Khalil Abdulkadir Farah Hersi

Who is Khalil Abdulkadir Farah Hersi?

Khalil Adbulkadir Farah Hersi, also known as Yam Yam, was a Somali poet who was active in the 1960s.

He was born and raised in Hargeisa, Woogiga Galbeed, the capital of the de facto state of Somaliland on September 4, 1949. He was the youngest child of 6 and the only son to his mother as his other siblings had a different mother. He attended the Somaali School of Natural Sciences and graduated from Mogadishu University, majoring in Social Sciences and obtained a Master's degree in Biology at Harvard University. He is a member of the religion of Islam, which is the predominant religion in Somaliland. He is famous for his extensive study on peat bogs in the East Africa region and for his many report novels.

Along with the writer Ahmed Farah Ali 'Idaja', Hersi wrote the historical play Dabkuu Shiday Darwiishkii, translated as The Fire that the Dervish Lit. Primarily in verse, the play is about the Dervish State established by Mohammed Abdullah Hassan in the early twentieth century.

There is no one consistent English translation of his name. Alternative spellings include Cabdulqaadir or Cabdilqaadir Xirsi.

Some of his more famous poems are Gabay ammaan ah, Kowda Maajo: Hambalyo 1975, "Hees", and Ma riyaa ma run baa. Two of his poems appeared in the magazines Sahan and Horseed, although most of them still reached the public in oral form. Cali often wrote on social topics. One of his poems, for instance, was a commentary on the political situation of the Somali people in the late 1950s, and another, written in 1962, was a protest against the import of foreign cars when the mass of the people were still living in poverty.