Approved biographies, selected credits and downloadable assets for editors, festivals, venues, broadcasters and partners.
This is the official approved portrait for editorial, festival, venue, programme and broadcast use.
Approved biographies for press, programmes and event listings.
Samatar Elmi is an award-winning poet, musician, editor and educator. His books include Portrait of Colossus (flipped eye press, 2021) and The Epic of Cader Idris (Bloomsbury, 2024). He works as Education Coordinator at Theatre Royal Bath, releases music as Knomad Spock and is touring nationally throughout 2026 with three new poetry collections.
Samatar Elmi is an award-winning writer, musician, editor and educator. His debut pamphlet, Portrait of Colossus (flipped eye press, 2021), was selected as a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice. His debut 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. Elmi is Education Coordinator at Theatre Royal Bath, an Obsidian Fellow and an associate poetry editor at flipped eye press. As Knomad Spock, his music blends folk, hip-hop and cinematic arrangements. In 2026, he is touring nationally with three new poetry collections: Agen Bien Fou, Reclamations: Disregard Prior Prompt and 26 Poems for Cash (with Sam Telford).
Samatar Elmi is a British-Somali poet, musician, editor and educator based in the UK. His writing addresses migration, race, myth, memory, family, masculinity and the creative and ethical questions raised by emerging technologies. His debut pamphlet, Portrait of Colossus (flipped eye press, 2021), was selected as a Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice, and his debut full collection, The Epic of Cader Idris (Bloomsbury, 2024), includes the poem that won the 2021 Geoffrey Dearmer Prize. His poems have been published widely in journals and anthologies including Poetry, Prairie Schooner, The Poetry Review, Poetry Wales, Magma, The North, Iota and Before Them, We (flipped eye, 2022).
Elmi is an associate poetry editor at flipped eye press, a member of the Complete Works poetry cohort and an Obsidian Fellow. Alongside his writing, he coordinates education at Theatre Royal Bath and works as an editor, mentor and researcher. As the musician Knomad Spock, he writes, arranges and produces music that weaves together Somali vocal textures, British folk traditions, hip-hop rhythm and orchestral strings. In 2026, he is touring nationally across independent bookshops, venues and arts centres in support of three companion collections: Agen Bien Fou (Kulvert Books), Reclamations: Disregard Prior Prompt (Aout Fecit) and 26 Poems for Cash (with Sam Telford, Kulvert Books).
Concise reference lists for listings, introductions and publicity.
The downloadable image is approved for press use. Please reproduce it with the credit “Stewart Baxter, 2023”.
Coverage of Samatar Elmi’s poetry and Knomad Spock’s music, collected for editors, programmers and researchers.
“Radical wordplay”
Philip Gross
“Immediately striking”
CAConrad
“Brilliant, subversive, surreal”
Warsan Shire
“Utterly beguiling”
GoldFlakePaint
“Particularly striking is the work of Samatar Elmi, whose plangent lyrics disguise a sharp bite.”
The Guardian
“Within seconds of hearing Knomad Spock’s voice, it’s pretty clear that you’re listening to something pretty special.”
Clash
“Some records just hit you at the right moment.”
AFROPUNK
