Poets and writers

Said Salah Ahmed (Saciid Saalax Axmed)

Said Salah Ahmed is a Somali playwright, poet, teacher and filmmaker. A former biology teacher, he directed the 1984–85 epic The Somali Dervishes, a film of 4 hours 40 minutes about the Dervish state, made on a budget of 1.8 million dollars. After the civil war he moved to Minnesota, where he wrote the children's book The Lion's Share and plays based on Somali folklore.

Last checked 2026-11-12 1 source Reading time: 1 min

Said Salah AhmedSaciid Saalax Axmed · Said Salah

Known as one of
Poets and writers
Era
The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
Sources
1 sources

Who is he?

Said Salah Ahmed is a Somali playwright, poet, educator and filmmaker (Wikipedia, Said Salah Ahmed). He was a biology teacher in Somalia (same source). See Somali poetry.

The Somali Dervishes

In 1984–85 he directed his first feature film, The Somali Dervishes, produced by Amar Sneh (Wikipedia). It runs 4 hours 40 minutes and had a budget of 1.8 million dollars (same source). It tells the story of the Dervish movement led by Sayid Maxamed Cabdulle Xasan (same source). Its dialogue uses seven languages, including Somali, Arabic, Italian and English, and it has hundreds of actors and extras (same source). Wikipedia says the lead was played by Sheikh Osman Mohamoud Omar, a descendant of the Sayid's family (same source).

Minnesota

After the civil war began he moved to Minnesota (Wikipedia). He wrote the children's book The Lion's Share, which became a play he wrote and produced for SteppingStone Theatre (same source). Some of his poems have been translated into English by the Poetry Translation Centre (same source). See Somalis in Minneapolis and St Paul.

In short

A Somali poet and teacher who directed the 1984–85 film The Somali Dervishes and later wrote for the stage in Minnesota.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Said Salah Ahmed · en.wikipedia.org

Said Salah AhmedSaciid Saalax Axmed · Said Salah

Known as one of
Poets and writers
Era
The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
Sources
1 sources

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