Yamyam
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Yamyam (born Abdulkadir Hersi Siyad, 4 September 1946 – October 22, 2005) (, ) or Yam Yam was a Somali
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
and
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
. Yamyam was one of the main contributors for the Somali National Academy of Culture (SNAC), also known as the Somali National Academy of Arts, Sciences and Literature. He was active as a poet from the 1960s. There is no one consistent English translation of his name. Alternative spellings include Cabdulqaadir and Cabdilqaadir Xirsi.


Early life and education

Yamyam was born in the city of Dhuusa Mareeb, Galgadud Region. His mother was Canoof Ibraahim. He was the youngest child of six and the only son to his mother; his other siblings had a different mother. Yamyam started attending
Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...
at age four and finished studying the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
by age eight. He attended the Somali School of Natural Sciences. He moved to the northwest of the country to pursue further education and graduated from
Mogadishu University Mogadishu University (, ) is an accredited non-state university in Mogadishu, Somalia. Admission The university accepts students who have graduated from secondary schools or those who have GCE equivalent certificates. Before enrolment, stude ...
, producing his first work when he was 18 years old. He was Muslim, following the predominant religion in Somalia.


Career

He is famous both for his extensive study on
peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muske ...
s in the
East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
region and for his many poems and plays.


New Playwrights with New Somali Orthography

With the new
Somali alphabet A number of writing systems have been used to transcribe the Somali language. Of these, the Somali Latin alphabet is the most widely used. It has been the official writing script in Somalia since the Supreme Revolutionary Council formally introdu ...
or orthography in 1972, Yamyam became a member of a minority of Somali poets who pen down his works as opposed to poets producing volumes of poems in the traditional Somali oral literature. Yamyam was recognized as an influential Somali poet and
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
whose creative output did not wane after the state's collapse and subsequent civil war, which continued for a decade and a half. He lived in
Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...
and continued to write poems and articles for Somali websites and newsletters on the misfortunes that befell Somalia, which was one of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
's strongest countries during the post-colonial era.


Awards


First Poetry Competition in Hargaisa

Yamyam was the recipient of the first academic style Somali Poetry Competition held in Hargaisa in 1972. On Somali National Patriotic Programme Series, a 12-part series that aired in June 2013, Aamin Media Limited, placed Yamyam at Episode #8, right next to Abdullahi Suldan Tima Ade, another great Somali poet. The program profiles 12 great patriots and military persons who lived from mid-1400 to the modern era. Yamyam, like most other gifted entertainers, used his poetic talents to highlight the misfortunes that befell his fellow Somalis as a result of the civil war and the ensuing chaos. He had a sense of humour that attracted both young and old across Somali society. Suldan Tima Cade's patriotic poems throughout the 1950s to the 1970s were extended by Yamyam, who continued the patriot legacy with new interpretations of social and politics aspects in Somali life and adding his footprints on Somali literature from the early 1970s to his death in 2005.


Moving to Mogadishu

After winning a first of its kind poetry competition in Hargeisa in 1972, Yamyam moved to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. He immediately found a job at the newly created National Folklore, Arts, Culture, Literature, which had such important cultural centers as Somali National Theatre. At his tenure at
SNAC Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) is an online project for discovering, locating, and using distributed historical records in regard to individual people, families, and organizations. The project SNAC is a digital research project t ...
center in Mogadishu, he wrote many poems, plays and other literary pieces. He worked for several government ministries and contributed to on-air radio programs, such as
Radio Mogadishu Radio Mogadishu (, ) is the federal government-run radio station of Somalia.
and Radio Hargaisa, and higher-learning institutions, primarily
Somali National University Somali National University (SNU) (, , ) is a national university in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Its campus grounds were located four kilometers from the Mogadishu International Airport (Aden Adde International Airport). It was establishe ...
at Gaheyr and Lafoole.


Poetry and Public Services

Some of his more famous poems are ''Gabay ammaan ah'' (A poem of praise), ''Kowda Maajo: Hambalyo 1975'' (The First of May: Congratulations 1975), "Hees" (A hees poem), and ''Ma riyaa ma run baa'' (Is it a dream? Is it reality?). Two of his poems appeared in the magazines ''Sahan'' (Reconnaissance) and ''Horseed'' (Vanguard), and most of them also reached the public in oral form. Yamyam often wrote on social topics. One of his poems, for instance, was a commentary on the political situation of the
Somali people The Somali people (, Wadaad: , Arabic: ) are a Cushitic ethnic group and nation native to the Somali Peninsula. who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The East Cushitic Somali language is the shared mother tongue of ethnic Som ...
in the late 1950s; and another, written in 1962, was a protest against importing foreign cars because the mass of the people were still living in poverty.


Researcher and Contributor at SNAC

Yamyam was engaged in the Somali National
folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
and poetry circles for nearly four decades. At the height of the Somali
Military Revolution The Military Revolution is the theory that a series of radical changes in military strategy and tactics during the 16th and 17th centuries resulted in major lasting changes in governments and society. The theory was introduced by Michael Roberts ...
, he wrote poems directly accusing the government of attempting to create new social programs while much-needed social programs lay in abandonment. One such poem was “Digo rogasho”, which he wrote in October 1984. In the early 1970s, he went to the capital, Mogadishu, where he joined Waaberi (literally Dawn), a troupe of singers, dancers and playwrights. His genius at writing
lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...
and poems was soon recognized by his contemporaries, and his songs were performed on Radio Mogadishu.


