Background
Allas was born in 1967 in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Her family was wealthy, with her father serving as a General in the Somali army. At the age of fourteen, she traveled to join her mother"s relatives in Saudi Arabia.
Allas was born in 1967 in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. Her family was wealthy, with her father serving as a General in the Somali army. At the age of fourteen, she traveled to join her mother"s relatives in Saudi Arabia.
Allas attended a local private school, where she learned Italian and English. In Amsterdam, Allas attended drama school.
Allas began her acting career in the late 1980s in Amsterdam, performing with The Trust theater group. Opposite Jaap Spijkers, she played Gretchen in the company"s well-received 1995 production of Faust by the Austrian playwright Gustav Ernst. Allas also worked a number of years as an actress with the Dutch director Theu Boermans.
She likewise performed with various ensembles, and had her own solo show.
In 1998, Allas wrote her first novel Idil, A Girl (Idil, een meisje), which was a critical success. She followed that with 2001"s The General with Six Fingers (De generaal met de zes vingers).
The book was in turn well received by literary critics. lieutenant served as a basis for her third novel, The Blue Room (De blauwe kamer), released in 2004.
Two years later, Allas launched Uprooted but Still Home (Ontheemd en toch thuis), an essay collection on her own background and beliefs and dealing with Dutch culture.
In 2010, she released her fourth novel, the highly acclaimed A Handed-Down History (Een nagelaten verhaal). The story is inspired by her journey back to Somalia in 2006, and was reprinted several times after its initial publication. Additionally, Allas wrote Hommel, a short story prepared for the MatchBoox art books company.
The Dutch writer, artist and filmmaker Marion Bloem provided illustrations for the special piece.
Allas has likewise written for the Volkskrant, one of the Netherlands" leading newspapers. She is also a part of the Global Experts group of professional analysts, with media and female rights in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe as her area of expertise.
She is a member of the Marhaba Organisation, an Islamic socio-cultural foundation with a focus on strengthening bonds between local communities.
