Sudanese Literature Available in English

By Leonie Rau

This list of literature from Sudan — and, in part, South Sudan — represents what we have been able to discover of the Sudanese literature written or translated to English. If you know of more we might have missed, please let us know in the comments or at info@arablit.org.

Prose

Leila Aboulela (writing in English, a selection):

  • The Translator (Grove Press 1999)
  • Coloured Lights (2001)
  • Minaret (Grove Press 2005)
  • Lyrics Alley (Grove Press 2011)
  • The Kindness of Enemies (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2015)
  • Elsewhere, Home (Telegram Books 2018)
  • Bird Summons (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 2019)
  • “Amulet and Feathers,” published in Banipal 55 (2016)

Hisham Adam

  • excerpt from Kajoumi, tr. Paul Starkey, published in Banipal 56 (2016)

Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin

  • The Jungo: Stakes of the Earth, tr. Adil Babikir (Red Sea Press 2015)
  • “The Butcher’s Daughter,” tr. Raph Cormack, published in The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016)
  • Excerpt from The Waste Man, tr. Spencer Scoville, published in Banipal 56 (2016)
  • “A Woman from Kambo Kadees,” tr. Adil Babikir, published in Literary Sudans. An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Bakhti Shringarpure (Red Sea Press 2017)
  • Birth (selected stories, various translators) (independently published 2020)

Bawadir Bashir

  • “Next Eid,” tr. Thoraya El-Rayyes, published in The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016)

Zeinab Belail

  • “Al-Nar Street”, an excerpt from the novel The Cactus Plant, tr. Nesrin Amin, published on Words Without Borders

Emad Blake

  • excerpt from Shawarma, tr. John Peate, published in Banipal 55 (2016)

Bushra Elfadil

  • “The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away”, tr. Max Shmookler, published in The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016)
  • “Hahina and Hawahi,” tr. Julia Ihnatowicz, published in Banipal 56 (2016)
  • “Two Spaces Objects over Bandar,” tr. Adil Babikir, published in Literary Sudans. An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Bakhti Shringarpure (Red Sea Press 2017)
  • “The Opening Ceremony,” tr. Lissie Jaquette, published in The Common 19
  • “Phosphorus at the Bottom of a Well,” tr. Mustafa Adam, published here on ArabLit

Kamal Elgizouli

  • “The Return of Grandma Wardeh,” tr. Adil Babikir, published in Banipal 56 (2016)
  • “Incarnation,” tr. Adil Babikir, published in Literary Sudans. An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Bakhti Shringarpure (Red Sea Press 2017)

Tarek Eltayeb

  • Cities Without Palms, tr. Kareem James Palmer-Zeid (AUC Press 2009), excerpt tr. Adil Babikir published in Literary Sudans. An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Bakhti Shringarpure (Red Sea Press 2017)
  • The Palm House, tr. Kareem James Palmer-Zeid (AUC Press 2012)
  • “Helmy Abu Regileh,” tr. Sally Gomaa, published in Banipal 55 (2016)
  • “My Lot in the Days of the Lord,” tr. Kareem James Abu-Zeid, published on Words Without Borders
  • “Certain Suspicions,” tr. from the German by Wolfgang Astelbauer, published on Words Without Borders

Mamoun Eltlib

  • “The Passage,” tr. Mohamed Ghalaeiny, published in The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016)

Amna al-Fadl

  • “Basma’s Dream,” an excerpt from the novel Some of What Happened Between Us, tr. Katherine Van de Vate, published on Words Without Borders

Yahya Fadlalla

  • “A Silent Tribute,” ,” tr. Adil Babikir, published in Literary Sudans. An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Bakhti Shringarpure (Red Sea Press 2017)

Arthur Gabriel Yak

  • “It’s Not Important, You’re From There,” tr. Andrew Leber, published in The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016)
  • “Divorce,” tr. Sawad Hussain, published in Mo(at), ed. & tr. Sawad Hussain & Nariman Youssef (UEA Publishing Project 2021)
  • “A Good and His People,” tr. Sawad Hussain, published in Mo(at)
  • “Mama Regina’s Cruel Blessing,” tr. Sawad Hussain, published in Mo(at)

