Nadifa Mohamed was born in Hargeisa in 1981. Her family moved to England in 1986 in what was supposed to be a short stay, but stayed permanently when war broke out in Somalia shortly afterwards. She is the author of Black Mamba Boy, which based on stories from her father’s life in the Middle East and Africa. She was educated at the University of Oxford, studying history and politics.
Black Mamba Boy was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book award and won the 2010 Betty Trask prize from the Society of Authors. In 2013 she published The Orchard of Lost Souls, which won the Somerset Maugham prize and was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas prize.
