Somalia produced a large amount of literature through Islamic poetry and Hadith from Somali scholars of the last centuries. With the adoption of the Latin alphabet in 1973 numerous Somali authors have released books over the years which received widespread success, Nuruddin Farah being one of them. Novels like From a Crooked Rib and Links are considered important literary achievements which earned him the 1998 Neustadt International Prize for Literature.

Poetry plays an important role in Somali society in terms of socializing and communicating with each other. Somalia was dubbed by the 19th century British explorer Richard Burton in his book 'First Footsteps in East Africa' as a nation of bards. The country teems with poets, as every chief in the country must have a panegyric to be sung by his clan, and the great patronize light literature by keeping a poet. Somalis have rich oral tradition when it comes to ancient folktales which were passed on from generation to generation.

Following the adoption of the Latin script in 1973, numerous Somali authors have released books over the years which received widespread success. It still has a lesser influence in Somali life than traditional oral literature. Nuruddin Farah is one of this new generation of published authors; writing in English he has won several international awards. Abdourahman A. Waberi's novel Le Pays Sans Ombre ("The Land Without Shadow") was released in 1994 and won the Grand Prize for new French speakers from the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature.

In 1997 supermodel Waris Dirie released her biography Desert Flower. The book was printed in more than 50 licensed editions and made it to number 1 on multiple bestselling lists in many countries.

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