Maxamed Daahir Afrax ( so, Maxamed Daahir Afraax, ar, محمد طاهر أفرح) Ph. D. is a Somali

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

, playwright,

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and scholar.

Biography

Afrax was born and raised in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. He began his education early as a child and was an excellent student top of his class. A

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Eu ...

, he writes in Somali,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and English. Afrax has published three novels in Somali, ''Guur-ku-sheeg'' (1975), ''Maana-faay'' (1979) and ''Galti-macruuf'' (1980), in addition to an historical novel in Arabic, ''Nida Al-Horiyah'' (1976). He has also published several short stories in both Arabic and Somali.Rex S. O'Fahey, ''Handbuch der Orientalistik: Der Nahe und Mittlere Osten'', BRILL, 2003, p. 121 Also a playwright, Afrax has written two plays, the first being ''Durbaan Been ah'' ("A Deceptive Dream"), which was staged in Somalia in 1979. His major contribution in the field of

theatre criticism Theatre criticism is a genre of arts criticism, and the act of writing or speaking about the performing arts such as a play or opera. Theatre criticism is distinct from drama criticism, as the latter is a division of literary criticism whereas t ...

is ''Somali Drama: Historical and Critical Study'' (1987). In his novels and plays, Afrax denounces moral corruption and

social injustice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals f ...

. When in 1980 his novel ''Gulti-macruuf'' ("Pseudo-civilized") began to appear in serialized form in ''Xiddigta Oktoobar'' (a leading national daily newspaper at the time), Somalia's government took offence. The publication of the story was subsequently discontinued at its 37th episode. Soon after that, in 1981, Afrax left Somalia and has been living abroad ever since.

Bibliography

*''Nadaraat fi Athaqaafah As-Soomaaliyah'' ('An Introduction to Somali Culture', in Arabic). ed. Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, by the Culture and Information Department, U.A.E. *''Maana-faay : qiso'' (a Somali novel) ed. London : Learning Design, 1997.(first published in 1981) (reportedly the first novel written in romanized Somali script) * ''Hal-Abuur : wargeys-xilliyeedka suugaanta & dhaqanka Soomaalida'', Hal-Abuur Journal / 1993 *''The 'Abwaan' as beacon : the centrality of the message in Somali literature with especial reference to the play 'Shabeelnaagoog, in: Horn of Africa / 2004 *New, extensively revised and expanded edition of his book in Somali, ''Dal Dad Waayey iyo Duni Damiir Beeshay: Soomaaliya Dib ma u Dhalan Doontaa?'', 2004 (A Land without Leaders in a World without Conscience: Can Somalia be Resurrected?) *''Ashakhsiyah Aturathiyah fi Shi'r Hadraawi'', in: Al-Hikmah, 135 (Feb.), pp. 44–50.1987 *''A Nation of Poets, or Art-loving People? Some Aspects of the Importance of Literature in Present-day Somali Society'', Hal-Abuur: Journal of Somali Literature and Culture, 1:2-4 (Autumn/Winter 1993/4), pp. 32–6., 1994 *''The Mirror of Culture: Somali Dissolution Seen Through Oral literature’, in Ahmed I. Samatar'' (ed.), The Somali Challenge: from Catastrophe to Renewal, Boulder, CO and London: Lynne Reinner, pp. 233–52., 1994

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afrax, Maxamed Daahir Somalian novelists Somalian dramatists and playwrights Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Somali-language writers

Biography

Bibliography

Further reading

See also

References