Influencing Somali Society and Politics

With Ahmed Farah Ali Idaajaa, Yamyam co-authored a popular play (primarily in verse) called ''Dabkuu Shiday Darwiishkii'' (The Fire That the Dervish Lit), about the anti-colonial resistance waged by the Somali Dervishes under the leadership of Sayid Mohamed Abdulle Hassan from 1900 to 1920. Farah Idaja wrote that Yamyam's play, about Somali Dervishes, Fire that the
Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...
Lit, "Dabdkuu Shiday Darwiishkii" where the play's first scene depicts imagined scenes from European powers' conference in Barlin during 1884-1885 Africa colonial divisions. Although Yamyam was a patriot, he often reflected
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an colonial past wrongdoings from 1884 Africa divisions to the 1894 "Tripartite Accord" from
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
. His poetry reflected radicalism and dislike for the misuse of power and misappropriation of public funds of the toppled regime in Somalia in the 1970s and 1980s. Mind you, Yamyam was only four uncles removed from President
Siad Barre Mohammed Siad Barre (, Osmanya script: , ''Muhammad Ziād Barīy''; 6 October 1919 – 2 January 1995) was a Somali military officer, politician, and revolutionary who served as the third president of Somalia from 21 October 1969 to 26 Janu ...
, and he was not easy on him- this came to light later during the civil war, when he remained in Mogadishu despite his closeness to the overthrown president.


Civil War Years and Arta Peace Conference

Before he moved to the US to rejoin his family, who had settled there after the civil war in Somalia, Yamyam lived in Mogadishu. Unfazed by the lawlessness. Throughout the 1990s, at the height of the two-decade-long Somali civil war, he did not align himself with any of the tribal factions in Somalia. He felt a moral obligation to promote peace in his troubled country. At the Somalia National Peace Conference held in 2000, Yamyam said that the nation of Somalia was "in ruins" and said he no longer celebrated national holidays. Yamyam is survived by his wife, four sons and two daughters. Rage, the eldest son of Yamyam, is a poet in his own right. He was one of the main entertainers at the 2007 annual Somali Community gathering honoring youngsters who achieve great academic success. Unlike most Somali poets, Yamyam penned down all his literary work starting from early on before he won the first academically conducted
poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
competition held in Hargaisa. "I am Somali" In print material, the poet's name has varying spellings for his nickname, Yamyam or Yam Yam. Many people believe Yamyam was a long ago deceased poet at the time of ''Hooyaaleey'' style Somali poetry during the mid eighteenth century at time of Raage Ugaas and others because of in-depth content which he is unique for in his field as a great poet coupled with the academic work which he penned down, for example, his first play co-authoring with Ahmed Farah Ali 'Idaja', using the newly created Somali
orthography An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis. Most national ...
. Ordinarily, Somali poets produce volumes of oral literature full of tribal feud, but Yamyam was an academic type; thus, he refrained from using poetry and plays to "side with any of opposing sides", although he remained in Mogadishu throughout the 1990s, when Mogadishu was the epicenter of the Somali civil war. In 2001, Yamyam moved to Nairobi, Kenya to settling in
Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
. While contributing to volumes of poems and dozens of plays for a span of nearly forty years, Yamyam is credited with numerous contributions and collaborations during the height of the civil war in Somalia from 1991 to his death in Columbus, Ohio, in 2005. He was greatly appreciated at his appearances at the year-long Somali National Peace Conference, better known as ''Arta Peace Conference'', held in Arta,
Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...
. Yamyam grew up in Hargaisa, but he remained in Mogadishu for much of his working life, including a decade and a half, a period when the Somali civil war years were at a climax. When it came to showing his patriotism, Yamyam gave hours of poetry entertainment and a dose of reality for the year-long ''Arta Somali Peace Conference''. During the Arta Peace Conference, on the occasion of June 26, Northern Somalia
Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...
, he reminded every Somali that he no longer celebrated independence days as Somalia "lay in ruins", since the chaos and lawlessness in the capital, Mogadishu.


Later life

Abdulkadir Hersi Siyad, better known by his nickname Yamyam, died in a car accident in
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...
,
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, aged 60.


Works

*The Fire that the Dervish Lit ("Dabkuu Shiday Darwiishkii ") *I am Somali (Soomali baan ahay) * The First of May: Congratulations 1975 (Kowda Maajo: Hambalyo 1975) *Caku Geellu muu Dido! *A poem of praise (Gabay ammaan ah) *Is it a dream? Is it reality? (Ma riyaa ma run baa) *Oness of God (Tawxiid) 1984


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamyam 1946 births 2005 deaths Ethnic Somali people Somalian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Somalian poets 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Mogadishu University alumni Harvard University alumni Road incident deaths in Ohio Somali-language writers People from Dusmareb