Sudanese Literature
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Sudanese literature consists of both oral as well as written works of
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
and
nonfiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively ...
that were created during the
cultural history Cultural history records and interprets past events involving human beings through the social, cultural, and political milieu of or relating to the arts and manners that a group favors. Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897) helped found cultural history ...
of today's
Republic of the Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
. This includes the territory of what was once
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ') was a condominium (international law), condominium of the United Kingdom and Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day South Sudan and Sudan. Legally, sovereig ...
, the independent country's
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
since 1956 as well as its changing geographical scope in the 21st century. Even though there exist records about historical societies in the area called Sudan, like the
Kingdom of Kush The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian language, Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Akkadian language, Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX Χους or Αἰθιοπία; ''Ecōš''; ''Kūš''), also known as the Kushite Empire, or simply Kush, was an an ...
in
Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
, little is known about the languages and the oral or written literature of these precursors of the Sudan of today. Moreover, the notion of
Bilad al-Sudan Sudan is the geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to Central and Eastern Africa. The name derives from the Arabic ' () and ' (), both meaning "the land of the Blacks", referring to West Africa and nort ...
'','' from which the name of the modern country is derived, referred to a much wider geographic region to the south of the
Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
, stretching from western to eastern Central Africa. Like in many African countries, oral traditions of diverse ethnic or social groups have existed since time immemorial, but a modern written Sudanese literature can only be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century. Through the publication of written literature in Sudanese newspapers and books, as well as aided by
formal Formal, formality, informal or informality imply the complying with, or not complying with, some set of requirements ( forms, in Ancient Greek). They may refer to: Dress code and events * Formal wear, attire for formal events * Semi-formal atti ...
, non-religious
education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
, a modern Sudanese literature of fiction and nonfiction began to appear. Going back to age-old oral traditions, poetry and the lyrics for songs have been the most popular literary genres in Sudan. Just as other cultural expressions, literature reflects the
hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...
identities of Sudan, that have been called Afro-Arabism by some scholars. In the 21st century, electronic media, which often rely on written texts and oral storytelling on video, connect people in Sudan with their compatriots at home as well as in the world-wide Sudanese
diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...
. Some contemporary writers with Sudanese
roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...
and living in other countries, such as Leila Aboulela or Jamal Mahjoub, write in English. Together with translations of original works written in Arabic, they have made fictional literature about Sudan accessible to an international audience.


History


Historical precursors of modern literature in Sudan

The oldest existing records of the precursors of a distinctive Sudanese literature can be dated to about 300 BCE and were written in the
Meroitic script The Meroitic script consists of two alphasyllabic scripts developed to write the Meroitic language at the beginning of the Meroitic Period (3rd century BC) of the Kingdom of Kush. The two scripts are Meroitic Cursive, derived from Demotic Egy ...
. These historical records, such as inscriptions on sandstone, bear testimony of the kings of Kush or
deities A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...
of the Kushite culture in northern
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
. During the
Christianization Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...
of
Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
in the sixth century CE, the Kushite language and cursive script were replaced by
Byzantine Greek Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic; Greek: ) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the F ...
, Coptic, and
Old Nubian Old Nubian (also called Middle Nubian or Old Nobiin) is an extinct Nubian language, attested in writing from the 8th to the 15th century AD. It is ancestral to modern-day Nobiin and closely related to Dongolawi and Kenzi. It was used through ...
languages, with texts relating both to
religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...
, to public affairs or to private life. From the fourteenth century onwards,
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
gradually became the primary language in Nubia and, with the
spread of Islam The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted ...
, developed into the main
written Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
and
spoken language A spoken language is a form of communication produced through articulate sounds or, in some cases, through manual gestures, as opposed to written language. Oral or vocal languages are those produced using the vocal tract, whereas sign languages ar ...
for religious and
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
affairs in most other parts of Sudan. The oral poetic tradition of the northern Nilotic Sudan was mainly expressed in colloquial Sudanese Arabic. Presented orally or in songs, poetry was and still is a fundamental form of literary expression in highly developed and structured forms. Most of the poetry that has survived from the 19th century is in praise of the
Prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...
and during the Mahdist period, in praise of the Mahdi. A rare historical record written in the early 19th century by Shaykh Ahmad ibn al-Hajj Abi Ali (b. 1784–5) and other early Sudanese historians is the '' Funj Chronicle''. Preserved in several versions in many manuscripts, it present a history of the
Funj sultanate The Funj Sultanate, also known as Funjistan, Sultanate of Sennar (after its capital Sennar) or Blue Sultanate (due to the traditional Sudanese convention of referring to black people as blue) (), was a monarchy in what is now Sudan, northwestern ...
(1504–1821) and its capital at
Sennar Sennar ( ') is a city on the Blue Nile in Sudan and possibly the capital of the state of Sennar. For several centuries it was the capital of the Funj Kingdom of Sennar and until at least 2011, Sennar was the capital of Sennar State. Histo ...
, on the Blue Nile, and of the Turco-Egyptian regime that succeeded it. The manuscripts were edited as an
annotated An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented in the margin of book pages. For anno ...
translation under the title ''"The Sudan of the Three Niles"'' in 1999 by British historian Peter M. Holt. In her review of this edition, historian
Heather J. Sharkey Heather J. Sharkey (born 1967) is an American historian of the Middle East and Africa, and of the modern Christian and Islamic worlds. Her books and articles have covered topics relating to nationalism, imperialism, colonialism, postcolonial studi ...
wrote: "Along with the ''Tabaqat'' of Ibn Dayf Allah (a biographical dictionary of Sudanese Muslim holy men compiled in the late eighteenth century), the Funj Chronicle is the most important Arabic source for the northern riverain Sudan in the Funj era, a period when Islam was spreading widely." Another account of the early 19th century was written by Muḥammad al-Tūnisī (d. 1857), who spent ten years as merchant from Cairo in the
Sultanate of Darfur The Sultanate of Darfur () was a pre-colonial state in present-day Sudan. It existed from the 17th century to 24 October 1874, when it fell to the Sudanese warlord Al-Zubayr Rahma Mansur, and was reestablished again from 1898 to 1916, until it ...
and described the kingdom in detail and with his own drawings in the book entitled In Darfur'''.


