University of Khartoum and London School of Economics
Subjects
Economics and Statistics
Years active
1999–present
Notable awards
Caine Prize for African Writing; Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards; Saltire Fiction Book of the Year
Children
3
Website
www.leila-aboulela.com
Leila Fuad AboulelaFRSL (Arabic:ليلى فؤاد ابوالعلا; born 1964) is a fiction writer, essayist, and playwright of Sudanese origin based in Aberdeen, Scotland.[1] She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and moved to Scotland in 1990 where she began her literary career. Until 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.[2] 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.[3] The five-part radio serialization of her 1999 novel The Translator was short-listed for the Race In the Media Award (RIMA).[3]
Aboulela's work is critically acclaimed for its depiction of Muslim migrants in the West the and the challenges they face. Her work is heavily influenced by her own experiences as an immigrant to the United Kingdom and the hardships she experienced during the transition. Her work centers around political issues and themes such as identity, multi-cultural relationships, the East-West divide, migration, and Islamic spirituality. Her prose has been celebrated by J. M. Coetzee, Ben Okri and Ali Smith. Her 2023 novel River Spirit was praised by Abdulrazak Gurnah for its "extraordinary sympathy and insight".[4]
^"Leila Aboulela - Official website". Retrieved 25 April 2022.
^Chambers, Claire (2009). "An Interview with Leila Aboulela". Contemporary Women's Writing. 3: 86–102. doi:10.1093/cww/vpp003. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
^ ab"Leila Aboulela - Literature". literature.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
^"Leila Aboulela Announces First Set of Dates for River Spirit Book Tour". brittlepaper.com. 27 February 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2024}] Leila Fuad Aboulela FRSL (Arabic:ليلى فؤاد ابوالعلا; born 1964) is a fiction writer, essayist, and playwright of Sudanese...
River Spirit is a 2023 historical fiction novel written by LeilaAboulela and published by Grove Press. It is a historical narrative set during the 1880s...
The Translator is Sudanese writer LeilaAboulela's first novel, published in 1999. It is a story about a young Muslim Sudanese widow living in Scotland...
by Sudanese author LeilaAboulela. The book is a fictionalised account of the life of Sudanese poet Hassan Awad Aboulela. Aboulela decided to write a...
writers with Sudanese roots and living in other countries, such as LeilaAboulela or Jamal Mahjoub, write in English. Together with translations of original...
various stories from the collection aired on Dangal TV in 2020. Alf Leila Wa Leila, Egyptian television adaptations of the stories was broadcast between...
descent makes reference to Leyla and Majnun in his novels, "Waiting for Leila" and "Kafka's Curse" On Gaia Online, a recent[when?] monthly collectible...
"Toni Kan, LeilaAboulela, others for KABAFEST". Daily Trust. "Kabest 2017 Taking Book Festival Train to Kaduna". The Guardian. "LeilaAboulela Headlines...
British-Sudanese author LeilaAboulela. It was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. "Leila Aboulea's Bird Summons...
approximately 600 fellows: Fellow Year of election *Julia Abel Smith 2008 LeilaAboulela 2023 *Melanie Abrahams 2020 Peter Ackroyd 1984 Donald Adamson 1983 Fleur...
memory. The prize was first awarded in 2000, to the Sudanese writer LeilaAboulela for her short story "The Museum", at the Zimbabwe International Book...
2017-07-09. Retrieved 2021-08-30. Bivan, Nathaniel (2017-06-18). "Toni Kan, LeilaAboulela, others for KABAFEST". Daily Trust. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07...
Abdalla Eltayeb: Scholar in the Arabic language Tayeb Salih: Novelist LeilaAboulela: Writer and playwright Meena Alexander: Poet and Distinguished Professor...
Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and the Caribbean" – were Diane Abbott, LeilaAboulela, Carole Boyce Davies, Margaret Busby, James Currey, Louisa Uchum Egbunike...
OCLC 1035135590.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Ahmed, Leila (1992). Women and Gender in Islam. Yale University. p. 96. "Introduction:...
young adult romantic mystery set in space. 2006: The Translator by LeilaAboulela, a Sudanese British Muslim retelling. 2007: Thornfield Hall: Jane Eyre's...
Global Information