Compiled by: Sirad Shirdon Here are the list of children’s books, which address Ramadan (Islamic month of fasting), and Islam’s two holidays of Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Adha. All of these books are available through Amazon, and may be available in your local libraries. This list is likely not exhaustive, so if you notice books we...
July 21, 2025
Category: Book Shelf
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An Interview with Prof Lidwien Kapteijns (Ladan) on Somali Arts and Literature
Editor’s note: Prof Lidwien Kapteijns (Ladan) is not new to Somalia or Africa. Prof Lidwien teaches African and Middle Eastern history at Wellesley college and is the author of Clan Cleansing in Somalia (2013), Women’s Voices in a Man’s World (with Maryan Omar Ali, 1999) and numerous research papers that have contributed to the Somali...
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The Cost of Dictatorship: A Book Review
By Ismail Warsame Although I heard about it and reminded myself, on several occasions, to have a look at it, I, finally, had the opportunity to read Jama Mohamed Ghalib’s book, The Cost of Dictatorship, 1995 Edition. While I commend the author’s efforts to record his own experience with the extremely repressive regime he served...
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Somalis need moral courage
By Liban Ahmad The coup d’état that brought Siyad Barre into power in 1969 is called ‘ a bloodless revolution’. But his ouster was a bloodbath as a result of the violent war waged by armed opposition groups and the indiscriminate killings of civilians after state collapse. Some armed opposition groups took a leaf from...
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“The Burgess Boys,” A book that depicts Somalis with dignity
Reviewed by Ahmed Ismail Yusuf Last summer, boy that sounds like ages ago, I was alerted to “The Burgess Boys”, a book written by Elizabeth Strout who is a Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author. The book received rave reviews and was on the New York Times bestseller’s list. The story, based on an actual...
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Somali Phoenix: A Book Review
Reviewed by Hassan M. Abukar Book: Somali Phoenix Author: Jama Mohamed Ghalib Publisher: Self Date: January, 2013 Pages: 272 Available: Amazon.com Jama Mohamed Ghalib “Jama Yare” is a Somali politician and writer. He held important posts in Somalia’s civilian government in the 1960s, and later in Siad Barre’s regime. He was the head of the national...
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Mo Farah: I missed my twin brother Hassan so much during our 12-year separation
By Mo Farah People often ask me what it’s like to have a twin brother. I tell them: there’s this special connection that the two of you have. You instinctively feel what the other person is going through – even if you live thousands of miles apart, like Hassan and me. It’s hard to explain to...
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An Interview with Prof. Kapteijns: Author of Clan Cleansing in Somalia – WDN
Editor’s Note: WardheerNews has been afforded the rare opportunity to conduct the first interview with Professor Lidwien Kapteijns, author of the recently debuted book, Clan Cleansing in Somalia, The Ruinous Legacy of 1991 . Lidwien Kapteijns is a professor of history at Wellesley College. Dr. Kapteijns is the author of many papers, research and books. Professor...
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Clan Cleansing in Somalia, The Ruinous Legacy of 1991: A Book Review
By Faisal A. Roble If the epic poems of Guba, “instigator” in Somali, documented the internecine small scale clan wars in the Hawd and Reserved Area in the 1890s-1920s, Clan Cleansing in Somalia undoubtedly serves as a repository for the historical origins and the memory reconstruction of mass violence in post-colonial Somalia. This time (1978...
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Suturing Somali Wounds
By Ali Jimale Ahmed PhD I first heard of Abdi Latif Ega’s debut novel Guban last November, when, towards the conclusion of an event where I was the discussant of scholar Mahmood Mamdani’s new book Define and Rule, Mamdani asked me out of the blue: “Have you read Gubaan?” Unsure of what he was saying,...