Traditional and modern forms of oral literature

Literature in contemporary Sudan is either recited orally or written in the
Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
, with certain types also in local languages, such as poetry in the
Fur language The Fur language or For; (Fur: poor’íŋ belé’ŋ) is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Fur of Darfur in Western Sudan and Chad. It is part of a broader family of languages known as the Fur languages. Phonology The consonantal phone ...
of western Sudan. As in other African countries, both written
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
and
genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
s of
oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...
, such as folk tales,
proverb A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...
s or
poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
, are common, but depend on their social setting, such as in rural, partly illiterate or in urban educated societies. These oral types of
storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing narrative, stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatre, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cul ...
may be simply recited by individuals or by groups of persons, or they may be accompanied by singing and musical accompaniments, thus transgressing the theoretical definition of literature and music. "Long before the novel and short story became known as literary
genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...
s, Sudanese literature existed in the form of oral stories and
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...
poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
, most of which, until recently, were transmitted from one generation to the next.", as literary critic Eiman El-Nour put it in her seminal paper ''The Development of Contemporary Literature in Sudan''. Among the living oral traditions, there are the ''Ahaji'' folk tales and the '' Madih'', or religious praise tales. The first kind generally have a
mythological Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
and often local character. According to El-Nour, "they invariably have happy endings and are full of fanciful scenes and superstitions that describe the magic powers of genies and
ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...
s." ''Madih'', the other kind of poetry is typically recited by a singer and chorus, and has a religious character, praising the prophet Muhammad or revered religious leaders. Sudanese folk tales have been collected and edited by Abdallah al-Tayyib, a scholar of Arabic literature and language, and published in English as ''Heroes of Arabia'' as well as in ''Stories from the sands of Africa.'' Poetry and songs continue to occupy a prominent role in contemporary Sudanese culture. Songs celebrating the beauty of the land, its regions and scenery have been very popular in modern music since at least the 1930s. Before independence, poems and the lyrics of songs were often artistic expressions of
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
and other political issues. Among others, Khalil Farah (1892–1932) was an important poet, and his patriotic verses have been used in popular songs like "''Azza fī Hawāk''" (My beloved Azza). During more recent times of political oppression, forms of
oral literature Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used v ...
have been expressions of resistance towards the rulers of the day, and have even led to the imprisonment or exile of poets like Mahjoub Sharif (1948–2014) or musicians like
Mohammed Wardi Mohammed Osman Hassan Salih Wardi (; 19 July 1932 – 18 February 2012), also known as Mohammed Wardi, was a Nubian Sudanese singer, poet and songwriter. Looking back at his life and artistic career, Sudanese writer and critic Lemya Shammat call ...
(1932–2012). A traditional form of oral poetry are the songs of
praise Praise as a form of social interaction expresses recognition, reassurance or admiration. Praise is expressed verbally as well as by body language (facial expression and gestures). Verbal praise consists of a positive evaluations of another's ...
or ridicule by female singers of Western Sudan, called ''Hakamat''. These are women of high social standing, respected for their eloquence, intuition and decisiveness, who may both incite or vilify the men of their
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
, when engaged in
feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...
s with other tribes. The social impact of these ''Hakamat'' can be exceptionally strong. Because of this, they have recently been invited by
peacebuilding Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and ...
initiatives in
Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...
in order to exert their influence for
conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of Conflict (process), conflict and Revenge, retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively co ...
or other social issues, like environmental protection. Other forms of popular oral literature are Sudanese folk tales, often narrated by female storytellers. In the 21st century, contemporary forms of oral literature in urban settings as an expression of
identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...
, political resistance or visions of the future include the forms of spoken word poetry, political
slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...
s, rap, or
hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...
that preceded and accompanied the
Sudanese Revolution The Sudanese revolution () was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 S ...
of 2018/19.


