Author(s): Khadro Mohamed

NZ Fiction

In the cold Wellington winter, Omar’s
grades are slipping, his mum is unwell and
his best friend is growing distant. Two
decades earlier in Mogadishu, Asha and
Yasser are falling in love and starting to
build a life together while a burgeoning
war threatens to take it away.
Before the Winter Ends explores the
relationship between mother and son
across Aotearoa New Zealand, Somalia
and Egypt as they search for
understanding and try to bridge the
distance between them. Khadro
Mohamed’s debut novel is a stark
portrayal of how the past illuminates the
present and how grief shapes a family.

Khadro Mohamed is a writer and poet from Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. She has a
bachelor’s degree in biology from Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington. Her
poetry collection, We’re All Made of Lightning (Tender Press) won the Jessie Mackay Prize for
the best first book of poetry at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Before the Winter Ends is her first novel.