A renowed contemporary Swahili poet, multimedia journalist and novelist, Mohammed Ghassani was born in Zanzibar in 1977.
As a Journalist
Mohammed Ghassani is a professional multimedia journalist working with the Swahili Services of Deutsche Welle in Germany, where he moved from Zanzibar since 2010.
As a Poet
His poetry book, N’na Kwetu: Sauti ya Mgeni Ugenini earned him the inaugural award from the Mabati Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature in 2015.
As an Author
Mohammed Ghassani has so far published seven books, six of which are of poetry and the last one is a novella called Mja wa Laana (The Cursed)
Wa Daima: A Tribute to the House of Wonders – Ghassani The Poet
Yes, it’s true that you were old, but you were not weak As for us, the old age means not inactiveness But rather much wiser, much stronger and more powerful You were built with stones and soil and woods To present the epitome of pride and of greatness Barghash made you stand high So as to be our focus and our pure character And on the shores of the Indian Ocean – The tropical sun had you blessed!
