Poetry has been a vital way of preserving Somali history, culture and identity.  But a new generation of Somali diaspora poets is choosing to write in the languages of where they live – from Beyoncé collaborator Warsan Shire to Forward Prize winner Momtaza Mehri. 

Is writing in those often colonial languages changing Somali poetry and what of Somali poetry has changed Anglophone literature in turn?  This reading features Yasmin Mohamad Kahin, a visiting poet from Somaliland, UK poet, translators Maxamed Xasan ‘Alto’, Ibrahim Hirsi and award winning poet Amina Jama.  

In collaboration with Poetry Translation Centre 20th birthday celebrations and Kayd Somali Arts & Culture