Ali Salem Iselmu

Ali Salem Iselmu was born in Western Sahara in 1970 and studied journalism in Cuba. He is also a founding member of Generación de la Amistad Saharaui (Sahrawi Friendship Generation) a poetry anthology and collective calling attention to the human rights violations and resisting the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara. After returning to the refugee camps in Algeria, he worked as a presenter and editor on the Saharawi National Radio until 2000.

He is author of books such as 'Añoranza', a publication of the Puente Palo publishing house, by the Autonomous University of Madrid, “La Primavera Saharaui", and "Umdraiga", by The Association of Friends of the Saharawi people among others.

His poetry collection, 'La Música del Siroco' was translated into Basque. Ali Salem Iselmu currently lives in the Basque Country and works as a translator from Spanish, to classical Arabic and to Hassaniya. He now presides over the Tifisqui Cultural Association of Saharawi writers