 |
Martin Orwin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963 (age 59–60) England |
| Occupation | linguist, scholar, writer |
| Alma mater | School of Oriental and African Studies |
Martin Orwin (born 1963) is a British linguist, scholar and writer, specializing in the languages and cultures of the Horn of Africa.
Orwin studied Arabic and Amharic and has a PhD in the phonology of the Somali language. Since 1992, he has been a lecturer in Somali and Amharic at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, England, where he teaches both Afro-Asiatic languages. Since 2020, he also teaches both Somali language and Somali literature at the Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale" (Naples, Italy). He has also published articles on Somali language and poetry and has conducted field research in the Horn of Africa.
Orwin's ongoing research interests include language use in poetry, particularly in the metrics of Somali verse. In addition, he has translated a number of Somali poems, two of which were published in the Modern Poetry in Translation (No.17 Mother Tongues Special Edition 2001) compendium.
Orwin has worked closely with a number of Somali poets, including Gaarriye and Hadraawi, and is very involved with the Poetry Translation Centre based in London. [1]
He is also the author of Colloquial Somali, a popular book & CD instruction course on the Somali language.
Additionally, Orwin is a member of the International Advisory Board of Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies, published by Macalester College. [2]
The culture of Somalia is an amalgamation of traditions in that were developed independently since the Proto-Somali era. The hypernym of the term Somali from a geopolitical sense is Horner and from an ethnic sense, it is Cushite.
Nuruddin Farah is a Somali novelist. His first novel, From a Crooked Rib, was published in 1970 and has been described as "one of the cornerstones of modern East African literature today". He has also written plays both for stage and radio, as well as short stories and essays. Since leaving Somalia in the 1970s he has lived and taught in numerous countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Sudan, India, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa.
Said Sheikh Samatar was a prominent Somali scholar and writer.
Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame, known by the pseudonym Hadrawi, was a Somali poet, philosopher and songwriter. Having written many notable protest works, Hadrawi has been likened by some to Shakespeare, and his poetry has been translated into various languages.
Christopher Shackle, is Emeritus Professor of Modern Languages of South Asia at the University of London.
Somali literature is the literature used by the ethnic Somalis of Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Yemen, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
The Somali languages form a group that are part of the Afro-Asiatic language family. They are spoken as a mother tongue by ethnic Somalis in Horn of Africa and the Somali diaspora. Even with linguistic differences, Somalis collectively view themselves as speaking dialects of a common language.
The Poetry Translation Centre (PTC) is an organization dedicated to translating poetry from Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. It was founded by the British poet Sarah Maguire in 2004. Its work has been championed by such British poets as Nick Laird, and it is one of the Arts Council England's regularly funded organisations.
Somali studies is the scholarly term for research concerning Somalis and Greater Somalia. It consists of several disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, linguistics, historiography and archaeology. The field draws from old Somali chronicles, records and oral literature, in addition to written accounts and traditions about Somalis from explorers and geographers in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. The Somali Studies International Association is the primary organization for Somalist scholars. Bildhaan, Somali Studies, Horn of Africa and the Anglo-Somali Society Journal likewise serve as the field's main periodicals. Since 1980, prominent Somalist scholars from around the world have also gathered annually to hold the International Congress of Somali Studies.
David Appleyard is a British academic and an specialist in Ethiopian languages and linguistics.
Ahmed Ismail Samatar is a Somali writer, professor and former dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College. He is the editor of Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies, and brother of Abdi Ismail Samatar, chair of the geography department at the University of Minnesota. Samatar joined the Peace, Unity, and Development Party, the ruling party of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in June 2016. Samatar is being widely touted as a possible candidate for Somaliland's 2022 presidential elections.
Abdi Ismail Samatar is a Somali scholar, writer and professor of geography.
Abe Gubegna was an Ethiopian writer. His name is sometimes spelled "Abbé" or "Abbie". He published eight novels, five plays, three collections of poetry, and translated several biographies of world leaders as well as other works. Abe mainly wrote in Amharic, but two of his books were written in English.
Mohamed Hashi Dhamac better known as Gaarriye, was a Somali poet and political activist. He belonged to the Sa'ad Musa sub-division of the Habr Awal Isaaq clan.
Shantam Shubissa is an Ethiopian composer, singer and poet. He was born in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia. Along with musicians such as Ali Birra, Shantam Shubissa is regarded one of Oromian significant contributors to music during the late 20th century
Up to the second half of the 20th century, Tanzanian literature was primarily oral. Major oral literary forms include folktales, poems, riddles, proverbs, and songs. The majority of the oral literature in Tanzania that has been recorded is in Swahili, though each of the country's languages has its own oral tradition. The country's oral literature is currently declining because of social changes that make transmission of oral literature more difficult and because of the devaluation of oral literature that has accompanied Tanzania's development. Tanzania's written literary tradition has produced relatively few writers and works; Tanzania does not have a strong reading culture, and books are often expensive and hard to come by. Most Tanzanian literature is orally performed or written in Swahili, and a smaller number of works have been published in English. Major figures in Tanzanian modern literature include Shaaban Robert, Muhammed Said Abdulla, Aniceti Kitereza, Ebrahim Hussein, Abdulrazak Gurnah and Penina Muhando.
Fatemeh Shams, also known as Shahrzad F. Shams is a contemporary Persian poet, literary scholar and translator, currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and teaching Persian literature at the University of Pennsylvania. She previously taught Persian literature and language at Oxford University, Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, and School of Oriental and African Studies in London, UK.
Ughaz Nur II' or Ugas NurII' also known as UghazNur Robleh (1835–1898), was a famous Somali King and poet of the Gadabuursi tribe.
Bogumił Witalis "Goosh" Andrzejewski (1922–1994) was a Polish-born, British-naturalised linguist whose research focused on the Somali language.
Salaan Mahamud Hirsi, better known as Salaan Carrabey, was a famous poet from the Adan Madoba sub-division of the Habr Je'lo Isaaq clan.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
