The Future of New Writing: Nadifa Mohamed

Nadifa Mohamed was born in Hargeisa in 1981 and moved to London with her family in 1986. Her first novel, Black Mamba Boy, was long-listed for the Orange Prize; was short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the PEN Open Book Award; and won the Betty Trask Prize. Her second novel, The Orchard of Lost Souls, was published in 2013 and was long-listed for the Dylan Thomas Prize and shortlisted for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award; the novel won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Prix Albert Bernard. Mohamed was selected as one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists in 2013. She lives in London and is working on her third novel.

Photo by Sabreen Hussain.