Maxamed Daahir Afrax


Maxamed Daahir Afrax Ph. D. is a Somali novelist, playwright, journalist and scholar.

Biography

Afrax was born and raised in Somalia. He began his education early as a child and was an excellent student top of his class.
A polyglot, he writes in Somali, Arabic and English. Afrax has published three novels in Somali, Guur-ku-sheeg, Maana-faay and Galti-macruuf, in addition to an historical novel in Arabic, Nida Al-Horiyah. He has also published several short stories in both Arabic and Somali.
Also a playwright, Afrax has written two plays, the first being Durbaan Been ah, which was staged in Somalia in 1979. His major contribution in the field of theatre criticism is Somali Drama: Historical and Critical Study.
In his novels and plays, Afrax denounces moral corruption and social injustice. When in 1980 his novel Gulti-macruuf began to appear in serialized form in Xiddigta Oktoobar, Somalia's government took offence. The publication of the story was subsequently discontinued at its 37th episode. Soon after that, in 1981, Afrax left Somalia and has been living abroad ever since.