Book
Yesterday, Tomorrow (2000) by Nuruddin Farah: voices from the Somali diaspora
Yesterday, Tomorrow: Voices from the Somali Diaspora is a 2000 non-fiction book by the Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah, published by Cassell in London. Drawing on interviews he carried out with Somali refugees in Africa and Europe between 1991 and 1998, it looks at how refugees see themselves, how host countries treat them, and how they adapt to new lives. It was his first book of non-fiction.
Yesterday, Tomorrow
- Author
- Nuruddin Farah
- Year
- 2000
- Publisher
- Cassell
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9780304707027
- Sources
- 9 sources
The book
Yesterday, Tomorrow: Voices from the Somali Diaspora is a book of non-fiction by Nuruddin Farah, the Somali novelist born in Baidoa in 1945 and winner of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1998. It was published by Cassell in London in February 2000, with about 200 pages, and was his first non-fiction book (Schweitzer Fachinformationen; Goodreads). It has been published in French as Hier, demain and in German by Suhrkamp (Critiques Libres; Suhrkamp extract).
What it contains
The book is built from interviews Farah carried out between 1991 and 1998 with Somalis who had fled the collapse of the state, in Africa and in Europe, including communities in Italy, Britain, Sweden and Switzerland (Goodreads). The publisher describes it as a study of refugees created by political repression in post-colonial Somalia, which explores:
- how refugees see themselves;
- how host countries perceive and treat them;
- how they adapt, or fail to adapt, as politics and economics break apart and rebuild their lives (Schweitzer Fachinformationen).
Although it is about one people, the publisher presents it as speaking to mass migration more widely. Farah had himself lived in exile from 1976 until 1996, when he was first able to visit Somalia again (Encyclopedia.com). The movement of Somalis abroad is covered on Somalis leave, 1988 to 1991 and Somali refugees by the numbers.
How it has been read
- The book was reviewed in the French journal Études littéraires africaines in 2000 (Érudit).
- The Providence Phoenix described its narratives as "wrenching" (Providence Phoenix).
- One literary study reads it as a turning point in Farah's work, from nostalgia for Somalia towards openly expressed concern for Somali refugees (Tydskrif vir Letterkunde).
Where to read it
- In a library: WorldCat
Related pages
Sources
- Schweitzer Fachinformationen · schweitzer-online.de
- Goodreads · goodreads.com
- Critiques Libres · critiqueslibres.com
- Suhrkamp extract · res.cloudinary.com
- Encyclopedia.com · encyclopedia.com
- Érudit · erudit.org
- Providence Phoenix · providencephoenix.com
- Tydskrif vir Letterkunde · letterkunde.africa
- WorldCat · search.worldcat.org
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Where this matters
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
More by this author
- From a Crooked Rib (1970): Nuruddin Farah's first novelNuruddin Farah's From a Crooked Rib (1970): the story of Ebla, how it was written, the 1972 ban, how critics read it and its Somali translation Feedh Qalloocan.
- Maps (1986) by Nuruddin Farah: a novel of the Ogaden warNuruddin Farah's Maps (1986): Askar, Misra and the Ogaden war, its unusual narrative voice, the Blood in the Sun trilogy and how critics have read it.
- Sweet and Sour Milk (1979) by Nuruddin Farah: a novel of Mogadishu under dictatorshipNuruddin Farah's Sweet and Sour Milk (1979): its story of twin brothers in 1970s Mogadishu, its place in his dictatorship trilogy, its award and where to read it.
- Links (2003) by Nuruddin Farah: a return to Mogadishu in the years of conflictNuruddin Farah's Links (2003): its story of a return to Mogadishu in the 1990s, the Dante quotations that frame it, its trilogy, and how reviewers received it.
- Secrets (1998) by Nuruddin Farah: a family mystery on the eve of the civil warNuruddin Farah's Secrets (1998): its story of Kalaman, Sholoongo and his family on the eve of the war, its narrators, its trilogy and how reviewers read it.
- Gifts (1992) by Nuruddin Farah: a Mogadishu nurse, a foundling and the politics of aidNuruddin Farah's Gifts (1992): its story of Duniya and Bosaaso, the theme of foreign aid, its place in the Blood in the Sun trilogy, its awards and reviews.
Keep reading
- City of Thorns (2016) by Ben Rawlence: nine lives in the Dadaab campsBen Rawlence's City of Thorns (2016) on the Dadaab camps in Kenya: the nine Somali lives it follows, its main argument and how reviewers received it.
- Desert Flower (1998) by Waris Dirie: from nomad girl to model and campaignerWaris Dirie's Desert Flower (1998): her nomad childhood, escape, modelling career and campaign against FGM; its publication, translations and the 2009 film.
- Infidel (2006) by Ayaan Hirsi Ali: the memoir, its story and its receptionAyaan Hirsi Ali's memoir Infidel (Mijn Vrijheid, 2006): what it covers from Somalia to the Dutch parliament, sales, praise, criticism and later books.
- Keeping Hope Alive (2013) by Hawa Abdi: a doctor's memoir of the war yearsHawa Abdi's memoir Keeping Hope Alive (2013): her training, the clinic and camp on her family's land, the attack of 2010, and how reviewers received it.
- A House in the Sky (2013) by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett: a memoir of captivity in SomaliaAmanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett's A House in the Sky (2013): the 2008-2009 kidnapping it describes, its reception and the debate around it, and where to read it.
- This Is What America Looks Like (2020) by Ilhan Omar: from refugee to CongressIlhan Omar's memoir This Is What America Looks Like (2020): her childhood in Mogadishu, the refugee years, life in the US and politics, and how reviewers from different sides received it.