Shuwari

Haji Gora Haji born in 1933 on the island of Tumbatu Zanzibar represents a living archive of poetic and philosophical knowledge which is transformed into verses with a characteristic voice enriched by dialectal features (from Tumbatu and Unguja). As a recognition of his life-long commitment to Swahili language and literature the editors Flavia Aiello and Irene Brunotti with Nathalie Arnold Koenings for translation decided to work hard on conceiving a publishing project of Shuwari his poetical anthology or diwani fashioned as a bilingual Swahili-English edition which along with the poems could offer some analytical insights into Haji Gora Haji's artistry.