Muhammed Said Abdullah

Muhammed Said Abdullah
Writer, Journalist
Principal country concerned : Column : Literature
Tanzania

Muhammed Said Abdullah (25 April 1918 - March 1991) was a Tanzanian Swahili novelist who is often credited as a pioneer of Swahili literature.
Muhammed Said Abdullah was born in Zanzibar. After working for ten years as an inspector for the Colonial Health Department, Abdullah decided to go into journalism; in 1948 he became editor of the newspaper Zanzibari. He later became assistant editor of Al-Falaq, Afrika Kwetu, and Al Mahda. From 1958 to his retirement in 1968 he served as editor of the agricultural magazine Mkulima. 1958 was also the year that his fiction work Mzimu wa Watu wa Kale (Shrine of the Ancestors) won top honors at the Swahili Story-Writing Competition held by the East African Literature Bureau; in 1960 the work was published as a novel.
This novel marked the first appearance of Bwana Msa, a detective character that features in most of his subsequent works. The plots of Abdulla's later novels became progressively more and more complex and sophisticated. These plots usually involved a protagonist who must battle ignorance and superstition in order to resolve the conflict.
Abdulla's usage of Swahili in his novels is celebrated in East Africa, where his novels are used as required reading in schools.

Works


Shrine of the Ancestors (Mzimu wa Watu wa Kale), 1960

The Well of Giningi (Kisima cha Giningi), 1968

In the World There Are People (Duniani Kuna Watu), 1973

The Secret of the Zero (Siri ya Sifuri), 1974

One Wife, Three Husbands (Mke Mmoja Waume Watatu), 1975

The Devil's Child Grows Up (Mwana wa Yungi Hulewa), 1976

Bwana Msa's Mistake (Kosa la Bwana Msa), 1984


Awards


Swahili Story-writing Contest (1957-8) Mzimu wa Watu wa Kale


Find the biography with the link below:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammed_Said_Abdulla]

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