The beginnings of modern Sudanese literature


Background

Moreover, literary scholar Constance E. Berkley states that "Sudanese Arabic literature has links with all
Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
, both past and present. At the same time, it is valid in its own right. Among the Sudanese, as among other African and/or Arabic speaking people,
poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
is the preferred literary form." On the further issue of writing in Arabic with a distinct Sudanese character, the Sudanese poet and critic Mohammed Abdul-Hayy writes: " Muhammad Ahmed Mahgoub was one of the leading literary spokesmen who (...) expressed the idea of a Sudanese literature 'written in Arabic, but infused with the idiom of our land, because this (idiom) is what distinguishes a literature of one nation from another.'" Although there were several
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
s published in Sudan around the beginning of the 20th century, like ''Jaridat al-Sudan'', a biweekly paper published in Arabic and English first printed in 1903, arguably the most important newspaper in terms of impact on modern Sudanese literature was ''Al-Ra'id'' (''The Pioneer''). This newspaper, published in Arabic, started in
Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
, the Sudanese capital, in 1914 and presented a variety of poetry and other literary forms. Its first
editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...
was the well-known poet and journalist Abdul Raheem Glailati. In 1917, the British authorities deported him to Cairo because of his article criticising the poor living conditions of Sudanese. Despite this, he later could publish a collection of revolutionary, nationalist poetry in 1924. In 1934, the literary journal ''Al Fajr'' (''The Dawn'') was founded and became known for publishing the first Sudanese short stories. Another important factor for the development of written literature in Sudan was the spread of modern
educational institutions An educational institution is a place where people of different ages gain an education, including preschools, childcare, primary-elementary schools, secondary-high schools, and universities. They provide a large variety of learning environments a ...
, like the
Gordon Memorial College Gordon Memorial College was an educational institution in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. It was built between 1899 and 1902 as part of Lord Kitchener's wide-ranging educational reforms. Named for General Charles George Gordon of the British army, who wa ...
in Khartoum and other non-religious schools in major cities like
Omdurman Omdurman () is a major city in Sudan. It is the second most populous city in the country, located in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the capital city of Khartoum. The city acts ...
or
Wad Madani Wad Madani (; also spelled Wad Medani and known simply as Madani) is a city in eastern Sudan and the capital of the Al Jazirah (state), Al Jazirah state. "Wad Madani" (population), Microsoft Encarta, Online Encyclopedia 2001. Wad Madani lies on th ...
. Before this development, the only books available for education were those written in Arabic. Schooling in the English language also provided Sudanese
intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...
s with access to
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...
, translations from other Western languages and to
non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...
al publications on world-wide issues.


Important literary genres

Apart from poetry, the most prominent
literary genre A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by List of narrative techniques, literary technique, Tone (literature), tone, Media (communication), content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from mor ...
in Sudan is the
short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
. This form of writing started in the 1920s and was largely influenced by Arabic short stories in Egyptian newspapers. ''Tājouj'' (1948), a romantic love story by Osman Muhammad Hashim (1897–1981), has been called the first Sudanese novel. Since the period preceding the independence of Sudan in 1956, short stories and novels have dealt with political and social issues, as well as with the question of the country's complex
cultural identity Cultural identity is a part of a person's identity (social science), identity, or their self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation, Locality (settlement), locality, gender, o ...
. This central theme of what it means to be Sudanese is marked in more or lesser degrees by both African roots as well as by Arabic cultural influences. This multiple cultural identity also gave the name to a group of writers of the 1960s, comprising Al-Nur Osman Abkar, Mohammed Abdul-Hayy, Ali El-Makk, Mohammed El-Makki Ibrahim and Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, called The Jungle and Desert School (madrasat al-ghāba wa-l-ṣaḥrā’), where "jungle" stands for the rainforests of the South and "desert" refers to northern Sudan. Sudan's hybrid identity has been reflected in numerous literary works since then. Some authors such as Ḥāmid Badawī (b. 1956),have chosen literary characters and places from various regions, others wrote about families with members from different ethnic backgrounds or about people displaced from rural origins to the larger cities.


Sudan's hybrid cultural identity

This central theme of what it means to be Sudanese is marked to greater or lesser degree by both African roots as well as by Arabic cultural influences. Since The Jungle and Desert School, numerous other writers have included this hybrid identity in their narratives, either by choosing literary characters or places from different regions, as does Abkar Adam Isma‘il (b. 1965), who originates from Kordofan, in his novel ''Aḥlām fī bilād al-shams'' (Dreams in the Land of the Sun). Authors such as Hamid Badawi (b. 1956) included references to intermarriage between Arabs and Africans in his ''Mashrū‘ Ibrāhīm al-Asmar al-riwā’ī'' (''Ibrahim al-Asmar's Project of Novel''). Numerous novelists, among them Ibrahim Ishaq, Jamal Mohammad Ibrahim, Al-Hasan Bakri (b. 1955) and others, have focused on the coexistence of many diverse ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic groups living next to each one another in Sudan. Another example is the Sudanese journalist and renowned poet across the Arabic literary world Muhammad al-Fayturi (1936–2015), whose extensive poetic work "particularly draws upon his experience as an African living among Arabs, and thus addresses issues such as race, class and colonialism." Resuming these recurrent literary topics, critic and translator of Sudanese novels Xavier Luffin made the following remark: "At the same time, none of these authors idealizes this richness, since they often quote the many problems faced by the marginalized, such as racism and civil war."


