# Ubah Cristina Ali Farah

> Ubah Cristina Ali Farah (born 1973): Italian-Somali novelist and poet who grew up in Mogadishu, author of Madre piccola.

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

## Who is she?

Ubah Cristina Ali Farah is an Italian writer of Somali and Italian descent ([Wikipedia, Cristina Ali Farah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ali_Farah)). She is a poet, novelist, playwright, librettist and oral performer (same source).

## Early life

She was born in Verona in 1973, to a Somali father and an Italian mother ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ali_Farah)). She grew up in Mogadishu and went to an Italian school there until the civil war broke out in 1991 (same source). Her family moved to Pécs in Hungary, then back to Verona (same source). She studied literature at La Sapienza University in Rome and holds a PhD in African Studies (same source). She has lived in Brussels since 2013 (same source). See [Somalis in Italy](/en/diaspora/italy/).

## Her books

She has published three novels ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ali_Farah)):

- *Madre piccola* (2007), published in English as *[Little Mother](/en/books/madre-piccola-ali-farah/)* by Indiana University Press in 2011, translated by Giovanna Bellesia.
- *Il comandante del fiume* (2014).
- *Le stazioni della luna*.

She has also published a book on the history and themes of Somali folk theatre from 1940 to 1990 (same source). She has worked as a UNDP consultant on oral history for peacebuilding in Somalia (same source). See [Somali poetry](/en/society/somali-poetry/).

## Prizes and residencies

She has received the Lingua Madre and Vittorini prizes ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Ali_Farah)). She took part in the University of Iowa's International Writing Program in 2017, and was a Civitella Ranieri Foundation fellow (same source). In 2020 she held a fellowship at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (same source).

## In short

An Italian-Somali writer who grew up in Mogadishu and wrote the novel Madre piccola about Somalis after the war.

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