born 1945, Baidoa, Italian Somaliland
Somali writer, Somalia's first novelist and first English-language author.
His first published novel, From a Crooked Rib (1970), describes a woman's determination to maintain her dignity in a sexist society. His other works include a trilogy
Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Sardines (1981), and Close Sesame (1983)
about life under an African dictatorship. Maps (1986) examines identity and boundaries. The political nature of his fiction forced him into exile, and he taught in Europe, North America, and elsewhere in Africa.