Place of publication not identified]: Xuquuqda Soo-Saaridda Qorahaa Leh, 1994.
https://ismailpages.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/naxwaha-sifayneed-ee-afs...

War la helaa talo la helaa : dhegabadane / Dirir Farah Aden & Abdi Miganeh Gouled. - Palais du peuple, Djibouti: Centre national pour la promotion culturelle et artististique [i.e. artistique], 1991.

Hodantinimada afka Hooyo / ururintii: Maxamed Ibraahim Ismaaciil. - [Hargeysa, Somaliland]: Hema Books.

Maangad : 500 googaaleysi, 500 halxiraale / Cabdiqaadir Nuur Xuseen (Maax). - [Somalia]: [Zayla Publisher].

Murti kaab / eng. C/Rasaaq Cabdi Cilmi "Maanqaboojiyve". - [Somaliland]: YalaxPrint.

Sahal af-Soomaali. waxaa diyaariyey: Maamed Axmed Dulin. - [Somalia]: Burao Printing Center.

Children's literature

Bakayle fariid ah / Axmed Cabdullahi Cawaale. - [Somaliland]: Hornia Publishing, 2018.

Bakayle iyo yaxaas / Musa M. Isse. - Stockholm: Balanbaalis Media, 2018.

Riyaaq : ciyaaraha iyo heesaha carruurta / w.q. Xasan Cabdi Madar iyo Axmed Aw Geeddi ; sawirrrada: C/Rashiid Muxumed Qalinle. - Hargeysa, Somaliland: Hema Books, 2017.

Naylihii deyl iyo deylo / Axmed Cabdullahi Cawaale. - [Somaliland]: Hornia Publishing, 2011.

Mahadho Jacayl / w/q: Maxamed Bedri Axmed. - [ [Somaliland?]: [Author], 2010.

Shinni : Dawalay - iyo Dukhsi jeermisle Iyo Beel Degaanoo Reer Somalilaana / waxa diyaariyey: Cabdi Falaash iyo Axmed Wacays ; [tifaftirka: Xasan Cabdi Madar]. - Hargeysa: Hargeisa Readers Club, 2000.

For publications on other subjects than literature acquired in Hargeisa in 2019 see this website.

Up

Somali literature - publications in European languages

Novels and short stories

Between love, past and destiny / Nasiim M. Aar. - Tayo Printing publication: Hargeisa Republic of Somaliland, 2019.

Migrant avec sa palme d'or : (une histoire universelle et rocambolesque) / Yaas Daher. - Saint-Denis: Edilivre, 2018.

North of dawn / Nuruddin Farah. - New York: Riverhead Books, 2018.

The story of us / Hanna Ali ; [edited by Lauren Smith]. - [London]: Market FiftyFour, 2018.

Hiding in plain sight / Nuruddin Farah. - New York: Riverhead Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA), 2014.

The beaming blood / by Mohamed Abdikadir (Stanza). - Khartoum: Sudan Currency Printing Press, 2013.

Fairytales for lost children / Diriye Osman. - [S.l.]: Team Angelica Publishing, 2013.

The orchard of lost souls / Nadifa Mohamed. - London [etc.]: Simon & Schuster, 2013.

Crossbones / Nuruddin Farah. - London: Granta, 2012.

Een nagelaten verhaal : roman / Yasmine Allas. - Amsterdam: De Bezige Bij, 2012.

L'équation africaine : roman / Yasmina Khadra. - Paris: Julliard, 2011.

Black mamba boy / Nadifa Mohamed. - London : HarperCollins, 2010.

Knots / Nuruddin Farah. - New York: Riverhead Books, 2007.

Travelling with the Bedouin women of Hawd / ed. by Amina Souleiman, Mary Sutter ; ill. by Amina Souleiman. - Sheffield : Mama East African Women's Group, 2007.

