# Amal Aden (Amaal Aadan)

> Amal Aden (born 1983): Somali-Norwegian writer and activist on integration and women's rights, Zola and Gina Krog prize winner.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/amal-aden/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who is she?

Amal Aden is the pen name of a Somali-Norwegian writer, lecturer and activist ([Wikipedia, Amal Aden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Aden)). She campaigns as an openly lesbian Muslim (same source). She has been a substitute member of the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission and has written for the newspaper *Dag og Tid* since 2013 (same source). See [Somalis in Norway](/en/diaspora/norway/).

## Early life

She was born in Somalia in 1983 and was orphaned at four ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Aden)). After seven years as a street child, she came to Norway in 1996, aged 13, through family reunification (same source). She has written that public services at first could not help her, and for periods she lived on the streets of Oslo (same source). She now works as an interpreter for the police, schools and others, and as an adviser and lecturer (same source).

## Books

Her books, all in Norwegian, include ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Aden)):

- *Se oss: bekymringsmelding fra en ung norsksomalisk kvinne* (2008).
- *ABC i integrering* (2009), with 111 pieces of advice on integration.
- *Min drøm om frihet* (2009), an autobiographical account.
- *Det skal merkes at de gråter: Om likestilling blant somaliere i Norge* (2011), on equality among Somalis in Norway.
- *Om håpet glipper, er alt tapt* (2012).
- *Jacayl er kjærlighet på somali* (2015).

## Threats

She says she received 146 threatening messages after taking part in the Oslo Pride Parade in 2013 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Aden)).

## Prizes

She has received the Zola Prize (2010), the Amnesty Prize of Amnesty International Norway (2012), Erik Bye's Memorial Prize (2014) and the Gina Krog Prize of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights (2016) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amal_Aden)).

## In short

A Somali-Norwegian writer, writing under a pen name, whose books deal with integration and women's rights.

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