Four books that put you in Djibouti. Two are by writers from Djibouti and set there: Passage of Tears and Land Without Shadows. The other two are wider picks: books by long-time residents and outsiders who know the place well.
Few books from Djibouti have been translated into English, and Abdourahman A. Waberi, born in Djibouti City in 1965, is among the few. The country became independent from France in 1977, and Somali and Afar, both widely spoken there, have rich traditions of oral poetry, while Arabic and French are the official languages. Waberi writes in French, and his books reach English readers in translation.
Waberi's Land Without Shadows gathers short stories of nomadic life and colonial legacies, and in Passage of Tears a young exile returns from Montreal to report on Djibouti for an American intelligence firm, as childhood memories crowd in. Henry de Monfreid, a French adventurer who lived in the region for decades, wrote Pearls, Arms and Hashish: Pages from the Life of a Red Sea Adventurer about smuggling and pearl trading around Obock and Djibouti, and Hashish: A Smuggler's Tale about dhow (sailing boat) voyages.
A young Djiboutian exile returns from Montreal to report on his homeland for an American intelligence firm, as childhood memories and a threatening voice from a prison cell close in.
Short stories translated from French, showing Djiboutian life: nomadic traditions, colonial legacies, and the harsh Afar and Somali landscape of the Horn of Africa.
By long-time residents and outsiders who know the place well, or folk tales, poetry and history with a strong feel for Djibouti.
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Memoir of smuggling and pearl trading along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden coasts around Obock and Djibouti in the early twentieth century.
First-hand account of dhow voyages and contraband trade from the Horn of Africa's Red Sea ports in the colonial era.
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