The Yibir of Las Burgabo / Mahmood Gaildon. - Trenton, NJ [etc.]: Red Sea Press, 2005.

Links / Nuruddin Farah. - New York, NY: Riverhead Books, 2004.

Offspring of paradise / by Safi Abdi. - [S.l.]: 1st Books Library, 2003.

Idil, een meisje / Yasmine Allas. - Breda: De Geus, 2001.

De generaal met de zes vingers / Yasmine Allas. - Breda: De Geus, 2000.

Black hawk down : a story of modern war / Mark Bowden. - New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999.

Gifts / Nuruddin Farah. - New York: Arcade Publishing, 1999.

Maps / Nuruddin Farah. - New York: Arcade Publishing, 1999.

Secrets / Nuruddin Farah. - Cape Town: David Philip, 1999.

Mijn woestijn : ervaringen van een nomadendochter, topmodel en speciaal ambassadeur van de Verenigde Naties / Waris Dirie en Cathleen Miller ; vert. [uit het Engels] door Jorien Hakvoort en Albert Witteveen. - Amsterdam: Arena, 1998.

The last camel : true stories of Somalia / Jeanne D'Haem. - Lawrenceville, N.J. [etc.] : The Red Sea Press 1997.

When a hyena laughs : a Somalian novel / by Abdi Sheik-Abdi. - Macomb, Ill.: Dr. Leisure, 1994.

Sharks and soldiers / Ahmed Omar Askar. -  [Järvenpää] : [Author], cop. 1992.

Close sesame : a novel / by Nuruddin Farah. - London [etc.]: Allison & Busby, 1983.

Ignorance is the enemy of love / Faarax M.J. Cawl. - London: Zed, 1982.

Sardines / Nuruddin Farah. - London [etc.]: Heinemann, 1982.

Sweet and sour milk / Nuruddin Farah. - London [etc.]: Heinemann Educational, 1980.

A naked needle / Nuruddin Farah. - London [etc.]: Heinemann, 1976.

From a crooked rib / Nuruddin Farah. - London [etc.]: Heinemann, 1970.

Poetry

So at one with you : an anthology of modern poetry in Somali = Bulshoy Ma Is Baran Lahayn : Ururin Maansooyin Soomaali Ah Oo Waayahan Tisqaaday / edited by W.N. Herbert and Said Jama Hussein. - Pisa, Italy Hargeysa, Somaliland London: Ponte Invisible Redsea-online.com Cultural Foundation The Poetry Translation Center Ltd. : Kayd Somali Arts and Culture, 2018.

Hargeysa breeze : collection of poetry for Hargeysa and Laas Geel / edited by Mpalive Msiska. - Hargeysa, Somaliland Pisa: Redsea Cultural Foundation, 2017.

Sugah. lump. prayer / Momtaza Mehri ; [preface by Tijan M. Sallah]. - Brooklyn: Akashic Books, 2017.

Maxamed Ibraahin Warsame 'Hadraawi' : the man and the poet / translations by W.N. Herbert, Said Jama Hussein, Mohamed Hassan Alto, Martin Orwin and Ahmed I. Yussuf ; introduction by Rashiid Sheekh Abdillaahi Xaaji "Axamed (Gadhwayne) ; edited by Jama Musse Jama. - Pisa, Italy: Ponte Invisibile, Redsea-online.com, 2013.

Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac "Gaarriye" : biography and poems / edited by Jama Musse Jama ; [translated from the Somali by W.N. Herbert, Martin Orwin, David Harsent and Rhoda A. Rageh. - Pisa, Italy: Ponte Invisible, 2012.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaariye

When donkeys give birth to calves : totems, wars, horizons, diasporas : poems / Ali Jimale Ahmed. - Trenton, N.J.: Red Sea Press, 2012.
ASC Subject·Headings: Somalia ; poetry (form)

Teaching my mother how to give birth / Warsan Shire. - Milton Keynes: Lightning Source, 2011.