Social and political themes

In line with social and political developments in other countries at the time, stories, novels and poems dealing with
social realist Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...
themes, like the conflicts between social classes were also written in Sudan. These were spurred on by Sudanese
academics Academic means of or related to an academy, an institution learning. Academic or academics may also refer to: * Academic staff, or faculty, teachers or research staff * school of philosophers associated with the Platonic Academy in ancient Greece ...
, who were returning home after studying in Egypt or
European countries The list below includes all entities falling even partially under any of the various common definitions of Europe, geographical or political. Fifty generally recognised sovereign states, Kosovo with limited, but substantial, international reco ...
. After the 1990s, an increasing number of writers included social and political issues by choosing poor and marginalized people as major characters. Thus, Ibrahim Bashir Ibrahim (b. 1958) described people's lives in a suburban slum of Al-Obeid in his novel ''Al-Zindiyya'' (1995). Further novels dealing with people living in slums or with the ''shammasa'' (street boys) are ''Dhākirat shirrīr'' (2005, ''Memories of a Bad Boy'') by Mansour El Souwaim and ''The Kandarees'' (2012) by Abdalaziz Baraka Sakin. In a general sense, "marginal characters became a real topos in Sudanese literature, because of their profession, often related to an ethnic origin: the Southern alcohol-seller, the Ethiopian prostitute, the West African healer, and so on. Depicted with
empathy Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on another person's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more (sometimes conflicting) definitions of empathy that include but are ...
, they often play the role of rebels against the political and moral authorities." A number of authors writing stories with social and political contexts also have included explicit references to Sudan's failures of democracy. Thus, Ahmad al-Malik (b. 1967) presented a typical despot in his ''Al-Kharīf ya’tī ma‘a Ṣafā’'' (2003) (''Autumn Comes with Safā''), which tells the story of a president through his own memories, "from his coming to power by chance to the eve of his disappearance." Al-Malik further included numerous details of life under dictatorship, "mixing them with fantasy, dream, and humor in a style that recalls
magical realism Magical realism, magic realism, or marvelous realism is a style or genre of fiction and art that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality. ''Magical rea ...
", which helps the author to avoid censorship. Another novel dealing with dictatorship is ''Waṭan khalf al-quḍbān'' (2002) (A Nation behind Bars) by Khālid ‘Uways (b. 1972). Here, the writer does not dwell explicitly on the dictator, but most of all on the system and its victims: His main characters are two women in jail, Rābi‘a and Mary, an educated artist from the North and a servant from the South of the country. By narrating their lives in jail and in the outside world, the novel describes a host of negative influences employed by the regime against its own people. By the characters of Rābi‘a and Mary, ‘Uways shows "that the victims of the regime are both Africans and Arabs, non-Muslims and Muslims." Similar recurrent themes are the "undeniable and long history of conflict and political turbulence", caused by authoritarian governments, for example in the political poems of Mahjoub Sharif, violent clashes between militias and impoverished human beings in Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin's novels or discrimination and violence against women, told by female authors like Rania Mamoun or Stella Gaitano. Among contemporary Sudanese poets, Mahjoub Sharif is remembered for his poems "for freedom, full with music, witty, agitating, but always didactic." As critic Magdi El Gizouli wrote in his
obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...
about Sharif: "A school teacher by training, this secular prophet spoke truth to power in a creative language that readily transformed into powerful
meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...
s, and as a consequence landed him habitually in the detention cells of Sudan's military rulers." Political discrimination has also affected the
Sudanese Writers Union The Sudanese Writers Union was founded in Khartoum in 1985, the year that democracy was restored in Sudan for a short period. The Union promotes dialogue and seeks solutions for conflicts in Sudan. It emphasizes freedom of expression within a multi ...
, which was founded in 1985 in order to promote
freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
and to bring together writers of different cultural groups. It was dissolved by the military government of
Omar al-Bashir Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (born 1 January 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as Head of state of Sudan, Sudan's head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in 2019 Sudanese c ...
in 1989 and could only be revived from 2006 onwards.Miraya (17 August 2009
''Sudanese Writers Union launches a new House after 20 years''
/ref> After ten years of activities in the general context of suppression of free expression, it was closed down again in 2015, but upon a court ruling in 2016, the Union managed to resume its activities. - In 2015, poet Mamoun Eltlib and others started a monthly street market for used books called ''Mafroosh,'' meaning “spread out” or “display”, attracting many young people looking for books. But a short time later, these informal meetings were also banned by the government. Publishing and distributing books also suffered greatly from the government's neglect and censorship, which also led to the circulation of illegal copies. According to the editor and translator of ''The Book of Khartoum,'' Max Shmookler, Sudanese literature of the late 20th century is characterized by an "association between estrangement (''ghurba'') and the West (''al-gharb'')" that "has run deep in Sudanese society and literature." This cultural contrast between a largely conservative society, even in the urban centres, and the growing influence of a globalized world, is reflected in the choice of characters and plots of many contemporary authors. Examples for this contrast and estrangement can be found in Tayeb Salih's ''Season of Migration to the North,'' but also in stories about human tragedy, like the
pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...
in Amir Taj al-Sir's novel Ebola 76 or in the short story ''Isolation'' by one of the youngest authors, Sabah Sanhouri.s emerging male and female writers: The first novel depicting the life of a working woman in Sudan was "''Al-Faragh al-'arid''" (''The Wide Void''). Written by the short story writer and novelist Malkat al-Dar Mohamed (1920–1969) in the early 1950s, it was only published after her death in 1969. Another woman with a feminist perspective was Buthaina Khidir Mekki, who wrote novels and short stories dealing with negative stereotypes towards the education of young girls and the consequences of conflict and war for women. Arguably the most notable Sudanese writer of the 20th century is
Tayeb Salih Tayeb Salih (; 12 July 1929 – 18 February 2009) was a Sudanese writer, novelist, cultural journalist for the BBC Arabic programme as well as for Arabic journals, and a staff member of UNESCO. He is best known for his novel ''Season of Migration ...
(1929–2009), who wrote both novels and short stories. His most well-known work, translated as ''
Season of Migration to the North ''Season of Migration to the North'' ( ) is novel by the Sudanese writer Tayeb Salih, first published serially in the Beirut journal '' Hiwâr'' in 1966. It became Salih's best known work and is considered a classic of postcolonial literature. T ...
'' and published in 1966, deals with the
coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
