Leila Aboulela

Award-winning Sudanese-Scottish writer Leila Aboulela is to publish a new novel, River Spirit, on 7 March 2023. The novel explores the imperialist history of Sudan during the Mahdist War in the 19th century. The US edition...

Hajja Waheeba, from Leila Aboulela’s Lyrics Alley, is a character well-known to anyone who has spent any time in Sudanese communities. A full-figured older woman, arms jangling with bangles, and cheeks marked with tribal scars, she is...

‘I will always see the grass, patches of dry yellow, the rugs of palm fiber laid out. They curl at the edges, and when I put my forehead on the ground I can smell the grass...

Leila Aboulela is one of Sudan's most celebrated authors. She won a Scottish Book Award for her book Lyrics Alley, she won the Caine Prize for African Writing, and all three of her novels were long-listed...

Set in 1950's Sudan, Lyrics Alley is the story of the powerful, sprawling Abuzeid dynasty. With Mahmoud Beh at its helm, the family can do no wrong. But when Mahmoud's son Nur - the brilliant heir...