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Leila Aboulela

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Sudanese writer and playwright

WritersBorn 1964 · age 62
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Fame53.7
Momentum6.3
Languages25
In century#40,215

Leila Fuad Aboulela is a fiction writer, essayist, and playwright of Sudanese origin based in Aberdeen, Scotland. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and in 1990 moved to Scotland, where she began her literary career.

Also inDeutsch

Photos 1

In their own words 10

Leila Aboulela
said · 2023
Own words

I find myself excited about reading African historical fiction more than other genres because it feels to me that this is actually new and exciting.

Interview (2023)

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Leila Aboulela
said · 2023
Own words

I just want people to say to me, these are real characters. Then I’m happy. It doesn’t matter whether it’s sympathetic or not.

Interview (2023)

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Leila Aboulela
said · 2023
Own words

When it’s fair trade, it’s blessed, and when it’s unfair it’s an injustice. That is the way of the world. Everyone wants something and they barter to get it.

River Spirit (2023)

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards 3

2023Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
2018OkayAfrica 100 Women
2000Caine Prize

Connected to Leila 6

About this person

Leila Fuad Aboulela is a fiction writer, essayist, and playwright of Sudanese origin based in Aberdeen, Scotland. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and in 1990 moved to Scotland, where she began her literary career. As of 2023, Aboulela has published six novels and several short stories, which have been translated into fifteen languages. Her most popular novels, Minaret (2005) and The Translator (1999) both feature the stories of Muslim women in the UK and were longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and Orange Prize. Aboulela's works have been included in publications such as Harper's Magazine, Granta, The Washington Post and The Guardian. BBC Radio has adapted her work extensively and broadcast a number of her plays, including The Insider, The Mystic Life and the historical drama The Lion of Chechnya. The five-part radio serialization of her 1999 novel The Translator was short-listed for the Race In the Media Award (RIMA).

Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
living
Dates
Born 1964 · age 62
Written about in
25 languages

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