of a student returning to Sudan from England and his recollection of this liberating period in his life. The novel was banned in the author's native Sudan for some time because of its sexual imagery, but later it became readily available. Further, this novel was famous among Arabic readers across the region, was included in Banipal magazine's list of the ''100 Best Arabic Novels'', and has been translated into more than twenty languages. Ibrahim Ishaq (1946–2021) was a Sudanese novelist and short story writer, whose narrative works are mostly set in his native
Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...
region of western Sudan. From 1969 on, he published six
novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
s and three collections of
short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
, as well as academic studies about the history and literature of Africa. Through his subject-matter and elements of the local forms of language, he introduced the life and culture of Darfur to readers in other parts of the country. Fatima al-Sanoussi (born in the 1950s) worked both as journalist, writer and translator. She is known for her
flash fiction Flash fiction is a brief fictional narrative that still offers character and plot development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the For sale: baby shoes, never worn, six-word story; the 280-character story (also kn ...
that had a strong influence on writers of the 1980s and young readers. Her stories have been described as moving "across categories and outside the existing structures and genre constraints". Bushra Elfadil, a former lecturer of
Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...
at the University of Khartoum and now living in exile in Saudi Arabia, won the Caine Prize in 2017 with "The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away", first published in ''The Book of Khartoum.'' Among other topics, Jamal Mohammad Ibrahim (b. 1959) treated the complex Sudanese identity of African and Arab heritage: In his ''Nuqṭat talāshī'' (''A Point of Disappearance,'' 2008) by describing one of his characters as “a perfect and typical Sudanese, who has taken something from each background: he has taken his pleasant brown color from Africa, and his loquacity from the Arabs.” In ''Dafātir Kambālā'' (''The Kampala Notebooks'', 2009), he explored the African roots of Sudan through a “philosophical journey” in Uganda. Based on this literary approach, he was described as one of the Sudanese writers who included "African names, realistic descriptions of traditions and beliefs, and even words in African languages. Born in Cairo of Sudanese parents in 1959, Tarek Eltayeb has been living in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
,
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, since 1984. In addition to seven books in Arabic, he has also published his poetry, novels and short stories in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
translation. His novel ''Cities Without Palms'' tells the story of a young man from Sudan, who first migrated to Egypt and then further on to Europe. A Sudanese writer of international recognition is Amir Taj al-Sir (born 1960). He has published more than a dozen books, including poetry and nonfiction. His first novel ''Karmakul'' came out in 1988, and his novel ''The Hunter of the Chrysalises'' was shortlisted for the 2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, mentored by the
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...
Foundation in London. Ishraga Mustafa Hamid (born 1961) is a poet, literary translator and
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
activist of Sudanese origin, living in Austria since 1993. Writing both in Arabic and German, her literary works encompass poetry and prose, often reflecting her own or the experiences of other migrants in Austria. Until 2017, she had published seven works in German, and as many in Arabic. Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin (born 1963) has written several popular novels and collections of short stories, including ''The Jango'', which deals with the conditions in a women's prison and won the Al-Tayeb Salih Award for Creative Writing. His books were initially sold in local bookstores, but later confiscated and banned by the Sudanese authorities and were subsequently only available outside of Sudan. His novel ''The Messiah of Darfur,'' which takes place in the context of the civil war in Darfur, was translated into French and German. Since 2012, Baraka Sakin has lived in exile in
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and has been invited to a number of literary festivals in Africa, France and Germany. Mansour El Souwaim, (born 1970), has released two novels and two collections of short stories. His second novel, titled ''Memories of a Bad Boy,'' received the Tayeb Salih Award for Creative Writing in 2005. Hamed al-Nazir (born 1975), a
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
ese journalist and novelist living in
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
, has published three acclaimed novels. Two of them, ''The Waterman's Prophecy'' and ''The Black Peacock'' were longlisted for the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Najlaa Eltom (born 1975) is a Sudanese writer, poet and translator who became known for her poetry in Sudan and abroad during the early 2000s. In 2012, she went to Sweden for a degree in English literature at
Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...
and has lived there since. Hammour Ziada, (born 1979), has published several volumes of
fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...
in Arabic, and is best known for his second novel ''Shawq al-darwīsh (The Longing of the Dervish''), which won the Naguib Mahfouz Prize in 2014 and was also nominated for the 2015 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. This novel and several of his stories have appeared in English translation, including in the
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
''The Book of Khartoum'' (Comma Press, 2016) as well as in Banipal magazine. Stella Gaitano, born in Khartoum of parents from southern Sudan in 1979, has published both short stories and a novel in Arabic that have been translated into English. She grew up and studied in Khartoum, and writes stories often dealing with the harsh living conditions of people from southern Sudan, who have endured
discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...
and
military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...
, or war and displacement in the northern part of Sudan. Rania Mamoun (born 1979) is another contemporary female writer, who has written novels and short stories, translated as ''Thirteen Months of Sunrise.'' Several of her stories have appeared in English translation, including in ''The Book of Khartoum, Banthology'' and in Banipal literary magazine. Sabah Sanhouri (born 1990), is a cultural essayist and literary author from Khartoum, who writes prose as well as poetry. Her story "''Isolation''" won the Al-Tayeb Salih Award for Creative Writing in 2009 and was published both in Arabic, and later in a French and English translation. ''Mirrors'', her first collection of short stories, came out in Egypt and Sudan in 2014, and in 2019, she published her first novel, entitled ''Paradise''. In 2021, Muhammad Ismail won the first prize of the Katara Award for the Arabic Novel for his short story “''The Brothers of Yusuf''”, selected from more than 400 entries. In 2023, Reem Gaafar won the South African Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa for the manuscript of her novel ''A Mouth Full of Salt''. She is the first novelist from Sudan to be distinguished by this award. Ann El Safi is a Sudanese journalist, poet and novelist, living in Abu Dhabi and Canada. Up to 2019, she has published poems and several novels as well as articles on mass media in modern societies. In December 2020 Sawad Hussain, who has translated numerous novels from Arabic into English, published an article about emerging Sudanese women novelists in Words without Borders magazine. And in May 2022, ''ArabLit'' magazine presented several articles by and about Sudanese women writers, as well as other articles on literary works from Sudan in English translation.


