To read the Sudanese

Sudanese Literature: North and South

Tayeb Salih

Recently, I’ve been trying to educate myself about literature from the Sudan(s). After all, her historic vote is just one small piece of the Sudan’s rich cultural history.

I imagine there are multiple Sudanese literatures: the Arabic-based literature (its most well-known practitioner being Tayeb Salih), as well as literatures in English (Leila Aboulela, Jamal Mahjoub) and local languages, such as Beja (known for its poetic traditions) and Dinka (perhaps Makwei Mabioor Deng will help spark a written tradition).

Certainly, if one had to name a Sudanese author in fewer than ten seconds, most of us would land on the great Tayeb Salih, who was on Denys Johnson-Davies well-known “Arabic Nobel shortlist” of 1988. Salih, who died in 2009, is celebrated in large part for his Season of Migration to the North, which was declared “the most important Arabic novel of the 20th century” by the Arab Literary Academy in Damascus.

Salih was also a big proponent of Arabic literature. From a 2005 interview with the Sudan Tribune:

If you find a publisher who believes in Arab literature and takes a risk on it, not just publishing a few thousand books, you will find readers for it.

The Arab novel has reached a very high standard which is comparable to any standard, anywhere in the world. The fact that this is not recognised abroad is a matter either of criteria … or it is a lack of enthusiasm for foreign products.

Other notable Sudanese authors who write in Arabic include Tarek al-Tayyeb, who was born in Cairo to Sudanese parents, and whose Cities Without Palms was translated by Kareem James Palmer-Zeid and published by AUC Press. It was a visually strong, although flawed, first novel, followed by The Palm House (reviewed here). Amir Tag el-Sir is another Sudanese author of note, on the 2011 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) shortlist for his novel The Hunter of the Chrysalises.