Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad is an autobiographical book written by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller,[1] published in 1998 about the life of Somali model, Waris Dirie.

Desert Flower
AuthorWaris Dirie, Cathleen Miller
Publication date
1998

Summary

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Despite suffering female genital mutilation (FGM) at the age of five, and its life-long consequences, Waris Dirie escaped from her native Galkayo, Somalia, fleeing to Mogadishu to escape an arranged marriage. Moving with relatives to London, she worked for a while at a McDonald's and was discovered by chance by fashion photographer Terence Donovan. She continued via modelling in film and fashion to a stage where she was considered a supermodel. It was at this point that, with Miller, she wrote this autobiography. Shortly afterwards she became a UN ambassador for the abolition of FGM.[1][2]

Publication

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  • Desert Flower, William Morrow Pub, 1998 (1st edition), ISBN 978-0-688-15823-1

Film adaptation

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In 2009, the book was adapted into a film of the same name. Produced by Peter Herrmann and Benjamin Herrmann, the Ethiopian supermodel Liya Kebede plays Waris in the title role.[3]

References

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Our goals: Waris Dirie Manifesto, desertflowerfoundation.org

In-line references

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  1. ^ a b "Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  2. ^ WARIS DIRIE ‚Desert Flower‘ and ‚Desert Dawn‘ (summary of and background to the autobiography) fundus.org, accessed 6 March 2019
  3. ^ Hofmann, Katja (2008-02-09). "Model Liya Kebede to star in 'Flower'". Variety. Retrieved 6 March 2019.