Hadrawi

Maxamed Ibraahim Warsame, universally known by his pen name Hadrawi, was born in 1943 in Togdheer. Educated in Aden and the National University of Somalia, he became a lecturer and playwright, producing monumental verse dramas including Aqoon iyo Afgarad.

In 1973, his allegorical play Siinley boldly criticized the totalitarian repression of Siad Barre's regime, leading to his arrest and five years in solitary confinement in the desert prison of Qansax Dheere without trial. Refusing to yield, his epic poems, including Hooyo ('Mother') and Hal La Qalay, captured the spiritual soul of the Somali language. In 2003, he undertook a famous walking 'Peace March' across war-torn Somalia, receiving the Prince Claus Award in 2012.