Stella Gaitano

  • “Testimony of a Sudanese Writer,” tr. Adil Babikir, published in Banipal 55 (2016)
  • “The Rally of the Sixth of April,” tr. Kareem James Abu-Zeid, Salah Mohamed El Hassan Osman, and Abed Haddad, published on MoMa’s website
  • “It’s Getting Very Hot,” tr. Anthony Calderbank, published in ArabLit Quarterly 1 (2018)
  • Eddo’s Souls, tr. Sawad Hussain (Dedalus 2022 – forthcoming), excerpt here on ArabLit
  • The Return (short story collection), tr. Asha El-Said (Rafiki 2018)

Abdel Ghani Karamallah

  • “The Jealous Star,” tr. John Peate, published in Banipal 55 (2016)

Isa al-Hilu

  • “A Boy Playing With Dolls,” tr. Marilyn Booth, published in The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016)

Ibrahim Ishaq

  • “The Opening in Kaltooma’s Fence,” tr. Adil Babikir, published in Literary Sudans. An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Bakhti Shringarpure (Red Sea Press 2017), republished here on ArabLit

Sara Al-Jack

  • “The Birth of the Spirit,” an excerpt from the novel The Mites, tr. Yasmine Zohdi, published on Words Without Borders

Ali El-Makk

  • A City of Dust, tr. El-Fatih Mahjoub & Constance E. Berkley (1974)
  • “The Case”, included in Modern Arabic Fiction: An Anthology, ed. Salma Khadra Jayyusi (Columbia UP 2005)
  • “Forty-One Minarets”, tr. Adil Babikir, on ArabLit
  • “In the City,” tr. Sarah Irving, published in The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016)

Jamal Mahjoub/Bilal Parker (writing in English)

As Jamal Mahjoub:

  • Navigation of a Rainmaker (Heinemann 1989)
  • Wings of Dust (Heinemann 1994)
  • In the Hour of Signs (Heinemann 1996)
  • The Carrier (1998)
  • Travelling With Djinns (Vintage 2003)
  • The Drift Latitudes (Chatto Windus 2006)
  • Nubian Indigo (2006)
  • A Line in the River: Khartoum, City of Memory (Bloomsbury 2018)
  • The Fugitives (Canongate Books 2021)
  • “The Ghost of Dr John Garang,” published in Banipal 55 (2016)

As Parker Bilal:

  • The Golden Scales (Bloomsbury 2012)
  • Dogstar Rising (Bloomsbury 2013)
  • The Ghost Runner (Bloomsbury 2014)
  • The Burning Gates (Bloomsbury 2015)
  • City of Jackals (Bloomsbury 2016)
  • Dark Water (Bloomsbury 2017)
  • The Divinities (The Indigo Press 2019)
  • The Heights (Severn House Publishers 2020)

Ahmed al-Malik

  • “Lovers Don’t Steal,” tr. Robin Moger, published in Banipal 55 (2016)
  • “The Tank,” tr. Adam Talib, published in The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016)
  • “Satan and the Plastic Soldier,” tr. Adil Babikir, published in Literary Sudans. An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Bakhti Shringarpure (Red Sea Press 2017)

Rania Mamoun

  • Thirteen Months of Sunrise, tr. Lissie Jaquette (Comma Press 2019); an excerpt can be found on Lithub
  • “Bird of Paradise,” tr. Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, published in Banthology. Stories from Unwanted Nations, ed. Sarah Cleave (Comma Press, 2018)
  • “Passing,” tr. Lissie Jaquette, published in The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016) & tr. William M. Hutchins, published in Banipal 55 (2016)
  • “At the Coffee Shop,” an excerpt from the novel Son of the Sun, tr. Nesrin Amin, published on Words Without Borders

Ishraga Mustafa Hamid

  • “On the Train,” tr. Jonathan Wright, published in The Common 19
  • “We Have a River of Stone,” tr. Nariman Youssef, published in Mo(at), ed. & tr. Sawad Hussain & Nariman Youssef (UEA Publishing Project 2021)
  • “Vera Maria,” tr. Nariman Youssef, published in Mo(at)
  • “Antonia,” tr. Nariman Youssef, published in Mo(at)

