Sudan Archives

‘Poetry Is Political’ Safia Elhillo’s First Draft

Safia ElhilloApril 5, 2024

Sudanese poet, Safia Elhillo, feels very differently now about the idea of belonging than she did at the time of writing her award-winning collection, The January Children. Looking back, she was ‘so concerned with a sort of diasporic longing that centered nationhood and nationality as the primary sites of belonging, and I just really don’t believe that anymore.’

April/May 2024First DraftInterviewsSudan

The African Union’s Most Elusive Dream Sudan, Somalia and the AU’s Unending Challenge of Internal Wars

Blessing Simura and Courage DzvukamanjaOctober 15, 2023

The transformation from the OAU to the AU meant accepting that the challenges Africa faced had changed from those faced during the decolonization era. Among the new challenges, the most perverse were internal wars. The AU attempted to invest heavily in mechanisms that would ‘silence the guns’ on the continent. In Sudan and Somalia, it seems that silencing the guns has remained an elusive dream.

AfricaBest of 2023: EssaysOctober/November 2023Sudan

Conflict in Sudan The Invisibility of the African Union

Catarina MilhazesSeptember 15, 2023

The African Union’s diplomatic efforts in Sudan are evidence of the difficulties faced by the continental organization with regard to its autonomy and credibility. But its efforts, despite not solving all the problems, are not completely insignificant.

August/September 2023Sudan

Where is the African Solution? Why the African Union Must Intervene in Sudan’s Crisis

Kosi OgbuliJuly 11, 2023

The African Union’s absence in Sudan is not merely a matter of geopolitical interest; it is a crisis with significant human costs and far-reaching implications for the credibility of the union’s regional governance.

June/July 2023Sudan

‘I Am Too Crushed by the War That Started in Sudan to Embark on a New Novel’ Leila Aboulela’s First Draft

Leila AboulelaJune 23, 2023

Award-winning writer and Sudanese novelist, Leila Aboulela, discovered Akuany, the protagonist of her most recent novel, River Spirit, on a bill of sale in the Sudan Archives at Durham University.

First DraftInterviewsJune/July 2023Sudanvol7-no3