Amir Tag Elsir (, born 1960), also written Amir Taj al-Sir, is a

Sudanese Sudanese or Sudanic may refer to: *pertaining to the country of Sudan **the people of Sudan, see Demographics of Sudan *pertaining to Sudan (region) **Sudanic languages **Sudanic race, subtype of the Africoid racial category See also *Sudanese Civ ...

medical doctor and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...

, writing in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

. He has published more than 20 works of poetry, biography and novels, some of these translated into English or other languages. His novels deal with contemporary social issues, like poverty, the lives of refugees or diseases, such as

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after bec ...

Life and literary career

Tag Elsir was born in northern Sudan in 1960 and graduated from

Tanta University Tanta University is an Egyptian university in the city of Tanta, Gharbia Governorate, Al Gharbiyah governorate, Egypt. The university is under the direct scientific supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education (Egypt), Ministry of Higher Educ ...

in Egypt. He lives and works as a medical doctor in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

. His first novel ''Karmakul'' came out in 1988. In 2015, he won the

Katara Prize for Arabic Novel The Katara Prize for Arabic Novel is an Arabic literary prize based in Qatar. It was established in 2014 by the Katara Cultural Village. The total prize pool is $650,000 and the main prize $200,000, making it one of the richest literary prizes ...

for his story of love and crime, entitled ''366.'' In addition, several of his other novels were shortlisted for the prestigious

International Prize for Arabic Fiction The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) ( ar, الجائزة العالمية للرواية العربية) is the most prestigious and important literary prize in the Arab world. Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic ...

. Commenting on the novel ''Telepathy'', literary critic M.A. Orthofer said, Tag Elsir creates the fiction of "a successful Sudanese writer, who finds that his most recent novel, called ''Hunger's Hopes'', turns out to be closer to real life than he had any reason to believe." According to a review in Sudanese online magazine Andariya, his novels treat contemporary social issues "like the exploitation of the refugees and their harsh living conditions, and tackles the issue of poverty plaguing the citizens of the country."

Selected works in English translation

* ''French Perfume'' (2009) *''The Grub Hunter'' (2010). Pearson Education. *''The Korak council (2012)'' *''The Yelling Dowry'' (2013). Moment Digibooks Limited *''Telepathy'' (2015). Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing. * '' Ebola '76'' (2015). London: Darf Publishers. *''366'' (2016)

References

External links

Amir Tag Elsir
on

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A chapter from Amir Tag Elsir’s ''Ebola ‘76'' in English translation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taj al Sir, Amir 1960 births Living people Sudanese novelists 20th-century Sudanese writers 21st-century Sudanese writers Sudanese male writers