The ongoing civil war in Sudan has not stopped its vibrant literary scene from shining. New publishers, such as The Small Encyclopaedia House, have come onto the scene, releasing a diverse range of works, with some remarkable contributions from 'New Generation' writers., ie. Sudan's younger novelists. Al Majalla examines some of these works, which have made a significant contribution to Sudan's literary scene in the past year.
The Days of the Stolen Sheilat by Waqas Al-Sadiq
Before it even came out, this novel garnered acclaim after a first draft caught the eye of literary critics who touted it for its originality and creativity. The final version did not disappoint. In fact, it exceeded expectations.
The Days of the Stolen Sheilat tells the story of a Sudanese village along the Nile, spanning three decades. The narrative opens in the future with a wedding disrupted by the theft of the sheilat—the bride's ceremonial gifts, comprising clothing, gold jewellery, food, and essential supplies. The crime throws the village into turmoil, reviving dormant family feuds, rehashing old grudges, and sparking tensions which threaten to escalate into bloodshed.
The award-winning novelist, who also authored two short story collections, Presence the Colour of Water in 2015 and The Book of Waiting in 2023, describes the novel as: "An effort to capture, with precision, the transformation of a village into a town amidst political and social upheavals."
“By focusing on pivotal years that marked this significant transition, the story delves into the village's struggle with its identity, its resistance to urbanisation, and its eventual acceptance of change, exploring how these shifts affected the lives of its inhabitants."
The novel is rich in characters. Some appear briefly and yet play pivotal roles, while others live in the minds of the characters without physically appearing. The story captures the essence of life in Nile villages: a compact world brimming with history and narratives. In these villages, daily interactions are a way of life, taking place in the fields, by the river, during gatherings, celebrations, moments of joy or sorrow, and through casual encounters on the streets.
Al-Sadiq’s choice to set his novel's storyline in the Nile villages of northern Sudan is unconventional for New Generation writers, who generally prefer urban settings. The rural village setting is more closely associated with the works of older novelists such as Tayeb Salih and Ibrahim Ishaq.
Al-Sadiq began this novel before the civil war in Sudan broke out and had to finish the second half under dire conditions, adding to its rawness and authenticity.
"In a way, the anxiety and disconnection caused by disrupted networks, the sounds of gunfire and shelling, and the isolation we experienced created conditions that were, oddly enough, conducive to writing," he tells Al Majalla.
“I wrote the novel over two years and a few months, maintaining a consistent routine of half a page daily, sometimes just a quarter of a page—never more. I have never written a full page in one day."
Room Eight by Riham Habib
This is a debut full-length novel by a writer with two collections of short stories already under her belt. The story explores the lives of female inmates in Omdurman Prison during the final days of President Omar Al-Bashir’s regime before he was ousted. The characters include an alcohol vendor, a midwife, a coffee vendor of Ethiopian origin, a henna artist, a professional mourner, a pharmacist, a drug addict, and a political activist.
“What unites these women is their exclusion from public life and their marginalisation, leaving the revolution and political upheaval beyond the prison walls and, consequently, beyond their lives as well," Habib tells Al Majalla.
The novel takes place in the span of a single day and is written in a feverish and climactic tone that oscillates between the revolutionary chants outside and the screams of a woman in labour within.
The story behind the novel's completion is a story in and of itself. Habib had planned to visit the women's prison to collect stories for her novel, but her permit was dated 16 April—one day after the war in Sudan broke out.
After being displaced by the war to the city of Wad Madani, Habib tried again to gain access to the prison, but the shoddy security situation caused further delays in obtaining the permit. When she finally got it, Habib lost her laptop and, along with it, the novel’s first draft, alongside all the testimonies she had painstakingly collected from the inmates she had interviewed.
“I couldn’t write again until I left Sudan and settled in the UAE. It was only then, once things calmed down a bit that I began writing anew, from an entirely fresh draft," she told Al Majalla.
Monologues by Bashir Abu Sin
This is the poet’s second collection, which follows 2020’s debut, Songs on Freedom Street. Abu Sin explains to Al Majalla how this collection is different.
“Those were loud, roaring songs, while these are quieter monologues. The two titles illustrate the shift from rebellion to reflection and deliberation—a transition I am not sure I made consciously.”
He describes Monologues as "a single poem or group of interconnected poems that complete one another."
"My aim was to create a unified world inhabited by a singular-self, confronting its era; recalling memory, history, and the present, tasting love, disillusionment, wonder, and the ‘bitterness of freedom', as the Senegalese-French poet David Diop once said.”
He also points to the connection between his poems and the state of affairs in his homeland: “I was anxious about my country, troubled by what it has become. It feels lost. This gave the poems the feeling of despair. At the same time, I revisited some lingering feelings of anger, hoping it could breathe some fire into some of my new poems."
“For this reason, you won’t find overtly revolutionary poems, yet the themes of revolution and engagement with Sudan’s struggles manifest in other ways. I also wanted to convey that history permeates every moment of our lives, whether we are revolting against tyrants or alone with a beloved.”
“I was given the chance to see things from a perspective I might never have experienced otherwise had I not distanced myself from the paths through which poetry once reached me," he explained.
"The Nile became something else. The desert, my family, childhood, familiar faces, longing, and Khartoum – all transformed, as though suspended between earth and sky. I could see them fully at any moment or summon them whenever I wished. I weaved all of this into my poems."
Kafka's Ghosts by Ayman Hashem
This latest collection from the former artist ranges from microfiction to full-length short stories. It features diverse voices and settings in time and place, reaching the distant past. It also covers the overlooked history of Sudan’s December Revolution.
The book addresses historical themes, folklore, and legends through the lens of magical realism, fantasy, and dreamlike atmospheres, navigating between the past and present.
The settings are deeply rooted in local storytelling traditions, featuring Sudanese towns and villages with diverse cultural atmospheres. These backdrops celebrate Sudan’s oral heritage, presenting it to the world in a modern and engaging way in an attempt to showcase the magic of Sudan’s countryside and cities and highlight its forgotten folklore and legends through the short story format.
Hashem's own story is interesting as well. He was a visual artist and illustrator before taking the leap into writing. As he did so, he brought with him the symbolic and abstract elements from his artistic imagination. These creative tools have profoundly influenced his literary approach, infusing his stories with a distinctive visual and conceptual depth.
When Hashem published his first set of short stories, readers were captivated by what came across as an extraordinary, magical power embedded in his writing, bringing Sudan’s rich folklore to life. As a New Generation writer, he brings this ancient tradition—filled with inherent strangeness and fantasy—to younger audiences.
Hashem is currently working on a new project exploring oral history, the fantastical, and the lives of those forgotten by history—voiceless individuals whose stories have been overlooked. However, it is still deeply connected to the revolutionary spirit of December 2019, during which some of the stories in Kafka’s Ghosts were written over an eight-month period.
