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.

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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: mdafrax@gmail.com), or Abdulkadir M. Wa'ays, Belgium-based Journalist/author, who chairs the Free Expression Committee of the Somali-speaking PEN (email: cmwacays@gmail.com).

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