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10:00-10:30: Poetry reading: Mplive Msiska
Dr. Mpalive Msiska is a Reader (Associate Professor) in English and Humanities at Birkbeck, University of
London. He is a Board member of the Caine Prize for African Writing, The Royal African Society, the Journal
of Southern African Studies and the Canon Collins Trust, among others. For the past two years, he has been
a Judge for the Brunel University African Poetry Prize and has previously served as a Judge for The Caine
Prize for African Writing. He studied in Malawi, Canada and Scotland and has taught at the Universities of
Malawi, Stirling and Bath Spa. In addition to journal articles and book-chapters, he has published the
following books Post-colonial Identity in Wole Soyinka, (2007) and Wole Soyinka, (1998); co-authored
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (2007) and The Quiet Chameleon: A Study of Poetry from Central Africa
(1992) and co-edited Writing and Africa (1997). He was a member of the University of Malawi Writers
Group and the University Travelling Theatre.
10:30-11:00: Book launch: Igiaba Scego
Igiaba Scego was born in 1974 in Rome. Her parents left Somalia and came to Italy after Siad Barre's
military junta took over. After high school, she studied Literature and Education and then began to
publish her own texts. Her books include La Nomade Che amava Alfred Hitchcock (The Nomad who
Loved Hitchcock), Rhoda, Oltre Babilonia (Beyond Babylon) and La Mia Casa è Dove Sono (My home
is where I am). One of the basic themes of Igiaba Scego's highly autobiographical work is her double
identity as both Somali and Italian - a relatively new topic in Italy, which has only recently become a
destination for immigrants. Throughout HIBF 2014 she will launch her three new books (one fiction
and two no-fiction), which are due to be published in 2014/2015.
11:00-11:30: Book Launch: Graziano Graziani
Graziano Graziani was born in Rome and currently works as a speaker in Fahrenheit, a literature program
on Radio 3 Rai (the National Public Broadcasting Company). He wrote several essays about contemporary
Italian theatre. His first novel is entitled Esperia (2008), and amongst his other publications a play about
P. F. Gachet, Van Gogh's doctor (2009), and a long poem in roman dialect entitled I Sonetti der Corvaccio
(2011). His lastest book, Stati d'eccezione. Cosa Sono le Micronazioni (2012), includes forty short stories
about microscopic nations which claim independence without international recognition. He will be
experimenting and testing his thesis in relation to the situation in Somaliland as an independent and yet
unrecognised state.
11:30-12:00: Book launch: Muthoni Garland
Muthoni Garland writes fiction for adults and children. Her work has been published in literary journals
including Kwani, Farafina and Chimurenga and in several anthologies in the USA and UK. Her anthology,
Helicopter Beetles is available on Amazon as an e-book. Muthoni is also a storyteller and has
appeared on stage in Kenya, Italy and the UK. She is also a founding member of the writer’s
collective, Storymoja, based in Nairobi. HIBF is delighted to present Muthoni's work for the first
time in Somaliland. Her two adult novellas - Halfway Between Nairobi and Dundori and Tracking
the Scent of My Mother, which was short-listed for the 2006 Caine Prize, will be presented at this panel
discussion.
12:00 - 13:00: Culture and Development in Somaliland
Culture shapes individuals’ worldviews and the ways in which communities and societies address the changes and challenges
they face. Culture is therefore crucial to the development—the act or process of growing or improving—of any society. The
connections between culture, art, and development are now recognised internationally. For instance UNESCO has recently
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