Literature in English by writers with Sudanese roots

The earliest records of a writer from Sudan using the English language are the
memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...
and other literary works of Selim Aga, born around 1826 in
Taqali Taqali (also spelled Tegali from the Tagale people) was a state of Nuba peoples that existed in the Nuba Mountains, in modern-day central Sudan. It is believed to have been founded in the eighteenth century, though oral traditions suggest it ...
, a historical state in the Nuba Hills, in modern-day central Sudan. As a young boy, he had been sold as
slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
to various owners and was eventually brought to
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
in 1836. There, he was raised and educated as a free man by the family of Robert Thurburn, at the time British consul in
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
. In 1846, he published his autobiographical ''Incidents Connected with the Life of Selim Aga'', written in "faultless idiomatic English". — The first Sudanese modern novel written in English was ''Their Finest Days'' (1969), by Al-Sirr Ḥasan Faḍl, a political novel about the rumor of a coup d’état two months after the October 1964 revolution. Taban Lo Liyong, who was born in southern Sudan in 1939 and studied in the 1960s in the United States, is one of Africa's well-known poets, writers of fiction and
literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...
. According to the ''
Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
'', "Liyong wrote highly imaginative short narratives, such as ''Fixions'' (1969), and unorthodox
free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry which does not use a prescribed or regular meter or rhyme and tends to follow the rhythm of natural or irregular speech. Free verse encompasses a large range of poetic form, and the distinction between free ...
,( ...) His nonfiction output consists of argumentative and amusing personal essays and bold literary criticism (...), presenting challenging new ideas in an original manner." After teaching positions in several countries, including Sudan, he became professor of English at the University of Juba. Leila Aboulela, who was born in 1964 in Cairo, Egypt, to an Egyptian mother and a Sudanese father, and grew up in Khartoum, is a Sudanese writer who lives in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
and writes in English. Her poems, short stories and novels have received international acclaim and have been translated into other languages, including Arabic. Jamal Mahjoub, born in London in 1966 of British and Sudanese parents and grew up in Khartoum, writes in English and has published a trilogy taking place in Sudan. His memoir ''A Line in the River'' (2019) recounts the years from the military coup of 1989 up to the separation of
South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...
in 2001. In an article about literature in Sudan, written just about as the Sudanese Revolution of 2018/19 came to its final stage, he gave the following assessment of the limitations for writers, publishers and readers: A representative of young writers of Sudanese origin, living in the worldwide Sudanese
diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...
, is Safia Elhillo (born 1990), a Sudanese-American poet known for her written and spoken poetry. Her poems have appeared in several publications, including ''
Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
'', ''
Callaloo Callaloo ( , ; many spelling variants, such as kallaloo, calaloo, calalloo, calaloux, or callalloo) is a plant used in popular dishes in many Caribbean countries, while for other Caribbean countries, a stew made with the plant is called call ...
'', the
Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outrea ...
’ Poem-a-day series, and in
anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...
, such as ''The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop'' and ''Women of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism''. Her collection of poetry ''The January Children'' (2017) refers to the children born in Sudan under British occupation, whose date of birth was often indiscriminately recorded as 1 January.
Emtithal Mahmoud Emtithal "Emi" Mahmoud (; born 1992 or 1993 in Darfur, Sudan) is a Sudanese-American poet and activist, who won the 2015 Individual World Poetry Slam championship. In 2018, she became UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, and in this capacity, has travel ...
, who was born in Darfur in 1992, moved with her parents to the United States as a child. She became known as a
spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...
poet and
activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...
for refugees. In 2015, she won the Individual World Poetry Slam championship and has since published her first collections of poems in English, entitled ''Sisters' Entrance''. K. Eltinaé is a Sudanese poet of Nubian descent, based in Spain. His work has appeared in magazines such as
World Literature Today ''World Literature Today'' (''WLT'') is an American magazine of international literature and culture, published at the University of Oklahoma. The magazine's stated goal is to publish international essays, poetry, fiction, interviews, and book ...
and the
African American Review ''African American Review'' is a scholarly aggregation of essays on African-American literature, theatre, film, the visual arts, and culture; interviews; poetry; fiction; and book reviews. It is the official publication of the Modern Language Ass ...
, as well as in ''The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human: Tales from Many Muslim Worlds'', among other publications. His debut collection ''The Moral Judgement of Butterflies'' won the 2019 International Beverly Prize for Literature. He is the recipient of the Visionary Arts Memorial Reza Abdoh Poetry Prize 2021. He also co-won the 2019 Dignity Not Detention Prize. Daoud Hari, who was born as a
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
sman in the Darfur region of Western
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
, wrote an autobiographical
memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...
in English about life and people in Darfur, entitled ''The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur''. Through his story, he tried to bring further international attention to the plight of his people and country. In 2008, the autobiographical memoir about women's experiences with genocide and
war in Darfur The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equalit ...
, called '' Tears of the Desert'', was published by Halima Bashir. This
Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
ese medical doctor chose her fictitious name in order to stay anonymous. The book was co-authored by British journalist
Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is a British actor, musician and producer. He rose to prominence portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers''. Lewis won a Prime ...
and published after Halima Bashir had found asylum in the U.K.
Yassmin Abdel-Magied Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a Sudanese–Australian media presenter and writer, who had an early career as a mechanical engineer. She was named Young Queenslander of the Year in 2010 and Queensland Australian of the Year in 2015 for her engagemen ...
(born 1991), a Sudanese-Australian media presenter and
writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...
, first became known for her outspoken engagement in community work and Australian media, including talks and blogs about her multicultural identity as a young Muslim woman in Australia. In 2016, she published her memoir called ''Yassmin's Story'', and in 2019 a novel for young adults, titled ''You Must Be Layla''. Sudanese-American writer Fatin Abbas based her 2023
debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...
''Ghost Season'' on her personal experience of working for an
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
in the border region between northern and southern Sudan. The story is set in the fictitious village Saaraya, a "flashpoint in the civil war between the Southern rebel movement and the Northern government based in Khartoum."


