LEWISTON — Author Shugri Said Salh is scheduled to talk about her debut book, “The Last Nomad: Coming of Age In the Somali Desert” during a Zoom session at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9.
Salh will converse with Mana Abdi, program coordinator at the Bates College Office of Intercultural Education. This free, public program, hosted by the Lewiston Public Library, Bates College, and Maine Community Integration will stream to the library’s Facebook page.
Shugri Said Salh Contributed photo
Born in Somalia, a spare daughter in a large family, Salh was sent at age 6 to live with her nomadic grandmother in the desert. The last of her family to learn this once-common way of life, she found herself chasing warthogs, climbing termite hills, herding goats, and moving constantly in search of water and grazing lands with her nomadic family.
For Salh, though the desert was a harsh place threatened by drought, predators, and enemy clans, it also held beauty, innovation, centuries of tradition, and a way for a young Sufi girl to learn courage and independence from a fearless group of relatives.
Salh grew to love the freedom of roaming with her animals and the powerful feeling of community found in nomadic rituals and the oral storytelling of her ancestors. But as she came of age, both she and her beloved Somalia were forced to confront change, violence and instability.
Salh writes with engaging frankness and a fierce feminism of trying to break free of the patriarchal beliefs of her culture, of her forced female genital mutilation, of the loss of her mother, and of her growing need for independence. Taken from the desert by her strict father and then displaced along with millions of others by the Somali Civil War, Salh fled first to a refugee camp on the Kenyan border and ultimately to North America to learn yet another way of life.
In “The Last Nomad,” Salh tells her inspiring story about leaving Africa, learning English, finding love, and embracing a new horizon for herself and her family.
“The Last Nomad” was named an Apple Best Book of the Month in August, and an Amazon Best Biography & Memoir Book of the Month for 2021. Kirkus Reviews described it as “A cleareyed and moving chronicle of her coming-of-age during a tumultuous time in the history of her native Somalia … a thoughtful look at life in an often-misunderstood culture and region,” according to a news release from the library.
Interviewer Mana Abdi, born in Kenya and of Somali descent, moved with her family to the United States when she was 11. After graduating from Lewiston High School, she earned a bachelor of arts in political science and international and global studies at the University of Maine at Farmington, where she helped create campus initiatives and programming to increase equity, inclusion, and diversity.
As vice president of the Maine Youth Network, Abdi’s focus is to uplift and empower youth who share her experience as a refugee. She is passionate about providing immigrant children and young adults the necessary tools to compete and succeed in life. At Bates, she works with others to create a just, safe, sustainable and collaborative community.
The Zoom registration link will be posted to lplonline.org and the library’s Facebook page prior to the program. For more information, contact the LPL Adult & Teen Services desk at 207-513-3135 or lplreference@lewistonmaine.gov.
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