Poems = Maansooyin / Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac "Gaarriye" ; transl. by W.N. Herbert and Martin Orwin. - Chester Springs, PA: Enitharmon Press, 2008.

Diaspora blues / Ali Jimale Ahmed. - Trenton, NJ [etc.]: Red Sea Press, 2005.

Poésies sous l'acacia / Houssein Abdi Gouled. - Djibouto: [s.n.], 2005.

Sounds of laughter : an anthology of poems from the soul / Sahro Mohamed ; [ill.: Tom & Lenny Sprey]. - [Leiderdorp]: De Kreek, 2003.

Fear is a cow / Ali Jimale Ahmed. - Lawrenceville, NJ [etc.]: Red Sea Press, 2002.

Hangool / William Souny. - Paris [etc.]: L'Harmattan, 1998.

From an acacia landscape : poetry 1983-93 / by Abdirahman Mirreh. - London: Haan, 1996.

An anthology of Somali poetry / transl. by B.W. Andrzejewski with Sheila Andrzejewski. - Bloomington, Ind. [etc.]: Indiana University Press, 1993.

Naufragés du destin / William J.F. Syad. - Paris: Présence africaine, 1978.

A tree for poverty : Somali poetry and prose / coll. by Margaret Laurence. - Hamilton [etc.]: 1970.

Somali poetry : an introduction / [ed. by] B.W. Andrzejewski and I.M. Lewis. - Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964.

A Somali poetic combat : pt. I, II and III / B.W. Andrezejewski and Musa H.I. Galaal. - [S.l.: s.n.], 1963.

About Somali literature

Arabic influence on metre in Somali Sufi religious poetry / Martin Orwin.
In: Brill's Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics, (11) 2, pp 340-374, 2019.

Baabullow Libaax – a poetic drama / Bashir Sheikh Omer Goth.
In: Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies Volume 19 (2019), pages 24-57, 2019.

Coming of age : an introduction to Somali metrics / Farah Ahmed Ali Gamuute. - Pisa: Ponte Invisible, 2018.

Cultural hybridity and fixity : strategies of resistance in migration literatures / Andrew Nyongesa. - Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe: Mwanaka Media and Publishing Pvt Ltd, 2018.

Naturalizing Africa : ecological violence, agency and postcolonial resistance in African literature / Cajetan Iheka. - Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2018.

Papers from the Linguistics Workshop: Somali Language and Literature at the Hargeysa Cultural Centre, December 2015 / edited by Martin Orwin. - Hargeysa: Ponte Invisibile, 2018.

Translocal connections across the Indian Ocean : Swahili speaking networks on the move / edited by Francesca Declich. - Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2018.

'Elmi Bodheri : l'amour absolu d'un poète / Abdirachid Doāni ; préface de Jean-Dominique Pénel. - Paris: L'Harmattan, 2017.

Going to pieces: narrative disintegration in Nuruddin Farah's Crossbones / Kamil Naicker.
In: Social Dynamics, vol. 43, no. 1, p. 8-18, 2017.

Somali Soundscapes: Signal and Noise in Nuruddin Farah's "Crossbones" / Nicole Rizzuto.
In: Contemporary Literature, vol. 58, no. 2, p. 392-422, 2017.

The trickster against his will : towards the study of Somali folk narratives / Georgi Kapchits.
In: Bildhaan : an international journal of Somali studies 1528-6258 , volume 17 (2017), pages 38-51, 2017.

Warsan Shire : une voix poétique féminine de la diaspora somalienne / William Souny. - Paris: L'Harmattan, 2017.

Les littératures de la Corne de l'Afrique : regards croisés / Paola Ranzini. - Paris: Karthala, 2016.

