The following press release was seen at
http://www.somalipressreview.com/view.php?articleid=968 (via a Google
alert)...
Somalia: The Word and the Way to a Better World
Somali Literature Festival with a Touring Book Display
London, 28 October 4 November 2008
Official Release
24 October 2008
This is a Somali literature festival which combines a touring book
display featuring a big number of new Somali language books; literary
discussions on the Somali language and its literature; poetry
recitations; readings and book presentations taking place in a number
of London boroughs (Southwark, Camden and Ealing). The programme is
organized as part of the celebrations for the International Year of
Languages (2008) proclaimed by UNESCO and the National Year of Reading
in the UK. It also coincides with the celebrations for this year's
Black History Month in Britain.
The programme will take the form of a series of events, which will
start with a Somali Language and Literature Day held in Peckham
Library, South London, on 28 October 2008.
Encouraged and chiefly funded by the Government of Djibouti, the
Festival is organized by the Somali-speaking Centre of International
PEN (founded in London in 1997) in partnership with Southwark Council,
Rockingham Somali Support Group, School of Oriental and African
Studies (SOAS), Anglo-Somali Society, Somali Community Centre and
Halabuur Centre for Culture and Communication in the Horn of Africa
and Universal TV.
The event will bring together prominent Somali writers and acclaimed
poets coming from the Horn of Africa as well as from within the UK.
The visiting Somali-speaking authors and poets coming from the Horn
include Sheik Jama Omar Isse, a well known author, researcher and
collector of Somali oral tradition; Adan Farah Samatar a leading poet
and playwright; Maxamed Xashi Gaarriye, a highly acclaimed poet and
scholar; Ali Sugulle, the most senior living Somali playwright-poet;
Salah Hashi Arab, poet, playwright and linguistic researcher;
Abdulkadir Abdi Yusuf known as Shube, a legendary poet, actor and
storyteller; Mohamed Abdillahi Riiraash, historian and literary
scholar; Farah Ragueh Farah, an oral historian, story-teller and
tradition bearer; Abdallah Dualeh Wais, author and TV cultural
producer; and Maxamed Daahir Afrax, novelist, critic, journalist and
literary scholar. They will be joined by other authors, poets and
cultural personalities coming from within and outside the UK.
Throughout the Festival, hundreds of interesting books in the Somali
language will be on display. Books in English on Somalia and Djibouti
will also be displayed and discussed. Authors of a good number of the
books will be present and available to informally meet and interact
with readers of their books. The audience will also have an
opportunity to purchase books and have them signed by their
participating authors. Readings from and comments on a selection of
special interest books will be part of the programme.
The event aims to promote writing and reading among the Somali
community in the UK and beyond. As part of the global efforts led by
the UN towards the promotion and protection of endangered languages
and the heritage they carry, the Festival pays special attention to
the promotion of the Somali language and its literature. Somalis are
renowned for the richness of their literature based on oral tradition
and for their love of this literature, which is now endangered by the
civil war destructions in Somalia.
Somali is the mother language spoken by all Somalis including all
members of the large Somali community in London and UK .
Affiliated to the international PEN, the Somali-speaking Writers
Centre of International PEN was founded in London, Southwark in 1997.
Its main office was later moved to Djibouti while the London office
remains to network Somali writers in Europe. The centre is the only
nation-wide Somali writers association and it has many members and
branches in Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, UK, Sweden, Belgium, US, Canada
and elsewhere. It carries out a wide variety of literary activities
throughout the year including festivals, literary conferences,
creative writing workshops, competitions for students and young
people, book fairs, literary readings and much more.
__________________________
For further details contact Dr. Maxamed D. Afrax, the President of the
Somali-speaking PEN, who is now leading the visiting Somali-speaking
authors and poets in London, UK (email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]), or
Abdulkadir M. Wa'ays, Belgium-based Journalist/author, who chairs the
Free Expression Committee of the Somali-speaking PEN (email:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]).
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