Samatar Elmi is an award-winning writer, musician, editor and educator whose work brings poetry into conversation with myth, history, diaspora, sound and speculative futures.
His debut pamphlet, Portrait of Colossus (flipped eye press, 2021), was selected as a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice. His debut full-length collection, The Epic of Cader Idris (Bloomsbury, 2024), includes the poem that won the 2021 Geoffrey Dearmer Prize. His poetry has appeared in Poetry, Prairie Schooner, The Poetry Review, Poetry Wales, Magma and Iota, and in anthologies including More Fiya, Filigree, After Sylvia and The Echoing Gallery. He is an Obsidian Fellow and an associate poetry editor at flipped eye press.
Throughout 2026, Elmi is touring nationally with three collections published concurrently: Agen Bien Fou (Kulvert Books, 2026), Reclamations: Disregard Prior Prompt (Aout Fecit, 2026) and 26 Poems for Cash, co-written with Sam Telford (Kulvert Books, 2026). Further books are in development for 2027: Our Eyes Are Crystal Balls and Nightmares: Ekphrastic Meditations on Honoria Brown’s “Nightmares” Series, co-written with Honoria Brown and Will Moorfoot.
Elmi has also been commissioned by Fio Theatre in Cardiff to write After Cordelia, a stage reimagining of King Lear, for presentation in spring 2027.
Performance and music
Elmi has performed at the Laugharne Festival, Latitude Festival, London Literature Festival, Somali Week, Aldeburgh Poetry Festival, Cheltenham Poetry Festival, Lyra Bristol Poetry Festival and Echoes Literature Festival; for RAPP Party, Raise the Bar, Hammer & Tongue and the Poetry Society; and 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, and he appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Warsan Shire on a Nation of Poets.
As Knomad Spock, he has released the critically acclaimed albums Winter of Discontent, A Darker Light and Through the Walls. His music has been reviewed by Clash, Afropunk, Buzz and Record Collector, featured on BBC Radio 6, and performed live in session for Janice Long on BBC Wales. He has appeared on records with Chester P and Jehst, and released Preludes under the moniker Nomad (SFDB, 2017).
Frequent collaborators include Jamie Smith, Stewart Baxter, Oliver Kilpatrick, Mark Slater, and Mark and Daniel Richardson of Original Brew. Earlier bands include Hull favourites Silence in the Streets—also remembered in a diary by comedian Amy Gledhill—and London post-hardcore band Roll Call for the Second Site, with drummer Nic Crawshaw of Los Bitchos. Elmi also played in Scarecrows with Jon Kilburn (DJ Severe of DMC Ink). DJ Chile and Rob Marenghi were formative influences on his creative development.
Education and editorial work
Alongside his creative practice, Elmi has extensive international experience as a training and development adviser, non-medical help mentor, neurodiversity and education specialist, and human capital development specialist. His work focuses on widening inclusion, improving access to future skills and developing humane responses to the fourth industrial revolution.
He is also a peer reviewer for Neurodiversity, the SAGE academic journal, contributing specialist review across neurodiversity, education and inclusive practice.