Annual book fair reflects hope and promise in war-weary Mogadishu

Mogadishu is a city badly scarred by war. And it still lives with daily violence and insecurity. But a growing love for books is helping some of its residents overcome the trauma. 

This week, the second annual Mogadishu Book Fair takes place in the embattled city. 

Mohamed Diini is its founder. He left Somalia as a child in the early 1990s, but returned in 2014 to establish the book fair. He spoke with As it Happens guest host Laura Lynch from Mogadishu. Here is some of their conversation:

Laura Lynch: Mr. Diini, today is day two of the second annual book fair. How is the response in Mogadishu?

Mohamed Diini: It's been great. A massive crowd — a lot of young people. Probably 80 to 85 percent are younger than 30, or so they look. A very good percentage of female audience members as well. The weather's great, the location's great. And just the hunger for books that people in Mogadishu have. It's just amazing. It's beyond anyone's imagination.

You've had 25 years where literature events and festivals and book fairs were just not in anyone's calendar.- Mohamed Diini, founder of Mogadishu Book Fair

LL: What first inspired you to start the book fair in Mogadishu?

MD: Well, I'm not an author myself, but I've always wanted to be involved in that part as well. So coming back to Somalia, I thought it was perhaps the closest thing to what I do, and the one thing that I thought was most needed in rebuilding the new Somalia that we hope will emerge from the ashes of a very bloody civil war.

LL: What have been some of the challenges in trying to mount a book fair there?

MD: Well, security's one. Mogadishu's a lot more secure than people tend to think outside. But there still are issues one must keep in mind. There are bombings from time to time. So security is probably the most important challenge and obstacle one has to deal with. Also this is only the second year. You've had 25 years where literature events and festivals and book fairs were just not in anyone's calendar. And of course you have all the other logistical challenges like you would have in any other city — to try to assemble that many people in one place for three days, bringing people from all over the world — authors, scholars, poets, writers, professors — it's just a lot of work.

"[I]n a country where 75 percent of the population is younger than 30, most of them have known nothing but war and chaos. Most people are just eager to be able to wake up, go to school, get a job, earn, get married, have a family, and visit friends.- Mohamed Diini

LL: You were living in the United States, in Ohio. But then you returned to Somalia. Why?

MD: To do this. To be part of the new Somalia — folks that are building the new Somalia. I've been going back and forth to Somalia for a couple of years before I'd moved permanently. I thought there was a need for me there more than Columbus, Ohio — to start something that was very much needed by a very huge young population of this city and country.

LL: How do you find the Mogadishu of now compared to the Mogadishu that you left all those years ago?

MD: Well, I don't remember much. When I left I was only seven. I do have very vague images of the old Mogadishu. It was a world-class city, truly the jewel on the ocean — a place the world came to see. A great diversity of Arabs and Europeans and other Africans and Somalis and Kenyans and Zanzibaris and all kinds of people. Of course the Mogadishu of today is a far cry from that. But the Somalis who had left are coming back. And the Somalis who never left are a big part of the rebuilding of the new Somalia. It seems that people got tired of war and chaos. Twenty-six years. That's a very long time. And in a country where 75 percent of the population is younger than 30, most of them have known nothing but war and chaos. Most people are just eager to be able to wake up, go to school, get a job, earn, get married, have a family, and visit friends. And do all the things that you, Laura, want to do. That I want to do.

LL: And to read a book.

MD: Well now, to read a book is a big part of it, yes.

To learn more about the Mogadishu Book Fair, listen to our full interview with Mohamed Diini.