# Diriye Osman (Diiriye Cismaan)

> Diriye Osman (born 1983): British-Somali author of Fairytales for Lost Children and The Butterfly Jungle.

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

## Who is he?

Diriye Osman is a British-Somali author, visual artist, critic and essayist, born in Mogadishu in 1983 ([Wikipedia, Diriye Osman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diriye_Osman)). When the civil war began his family moved to Nairobi, and in 2001 to London (same source). See [Somalis in London](/en/diaspora/london/).

He has written about being hospitalised for psychosis at eighteen, and about how reading writers such as Nuruddin Farah helped him recover his voice (same source). He studied English literature, linguistics and fine art at the University of [Birmingham](/en/diaspora/birmingham/) and took an MA in creative writing at Royal Holloway (same source).

## Writing

He began writing short stories in 2008, with a focus on Somali lives and on his experience as a gay man ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diriye_Osman)). His debut collection, *Fairytales for Lost Children* (2013), which he also illustrated, won praise from critics and an award (same source). His later collection *The Butterfly Jungle* was written and designed on his phone (same source). His work has appeared in *The Guardian*, *Granta* and the *Financial Times*, among others (same source).

## In short

A Mogadishu-born London writer and artist whose stories centre Somali and gay lives.

---
I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.