The Sudanese Writers Union was founded 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 ...
in 1985, the year that
democracy
Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
was restored in
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 ...
for a short period. The Union promotes dialogue and seeks solutions for conflicts in Sudan. It emphasizes
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 ...
within a multicultural society and tries to bring together writers of different cultural groups. The first secretary-general until 1986 was
Ali El-Maak.
[Elias Fath El Rahman. (2007) ''The Sudanese Writers Union. Building Democracy and Public Intellectual Culture''. In Prince Claus Fund Awards 2007. The Hague, p. 90–91. ]
History and political repression
In 1989, four years after the Union's founding, a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
took place, resulting in the organization being banned and expelled from the historic building in Khartoum. Members of the Union were arrested and tortured. It took until shortly after the signing of the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA, ), also known as the Naivasha Agreement, was an accord signed on 9 January 2005, by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan. The CPA was meant to end the Second Sudane ...
of 2005/06 that the union could be revived again. A year later, in 2007, the union again consisted of fifty members; some members were located within Sudan, while others lived in exile. Altogether it lasted twenty years until the organization was able in 2009 to reopen a settlement in the capital of Sudan. The same year, the union claimed back its building in Khartoum.
[Miraya (August 17, 2009]
''Sudanese Writers Union launches a new House after 20 years''
/ref>
In 2007, the Sudanese Writers Union was honored with a Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. The jury presented the award under the theme ''Culture and Conflict'' and praised the work of the union, stating that its members "''are working against huge odds to provide'' ''a Space of Freedom for debate."''
On 29 January 2015, the Sudanese Writers Union was dissolved again and its cultural activities banned by the Ministry of Culture of the 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 ...
. At the end of 2016, an administrative court of appeal
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...
in Khartoum annulled the Ministry’s decision and ordered the security apparatus to return the Union’s property, as well as to allow them to resume their activities.
Key figures
Sudanese writer, translator, and scholar Ali El-Maak led the Union from its founding in 1985 through 1986.
See also
* Sudanese literature
* List of Sudanese writers
References
{{Authority control
Sudanese literature
Political organisations based in Sudan
Organizations established in 1985
1985 establishments in Sudan