Samatar Elmi is an award winning writer, musician and educator. His debut pamphlet, ‘Portrait of Colossus’ (flipped eye press, 2021), was selected as a PBS Pamphlet Choice. His stunning debut collection, ‘The Epic of Cader Idris’ (flipped eye press, 2024), includes the 2021 Geoffrey Dearmer Prize winning poem 'The Snails'. Poems have appeared widely including in Poetry, Prairie Schooner, Poetry Review, Poetry Wales, Magma, and Iota and anthologised in More Fiya, Filigree, After Plath, and The Echoing Gallery. Elmi is an Obsidian Fellow and a flipped eye press associate poetry editor.
Elmi has performed at Laugharne Festival, Latitude Festival, London Literature Festival, Somali Week, Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, Cheltenham Poetry Festival, for the Poetry Society, at the Serpentine Gallery, Southbank Centre, Cardiff Millennium Centre, Oxford House, Whitechapel Gallery and Rich Mix. His work has been commended in the Guardian Poetry Roundup. He also appeared on BBC Radio 4's 'Warsan Shire on a Nation of Poets'. As Knomad Spock, his albums 'Winter of Discontent', 'A Darker Light' and 'Through the Walls' have been met with critical acclaim (Clash, Afropunk, Buzzmag, Record Collector) and featured on BBC Radio 6, performing live in session for Janice Long (BBC Wales). He has also rapped on records with UK hiphop legends Chester P and Jehst, and has released a record under the moniker Nomad 'Preludes' (SFDB, 2017).
Elmi holds a BA(Hons) in History from UCL, an MA in Philosophy from University of Bristol, and is a PhD Candidate at UCL Institute of Education in Psychology and Human Development. He is a trained specialist non-medical help mentor for students in higher education with neurodivergence and mental health needs. He is a peer reviewer for Neurodiversity, a SAGE journal, and delivers Neurodiversity & the Creative Process courses for organisations like Poetry School.
He is currently working on a series of interdisciplinary DIY installations, combining poetry, visual animation and found sounds. His next poetry collection 'Agen Bien Fou' is due in June 2026 (Kulvert Press), with another collection 'Our Eyes are Crystal Balls' in the process of finding a home. An album with long-time Knomad Spock co-creator, Jamie Smith, is also due in 2026, as well as the follow up album to 'Preludes' with the indomitable Original Brew Crew (Dan and Mark Richardson) due early 2027.