Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac 'Gaariye'

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maxamed Xaashi Dhamac 'Gaarriye' (English spelling: Mohamed Hashi Dhamac) was born in Hargeisa in 1949. He went to school in Sheikh in Somaliland and graduated in biology at the Somali National University. After his education he worked as a teacher in secondary schools. When he gained his reputation as a poet and literary scholar, he worked at the Academy of Culture in Mogadishu and as a lecturer in Somali literature at the National University. From the 1970s onwards he has been one of the most important Somali poets, composing on a great variety of topics from nuclear weapons to Nelson Mandela. He was also a poet who was not afraid to engage in the politics of Somalia through his poetry, and he was the initiator of one of the largest 'chain poems', 'Deelley', to which many poets contributed, each one alliterating in 'd', hence the name of the chain. Gaarriye was the person who first articulated the metrical patterns of Somali poetry. He published his findings in articles in the national newspaper in 1976. Gaariye now lives in Hargeisa. A few of his best known poems are: Fad galbeed, Madax doodir and Watergate.