Hamed al-Nazir

  • Excerpt from The Waterman’s Prophecy, tr. Adil Babikir, published in Banipal 55 (2016)

Ann El Safi

Tayeb Salih

  • Mansi: A Rare Man in His Own Way, tr. Adil Babikir (Banipal Books 2020)
  • Bandarshah, tr. Denys Johnson-Davies (Kegan Paul 1996)
  • Season of Migration to the North / The Wedding of Zein, tr. Denys Johnson-Davies (1980), republished multiple times
  • The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories, tr. Denys Johnson-Davies (Three Continents Press 1968). Includes: “The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid,” “A Handful of Dates,” and “The Wedding of Zein”.

Sabah Sanhouri

Mansour El Souwaim

  • excerpt from A Rogue’s Memory, tr. William M. Hutchins, published in Banipal 55 (2016)
  • “She 1, He and the Other One,” tr. Adil Babikir, published in Literary Sudans. An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Bakhti Shringarpure (Red Sea Press 2017)

Amir Taj Elsir

  • French Perfume, tr. William M. Hutchins (Antibookclub 2009)
  • The Grub Hunter, tr. William M. Hutchins (Pearson Education 2010)
  • The Korak Council, tr. Abdul-Wahhab Abdullah & Amel S. Abdullah (2012)
  • The Yelling Dowry, tr. Abdul-Wahhab Abdullah & Amel S. Abdullah (Moment Digibooks Limited 2013)
  • Telepathy, tr. William M. Hutchins (Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing 2015)
  • Ebola ’76, tr. Charis Bredin, Emily Danby (Darf Publishers 2015); excerpt tr. Adil Babikir in Literary Sudans. An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Bakhti Shringarpure (Red Sea Press 2017)

Hammour Ziada

  • “The Wad Azrag District,” tr. Jonathan Wright, published in Banipal 55 (2016)
  • “The Void,” tr. Kareem James Abu-Zeid, published in The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016)
  • The Longing of the Dervish, tr. Jonathan Wright (Hoopoe 2016)
  • The Drowning, tr. Paul Starkey (Interlink Books 2022 – forthcoming)

Anthologies:

  • I Know Two Sudans: An Anthology of Creative Writing from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Djamela Magid, Amal Osman, Rod Usher, Ali Abdulla & Ali Ramram (Gipping Press 2014)
  • The Book of Khartoum, ed. Raph Cormack & Max Shmookler (Comma Press 2016)
  • Banipal 55 & Banipal 56 (2016)
  • Literary Sudans. An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan, ed. Bakhti Shringarpure, tr. Adil Babikir (Red Sea Press 2017). Read some of the stories here.
  • In the Small Hours of the Night: An Anthology of Sundanese Short Stories, ed. & tr. C.W. Watson (Lontar Foundation 2018)
  • Modern Sudanese Poetry: An Anthology, tr. & ed. Adil Babikir (University of Nebraska Press 2019)
  • The Common 19 (2020)

Poetry

Safia Elhillo (writing in English)

Full-length collections:

  • The January Children (University of Nebraska Press, 2017).
  • Home Is Not A Country (Penguin Random House, 2021).
  • ars poetica (MIEL, 2016)
  • a suite for ol’ dirty (MIEL, 2016)
  • Asmarani (Akashic Books, 2016)
  • The Life and Times of Susie Knuckles (Well & Often Press, 2012)

Muhammad al-Fayturi

Find some of his poems at the Poetry Translation Centre.

Mohamed Al-Hassan Hummaid

Find some of his poems at the Poetry Translation Centre.

Mohammed Jamil Ahmad

  • “Seven Poems,” tr. Basil Samara, published in Banipal 55 (2016)

Ateif Khieri

Find some of his poems at the Poetry Translation Centre.

Najlaa Osman Eltom

  • “Two Poems,” tr. Maysoon Elnigoumi, Raphael Cohen & Ann Harrison, published in Banipal 55 (2016)

Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi

A Monkey at the Window: Selected Poems, translated by SarahBlooda Maguire and Mark Ford (Bloodaxe Books, 2016)

You can find more of his poems at the Poetry Translation Centre.

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