Whatever My Heart Desires Cannot Be Achieved: An Interview with Nuruddin Farah

ABSTRACT: Nuruddin Farah (b 1945 Baidoa, Somalia) is the writer who, in African literature, has made the form of the trilogy his hallmark. Farah's oeuvre as a whole may be seen to encompass the (post)colonial history of Somalia, suggested by the titles of his trilogies: Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship, Blood in the Sun, Past Imperfect , and the soon to be completed fourth trilogy, provisionally titled Diaspora Stories . These trilogies represent a fictional reflection of Somalia's colonial history, its independence, its slide into authoritarianism, its civil war fragmentation, its media images dominated by terrorism and piracy, and the current constitution of Somalia as a nation in diaspora. Farah is the author also of a nonfiction book Yesterday, Tomorrow: Voices from the Somali Diaspora . He is also an essayist of note with pieces published in the Times Literary Supplement , the New York Times , and other major publications. Farah was the winner of the 1998 Neustadt Award, a number of prestigious Italian literary awards, and a South African Lifetime Achievement Award, among other international prizes. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.