The absent pirate : exceeding justice in the Indian Ocean / Stephanie Jones.
In: Journal of eastern African studies : journal of the British Institute in Eastern Africa , vol. 9, no. 3, p. 522-535, 2015.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2015.1087682

Africa's narrative geographies : charting the intersections of geocriticism and postcolonial studies / Dustin Crowley. - New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

Somali oral poetry and the failed she-camel nation state : a critical discourse analysis of the Deelley poetry debate (1979-1980) / Ali Mumin Ahad. - New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc., 2015.

The Arab factor in Somali culture : the rise of the novel in Somalia and Djibouti / Ali JImale Ahmed.
In: Journal of Somali Studies, vol. 1, no. 2, p. 9-38, 2014.

Reading Nuruddin Farah : the individual, the novel & the idea of home / F. Fiona Moolla. - Woodbridge (Suffolk, England) Rochester, New York : James Currey, 2014.

Translating aural aesthetics in contemporary African narratives: a case study / Laurence Jay-Rayon.
In: Research in African literatures : official journal of the African Literature Committee of the African Studies Association of America and the African Literatures Seminar of the Modern Language Association , vol. 44, no. 1, p. 166-178, 2013.

Writing a Life into History, Writing Black Mamba Boy: Nadifa Mohamed in Conversation / Christine Matzke.
In: Northeast African Studies, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 207-224, 2013.

Somali Poetry / Martin Orwin.
In: Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp 1313-1314, 2012.

We did not ask to be colonized: legacies of colonial trauma in 21st century African fiction / Emily V. Cox. - [S.l.: s.n.], 2012.
http://www.asclibrary.nl/docs/412888114.pdf

When Orature Becomes Literature: Somali Oral Poetry and Folktales in Somali Novels / F. Fiona Moolla.
In: Comparative Literature Studies, vol. 49, no. 3, p. 434-462, 2012.
http://hdl.handle.net/10566/603

Carried by a mystic wind: B.W. Andrzejewski on the Somali passion for poetry and language / B.W. Andrzejewski ; guest ed.: Ruth Finnegan, Graham Furniss and Martin Orwin. - Abingdon: Taylor & Francis, 2011.

Special issue: Eastern African literatures and cultures / guest ed.: James Ogude and Dan Ojwang. - Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2011.

'Haweenku Wa Garab' (women are a force) : women and the Somali nationalist movement, 1943-1960 / Safia Aidid.
In: Bildhaan : an international journal of Somali studies , vol. 10, p. 103-124, 2010.

Making Memories Of Mogadishu In Somali Poetry About The Civil War.
In: Mediations of Violence in Africa, p.25-74. - Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2010.

Peace and milk, drought and war : Somali culture, society and politics : essays in honour of I.M. Lewis / ed. by Markus V. Hoehne and Virginia Luling. - London: Hurst & Company, 2010.

Wars of Representation: Metonymy and Nuruddin Farah's Links / Ines Mzali.
In: College Literature, vol. 37, no. 3, p. 84-105, 2010.

On the musical patterning of sculpted words : exploring the relationship between melody and metre in a Somali poetic form / by Fíacha O'Dúbhda.
In: African music : journal of the African Music Society , vol. 8, no. 3, p. 97-116 : graf., muz., tab, 2009.

The man in khaki and the man in the street : a study of 'This Earth, My Brother' and 'Sardines' / Sophia Akhuemokhan.
In: Okike : an African journal of new writing , no. 49, p. 6-21, 2008.

The road less traveled : reflections on the literatures of the Horn of Africa / ed. by Ali Jimale Ahmed. - Trenton, NJ [etc.]: Red Sea Press, 2008.

The Columbia guide to East African literature in English since 1945 / Simon Gikandi and Evan Mwangi (eds.). - New York [etc.]: Columbia University Press, 2007.

Politics of resistance to dictatorship in Nurudin Farha's dictatorship trilogy / Mercy Diala-Ogamba.
In: African renaissance , vol. 4, no. 3/4, p. 125-135, 2007.

