Artist: Nuruddin Farah
Confronting Bodies: Somali government under dictator Siad Barre
Date of Action: 1973
Specific Location: Somalia
Description of Artwork: Farah's novel "From a Crooked Rib" is about a Somali woman who struggles to free herself from her husband and father who had arranged her marriage and control her life.
Description of Incident: Farah challenged the patriarchal tradition in Somalia through his novel "From a Crooked Rib." The novel was serialized in the government newspaper "Xiddigata Oktoobar" until, in 1973, the paper discontinued the series. After Farah's second novel, "A Naked Needle," which was critical of Siad Barre's government, he went into a self-imposed exile in Britain.
Results of Incident: None of Farah's novels were published in Somalia. He has taught at Universities around the world and is an internationally known writer.
Source: Censorship, A World Encyclopedia, ed. D. Jones
Submitted By: NCAC