Report of
Stockholm Somali Literature Day
Saturday 1 Nov. 2004
Organized by the Somali-speaking PEN
In collaboration with Somali Association in Sweden

On Saturday 1 November, the Somali-speaking PEN Centre organized at Stockholm’s Rinkby People’s House a day-long literary event entitled ‘Somali Literature Day’ in collaboration with the Somali Association in Sweden. It was a day of cultural creativity, a blend of roundtable discussions, poetry recitations and literary readings attended by many creative members of the Somali community in Sweden (poets, writers, story-tellers, artists etc) among a large crowd of interested community members. On top of that the event was boosted by the presence of two keynote speakers who were visiting Stockholm at the time, the acclaimed poet, Maxamed Ibraahim Hadraawi, Patron of the Somali PEN and the noted writer, Maxamed Daahir Afrax, President of the PEN Club.

  In the morning session allocated to presentations leading to literary discussions, Maxamed Ibraahim Hadraawi spoke about the importance of literature and the role of Somali PEN at this crucial moment in Somali history. This was followed by a related paper presented by Maxamed Afrax, who gave an overview of the International PEN movement and the new initiative of the revitalized Somali PEN aiming to network the Somali creative community with a view to put life back to Somali cultural life and to promote a culture of peace and understanding in the Horn of Africa.

In the greater part of the day, less known writers and poets from within Sweden were given a unique opportunity to present their creative contribution for the first time in the case of many. In the afternoon sessions a legion of new poems, fiction pieces and children’s literature was presented by Somali poets and writers from different parts of Sweden as well as from elsewhere in the Scandinavian countries. These include Yusuf Cabdullahi and Cabdibashir Cali from Stockholm; Mahdi Warsame and Bashir Jabdhurwaa from Oropro and Cali Goox from Finland. The poetry reading session was featured by a number of highly popular poems presented by the leading poet, Maxamed Ibraahim Hadraawi. Audience participation was also encouraged. The result was a lively general discussion in which the presenters and their audience closely interacted.