Songs and politics in Eastern Africa / ed. by Kimani Njogu, Hervé Maupeu. - Dar es Salaam [etc.]: Mkuki na Nyota Publishers [etc.], 2007.

French perspectives on anglophone African writers and writing / Notre Librairie and the Dept. of Modern Languages, University of Zimbabwe ; ed. by Véronique Wakerley & Tava Gwanzura ; [transl. from French into English: Department of French, University of Zimbabwe, Harare]. - Harare: Weaver Press in co-op. with the Embassy of France in Harare, 2006.

Language, power and society : orality and literacy in the Horn of Africa / [guest ed.:] Cedric Barnes. - Abingdon: Taylor & Francis, 2006.

Orality, literacy, and Somali oral poetry / John William Johnson.
In: Journal of African Cultural Studies, vol. 18, no. 1, p. 119-136, 2006.

Surveying the contours of 'a country in exile' : Nuruddin Farah's Somalia / Annie Gagiano.
In: African identities , vol. 4, no. 2, p. 251-268, 2006.

The Extroverted African Novel / Eileen Julien.
In:  The novel / Franco Moretti. - Princeton, NJ [etc.] : Princeton University Press, pp 667-702, 2006.

Classification and nomenclature of Somali literary forms : a pending issue / Mahamed Daahir Afrah.
In: Horn of Africa : an independent journal , vol. 23, p. 58-84, 2005.

The 'Abwaan' as beacon : the centrality of the message in Somali literature with especial reference to the play 'Shabeelnaagoog' / Maxamed Dahir Afrax.
In: Horn of Africa : an independent journal , vol. 22, p. 1-63, 2004.

The novels of Nuruddin Farah / Derek Wright (ed.). - Bayreuth: Breitinger, 2004.

Littératures anglophones de l'Est de l'Afrique d'Addis-Abeba à Harare / [coord. scientifique: Denise Coussy ; coord. éd.: Dominique Mondoloni et Nathalie Philippe ; ont collab. à ce numéro: Pius Adesanmi ... et al.]. - Paris: Adpf Association, 2003.

"Dhikr will echo from all corners" : Dada Masiti and transmission of Islamic knowledge / Mohamed Kassim.
In: Bildhaan : an international journal of Somali studies , vol. 2, p. 104-120, 2002.

Emerging perspectives on Nuruddin Farah / ed. by Derek Wright. - Trenton, NJ [etc.]: Africa World Press [etc.], 2002.

Muslim tribesmen and the colonial encounter in fiction and on film / David M. Hart. - Amsterdam, Netherlands: Het Spinhuis Publishers, 2001.

Women's voices in a man's world : women and the pastoral tradition in Northern Somali orature, c. 1899-1980 / Lidwien Kapteijns with Mariam Omar Ali. - Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1999.

'Sarbeeb' : the art of oblique communication in Somali culture / Said S. Samatar.
In: Language, rhythm, & sound : black popular cultures into the twenty-first century / ed. by Joseph K. Adjaye and Adrianne R. Andrews. - Pittsburgh, Penn. : University of Pittsburgh Press , p. 40-53 : tab. - 1997.

Daybreak is near ... : literature, clans, and the nation-State in Somalia / Ali Jimale Ahmed. - Lawrenceville, N.J. [etc.]: Red Sea Press, 1996.

Up

Selected web resources

Films
Somalia: a nation of poets
Produced with Ka Joog and the Somali Museum of Minnesota.
https://www.pbs.org/video/tpt-co-productions-somalia-nation-poets/

What is Somali literature (suugaan) / Ali Jimale Ahmed
Produced by Somali Studies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72_OSedKSek

Other resources
The Digital Somali Library
Digitized Somali language books and posters from Indiana University-Bloomington's collection
https://iucat.iu.edu/catalog/4615202

The Poetry Translation Centre
Biographies of Somali poets, Somali poems together with videos and podcasts of readings of Somali poetry.
https://www.poetrytranslation.org/poets/writing-in/somali