WRITERS from Somalia

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Somali Writers of all time. This list of famous Somali Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Waris Dirie (1965 - )

With an HPI of 60.15, Waris Dirie is the most famous Somali Writer.  Her biography has been translated into 43 different languages on wikipedia.

Waris Dirie (Somali: Waris Diiriye) (born 21 October 1965) is a Somali model, author, actress and human rights activist in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM). From 1997 to 2003, she was a UN special ambassador against female genital mutilation. In 2002 she founded her own organization in Vienna, the Desert Flower Foundation.

2. Mohammed Abdullah Hassan (1856 - 1920)

With an HPI of 51.48, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan is the 2nd most famous Somali Writer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Muḥammad ibn 'Abdallāh Hassan (Arabic: محمّد عبد اللّه حسن: Somali: Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan; Osmanya script: 𐒉𐒖𐒕𐒕𐒘𐒆 𐒑𐒙𐒔𐒖𐒑𐒑𐒗𐒆 𐒛𐒁𐒆𐒚𐒐𐒐𐒖𐒔 H𐒖𐒈𐒈𐒖𐒒: 7 April 1856 – 21 December 1920) was a Somali religious, political, and military leader who founded and headed the Dervish movement, which led a Holy war against British, Italian, and Ethiopian empires in the Horn of Africa. He is regarded by many as the forefather of Somali nationalism. Due to his successful completion of the Hajj to Mecca, his complete memorization of the Quran and his purported descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his name is sometimes preluded with honorifics such as Hajji, Hafiz, Emir or Sayyid. His influence led some to refer to him as the Father of Somali nationalism. In 1917, the Ottoman Empire referred to Hassan as the "Emir of the Somali". He was famously known as the Mad Mullah. According to Douglas Jardine, this did not originate with the British or the Italians as is often thought, but is a translation of the Somali expression wadaad waal ("the Mullah that is a lunatic") used by Somalis in Berbera. A Somali poet at the time, Ali Jama Habil, composed a poem titled Maxamed Waal ("Mohamed the Lunatic"). According to apologist Said Sheikh Samatar the Somali word waalan covers a spectrum that ranges from sheer lunacy through "lunatic" valor to an other worldly inner serenity.

3. Nuruddin Farah (1945 - )

With an HPI of 47.39, Nuruddin Farah is the 3rd most famous Somali Writer.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Nuruddin Farah (Somali: Nuuradiin Faarax, Arabic: نورالدين فارح) (born 24 November 1945) is a Somali novelist. His first novel, From a Crooked Rib, was published in 1970 and has been described as "one of the cornerstones of modern East African literature today". He has also written plays both for stage and radio, as well as short stories and essays. Since leaving Somalia in the 1970s he has lived and taught in numerous countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Sudan, India, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa. Farah has garnered acclaim as one of the greatest contemporary writers in the world, his prose having earned him accolades including the Premio Cavour in Italy, the Kurt Tucholsky Prize in Germany, the Lettre Ulysses Award in Berlin, and in 1998, the prestigious Neustadt International Prize for Literature. In the same year, the French edition of his novel Gifts won the St Malo Literature Festival's prize. In addition, Farah is a perennial nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature.