Nadifa Mohamed

Nadifa Mohamed was born in Hargeisa, Somalia, to a merchant marine father and a mother from a politically active family, and was trapped in exile when civil war erupted. She studied history and politics at Oxford, and has worked as a film researcher and scriptwriter. Her novel, Black Mambo Boy, from which “Jama’s Journey” is excerpted, will be published in August 2010 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Published in VQR

• Jama’s Journey: Hargeisa, Somaliland, March 1936, Winter 2010