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The Poetic Courage of Abdirashid Omar
Jan. 25th, 2011 07:53 pmThe BBC's carrying a story today about the Somali poet Abdirashid Omar, who is in hiding from the al-Shabaab militias after scourging them in his widely-circulated work Fatwo, or the Decree. They would like him to recant it: he would like them to shove it.
Read, read, read the full story here.
My own thoughts at larger length, on my main blog here.
The author's musical recitation of the whole piece (in Somali) on YouTube is linked to from both, or you can find it directly here. Though wholly ignorant of the language, I found it well worth the listen.
And his making and his upholding of it, well worth an honourable toast, and a few minutes' humble contemplation.
"A person who contradicts his own poem will never be taken [seriously] again in Somali society - something they knew because they are Somalis."
Read, read, read the full story here.
My own thoughts at larger length, on my main blog here.
The author's musical recitation of the whole piece (in Somali) on YouTube is linked to from both, or you can find it directly here. Though wholly ignorant of the language, I found it well worth the listen.
And his making and his upholding of it, well worth an honourable toast, and a few minutes' humble contemplation.
