Nuruddin Faharah
Nuruddin Farah is a Somali novelist who has written pieces for on stage and play use. He is famous for his deep imagination and creative use of words. Farah was born in Baidoa, Somaliland in 1945 to father, Hassan a merchant and mother Aleeli, a poet. He was the eldest of four siblings of which all were boys. Farah received primary education from schools in Somalia and Ethiopia, allowing him to learn Arabic and Amharic. He and his family were forced to flee their home after Somalia took Independence because of border conflicts. Farah picked up his education at the Panjab University in Chandigarh, India studying philosophy, literature and sociology. While living in India, Farah met his first love, Chitra and they married, soon after they had a son and the marriage eventually came to an end.
Farah then moved to England to pursue a Master’s degree in theatre from Essex, University in London. After receiving his Masters Farah taught at numerous universities in Europe, North America and Africa. Farah returned to Somali in 1996 to visit after fleeing the country over twenty years ago. He disregarded his brother’s advice to not return, however, Farah believed returning will inspire him to write about Somali people.
“The country died inside me, and I carried it, for a long time, like a woman with a dead baby…it became the neurosis from which I write.”
He proclaims his writing is an attempt to keep his country alive inside him and the world. His first novel, “From a Crooke Rib” written in 1970, is about the struggle for selfhood in a world where women are treated like livestock and it is told through the eyes of a 19-year- old woman. One of Farah’s greatest novels is entitled “Past imperfect Series” and the series contains three books; Links, Knots, and Crossbones. The books are based on the main character Jeebleh returning to his hometown Mogadishu and he quickly remembers the horror he left behind. Each book covers the journey of an individual returning to Somali to find themselves and to benefit the people who call Mogadishu home. Farah usually writes about “States of exile, about women shivering in the cruel cold world ruled by men, about the commoner denied justice, about a torturer tortured by guilt, his own conscience and about traitors betrayed.”
In addition to being a novelist, Farah played an important role in mediating conversations of peace between armed groups, “We say, one sick person, a hundred doctors… Somalia is a sick country and everyone has an opinion” stated Farah. Farah has received numerous awards; first being the UNESCO fellowship award in 1974 and 1976, the English-Speaking Union Literary Award for his novel “Sweet and Sour Milk”, and in 1990 he received the Corman Artists fellowship. Also, in 1991 he received the Kurt Tucholsky Prize from the Swedish government and the Best novel award (Zimbabwe) for his novel “Gifts” in 1993. The most prestigious award after the Nobel, the Neustadt International Prize for Literature was awarded to Farah. Farah is currently a faculty member at Bard College located in New York and was recently elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.