For nearly 70 years, Sudanese fiction has offered a potent record of a country shaped by colonialism and revolution, as well as the tight community bonds that have, at times, been torn apart by political and religious conflict.
From village communities along the Nile to cities under siege and societies divided by war, Sudanese novelists have used their work to not only examine the country’s trajectory, but also to affirm the beauty of its landscapes and the enduring integrity of its people.
As Sudan marks its National Day on January 1 after gaining independence from British colonial rule, the novels below (with some drawn from The National’s selection of the most important Arabic novels of the 20th and 21st centuries) trace the country’s history through fiction. All are available in English translation.
1. Season of Migration to the North (1964) by Tayeb Salih
Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih. Photo: Penguin Random House
Season of Migration to the North is considered, by many authors and critics, one of the best examples of Arabic fiction.
The story of Sudan and its history of European colonialism is rendered thro
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