Memoirs by former slaves and 'Lost Boys'

Based on their painful experiences of
persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
,
human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...
and deplacement, a number of people from southern Sudan have published their memoirs in English. Examples are the autobiographical accounts ''Escape from Slavery'' by
Francis Bok Francis Piol Bol Bok (born February 1979), a Dinka people, Dinka tribesman and citizen of South Sudan, was a slavery, slave for ten years and later became an abolitionism, abolitionist and author living in the United States. Biography On May 15, ...
or ''Slave'' by
Mende Nazer Mende Nazer (born 1982) is a UK-resident, Sudanese author and human rights activist. Nazer was a slave in Sudan and in London for eight years. She later co-wrote the 2002 book ''Slave: My True Story''. Abduction Nazer is a Nuba woman from a v ...
. Other accounts were published by some of the "
Lost Boys of Sudan The Lost Boys of Sudan refers to a group of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005). Two million were killed and others were severely affected by the ...
", a group of over 20.000 boys of the Nuer and
Dinka The Dinka people () are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of three provinces that were formerly part of southern ...
ethnic groups, who were displaced or
orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...
ed during the
Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil Wa ...
(1987–2005). After emigrating to the U.S. or the U.K., these
refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...
s from Sudan published their stories, usually with co-editors in their country of refuge.


Works for young readers and graphic storytelling

Modern literature for children and young adults has been written, among others, by authors and illustrators such as Abdel-Ghani Karamallah and Salah El-Mur. Also, the poet Mahmoud Sharif published a collection of short stories for children entitled ''Zeinab and the Mango Tree.'' Another book for children called ''Kadisa'' (Sudanese expression for ''cat'') was written in 2017 by Sudanese-American elementary teacher Rasha Hamid and illustrated by Sharhabil Ahmed, a well-known musician and graphic artist. In the 1950s and up to the mid-1990s, the Ministry of Education published
comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
magazines such as ''Al-Sabyan (Boy's Journal)'', ''Maryud'' and ''Sabah (Morning)'' in order to develop children's literacy''.'' But because of diminishing support, the numbers of such magazines and children's books decreased from 30.000 copies a week of the most popular magazine to a much lower number of such publications. In the 21st century, Sudanese
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
s and graphic storytelling have been enjoying a growing audience. They are mainly published on social media, but also in the form of magazines or during national comic competitions. As a
political cartoonist An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current ...
living in the Sudanese diaspora, Khalid Albaih has become known for his social and political
caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...
s in Arab and international
online media In mass communication, digital media is any communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronic ...
.


Traditional and modern forms of Sudanese theatre

Ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...
s and theatre-like performances, such as the ''
zār In the cultures of the Horn of Africa and adjacent regions of the Middle East, ''Zār'' (, ) is the term for a demon or spirit assumed to possess individuals, mostly women, and to cause discomfort or illness. The so-called ''zār'' ritual or ' ...
'' rituals, have been described by modern studies as part of ancient and traditional civilisations in Sudan. During the 1930s, Ibrahim al-Abadi (1894 -1980) created a play about an important Sudanese resistance fighter against the Turkish army, El Mek Nimr, and Khaled Abu Al-Rous wrote a play about a village love story called ''Tajouj''. Along with other Sudanese or foreign plays, they were produced at the National Theatre of the time. In a period of flourishing cultural life in Sudan from the 1960s and up to the restrictions of many public activities by the Public Order Laws since 1989, foreign and Sudanese theatre plays in the modern sense enjoyed a certain amount of popularity in Khartoum. Nevertheless, the College of Music and Drama of the
Sudan University of Science and Technology Sudan University of Science and Technology (abbreviated SUST) is one of the largest public universities in Sudan, with ten campuses in Khartoum state. The main campus is located in the so-called Al Mugran area of Khartoum, the confluence of t ...
has been offering studies and degrees since 1977, and together with the Sudanese Dramatists Union has organized theatre festivals and workshops at the National Theatre, opened in 1959 in Omdurman.


