Commander of the River

Ubah Cristina Ali Farah, a poet, novelist, playwright, librettist, and oral performer, was born in Verona, Italy, of a Somali father and an Italian mother. Raised in Mogadishu, she fled at the outbreak of the civil war at the age of eighteen. Her publications include stories, poems, and three novels, including Little Mother and The Stations of the Moon. Ali Farah holds a PhD in African Studies from Naples's Università L'Orientale. She has received Lingua Madre and Vittorini Prizes and has participated in many residencies and writing programs around the world..

Hope Campbell Gustafson has an MFA in Literary Translation from University of Iowa and a BA from Wesleyan University. Her work can be found in various journals, Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations, and Islands—New Islands: A Vagabond Guide to Rome. From Minneapolis, now in Brooklyn, Campbell Gustafson is the Senior Program Associate for Civitella Ranieri.