The Mogadishu Book Fair 2016 organisers have announced the dates for this year’s edition of their event. They have also announced a change in official name and hashtag.
The first ever Mogadishu International Book Fair founded by Mohamed “Diini” Sheik-Ali Ahmed was hosted in the Somali capital last year from Aug 26-28 at the City Palace hotel. The festival was aimed at stimulating the revival of all forms of art and human expression in Somali society and featured creative writing, storytelling, poetry, oratory, drama, art and photography.
At the end of it all, the fair which went without any hitch, hosted guests like Saida Sh. Ahmed, Ahmed Farah Ali (Idaajaa), Said Salah Ahmed, Professor Abdalla Mansur, Hamda Mohamed H. Egal, Sahra Koshin, Sh. Ahmed ‘Johari’ Bilal, Mohamed Abdullahi Artan, Mohamed Sh. Hassan , Said M. Shire (Suugaan), Ahmed-Keyse Ali Roble, Rashid Ali, Muna M. Diriye, Dr. Said Ali Shire, Zahra Qorane Omar, Yusuf Garaad Omar, and Dr. Ibrahim Farah. You can check out images from the colourful event here.
This year, the organisers opted to lose the “International” moniker from their official designation and go by the less wordy, The Mogadishu Book Fair. The festival will be hosted in the East African nation from August 17-19th and will be hosting guests from both Somalia and from outside the country that are yet to be announced.
The book fair organisers have also unveiled their new logo alongside a new hashtag for fans to keep abreast of festival information on social media platforms. This hashtag will be #MBF2016.
The fair will go a long way to changing the perception of a country which seems to be still in turmoil after over a generation of a power vacuum. Somalia is also still wracked by internal conflict which seems to be going on even with the entry of African Union troops who have been battling for control of the capital.
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