Anthologies of Sudanese literature

After the 2009 collection of short stories in French translation, ''Nouvelles du Soudan'', several
anthologies In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and ge ...
in English, such as ''I Know Two Sudans: An Anthology of Creative Writing from Sudan and South Sudan'', ''The Book of Khartoum'', ''Literary Sudans: An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan'' or ''Modern Sudanese Poetry: An Anthology'' have made contemporary literature from Sudan and
South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...
accessible to readers in translation. In addition, '' Banipal'' literary magazine published a special issue in 2016 on Sudanese literature today. In 2020, '' The Common'' literary magazine published 11 short stories by Sudanese authors in English translation. Apart from those names already mentioned above, writers featured in these compilations are Mohammad Jamil Ahmad, Emad Blake, Nur al-Huda Mohammed Nur al-Huda, Ahmed Al Malik, Dan Lukudu, Agnes Ponilako, Kenyi A. Spencer, Mamoun Eltlib, and others. In his introduction to ''Literary Sudans'': ''An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan'', Taban Lo Liyong wrote:


Academic scholarship on Sudanese literature and Arabic language

An outstanding Sudanese
scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...
and literary critic with a long list of publications on poetry or other genres, and in Arabic in general, was Abdallah al-Tayyib (1921–2003). His primary field of study was the Arabic language and its creative use in poetry. One of his most notable works is ''A Guide to Understanding Arabic Poetry'', a massive opus written over thirty-five years. Some of his collection of folk stories from Sudan and Africa have been translated into English. Al-Tayyib was also president of the Arab Language League of Sudan and a member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo. Through his
radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production, or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netw ...
mes on literature, he contributed also to a wider appreciation of literature for people without access to written sources. Another notable scholar on language and culture in Sudan was Awn Alsharif Qasim (1933–2006). Among many other works, he authored the '' Sudanese Encyclopedia of Tribes and Genealogies'' in seven volumes and 2628 pages, a pioneer, state of the art series of books about place or personal names and Sudanese tribes, their roots and origins. In 2024, Sudanese scholar Hashim Mirghani was awarded the prestigious Katara Prize for Arabic Novel for his critical study ''The Novel as a Stage for Identity Debates and its Reconstruction''. Several departments of the
University of Khartoum The University of Khartoum (U of K) () is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 1956 when Sudan gained independen ...
, like the Faculty of Arts, the Institute of Asian and African Studies or of Islamic Studies, publish academic scholarship relating to the history and present of literary culture in Sudan.


Nonfiction and cultural journalism by Sudanese writers

The list of Sudanese writers of
nonfiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively ...
, as another important form of narrative writing, includes authors like
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im (; born in 1946) is a Sudanese-born Islamic scholar who lives in the United States and teaches at Emory University. He is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law, associated professor ...
or
Sadiq al-Mahdi Sadiq al-Mahdi (; 25 December 1935 – 26 November 2020), also known as Sadiq as-Siddiq, was a Sudanese political and religious figure who was Prime Minister of Sudan from 1966 to 1967 and again from 1986 to 1989. He was head of the National Um ...
, known for their contributions to such topics as
Islamic thought Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—''falsafa'' (), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, mathematics, and p ...
,
politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...
or
social issue A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's control. Soc ...
s in Sudan. Addressing Sudanese and other Arab readers, these are published in Arabic, although some publications, such as
essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...
s, academic scholarship, interviews or other journalistic texts, have also been translated into English. One of the Sudanese
online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the comput ...
s focussing on Sudanese culture and the close relationship of life in Sudan and South Sudan, as well as with other
East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
n neighbours, is the bilingual online ''Andariya Magazine''.


See also

*
African literature African literature is literature from Africa, either Oral literature, oral ("orature") or written in African languages, African and Afro-Asiatic languages, Afro-Asiatic languages. Examples of Precolonialism, pre-colonial African literature can be ...
*
Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...
* Modern Arabic literature * List of Sudanese writers * Culture of Sudan * Culture of South Sudan – Literature * Music of Sudan


Notes and references


Works cited

* * *


Further reading

* Al-Malik, A., Gaetano, S., Adam, H., Baraka, S. A., Karamallah, A., Mamoun, R., & Luffin, X. (2009). ''Nouvelles du Soudan.'' Paris: Magellan & Cie. (in French) * Babikir, Adil (ed.) (2019)
''Modern Sudanese Poetry: An Anthology''.
Lincoln, NE, USA. * Cormack, Ralph, and Max Shmookler (eds.) (2016
''The Book of Khartoum. A City in Short Fiction''.
Manchester: Comma Press * * Elhillo, Safia
''The January Children''
University of Nebraska Press, 2017 * * * Lynx Qualey, Marcia
"Sudanese Literature: North and South"
2012, in '' ArabLit'' magazine * Lynx Qualey, Marcia
" Sudanese & South Sudanese Short Stories for the Solstice"
2019, in ''ArabLit'' magazine * Magid, Djamela et al. (eds)
''I Know Two Sudans: An Anthology of Creative Writing from Sudan and South Sudan'', 2014
* Mahjoub, Jamal
"Top 10 books about Sudan"
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 15 May 2019 * Mahjoub, Jamal. ''Navigation of a Rainmaker'' (1989), ''Wings of Dust'' (1994), ''In the Hour of Signs'' (1996) * Shringarpure, Bhakti (ed.) (2016)
''Literary Sudans: An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan''
Trenton: The Red Sea Press, *Soghayroon, Thorraya (2010). ''Sudanese Literature in English Translation: An Analytical Study of Translation with a Historical Introduction to the Literature.'' PhD dissertation, Westminster University.


External links


An ever-so-short history of the ‘complex, capacious’ Sudanese short story
with further links by ArabLit magazine
Sudanese literature available in English
May 2021, by ArabLit magazine {{Authority control African literature Arabic literature Sudanese literature Culture of Sudan