About the project
This resource has been curated for anyone seeking new feminist reading by and about Sudanese women. Some wonderful Sudan-focused reading lists have been created, but by centering on feminism and women's issues, activism, resistance, and resilience, this one fills a gap.
Curated in consultation with Sudanese writers and activists, this list includes recently published books, articles, and other resources for a variety of users in various genres. The list aims to educate, inform, and inspire.
Feminist here is defined broadly. Works by and about all Sudanese women and femme-identified individuals are considered for inclusion.
While focused on English-language resources created or published within the past five years, a few older resources are included. This is not a comprehensive list by any means.
This resource was created as an intervention of sorts, given the rising oppression and violence against Sudanese women. Its aim is to provide resource ideas for anyone seeking new reading or increased understanding, hosting feminist book clubs, or adding new options to their feminist course syllabi.
Photo at left taken in 2019 by Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah.
About Us
Yassmin Abdel-Magied
A former mechanical engineer, Yassmin has published four books, written two plays and is currently developing a number of projects for screen. Across fiction and non-fiction, Yassmin explores human and power dynamics in politics, culture and technology. From tiktoks to literary essays, Yassmin analyses systemic challenges, reframes established narratives and makes complex ideas accessible to all.
An award-winning speaker and globally sought-after advisor on engaging diverse communities and inclusive leadership, Yassmin has delivered keynotes and workshops in 25 countries in Arabic, English and a smattering of French. She founded her first organisation, Youth Without Borders, at the age of 16, leading it for nine years before co-founding two other organisations focused on serving women of colour. Yassmin is currently a Trustee of the London Library and on the Executive Committee of the Black Writers Guild. Her TED talk has been viewed over 2.5 million times and recognised as one of TED’s top 10 ideas.
In all her work, Yassmin is an advocate for transformative justice and a fairer, safer world for all.
Safia Elhillo
Safia Elhillo is the author of The January Children (University of Nebraska Press, 2017), which received the the Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets and an Arab American Book Award, Girls That Never Die (One World/Random House, 2022), and the novel in verse Home Is Not A Country (Make Me A World/Random House, 2021), which was longlisted for the National Book Award and received a Coretta Scott King Book Award Author Honor.
Sudanese by way of Washington, DC, Safia received the 2015 Brunel International African Poetry Prize, and was listed in Forbes Africa’s 2018 “30 Under 30.” Her work appears in POETRY Magazine, Callaloo, and The Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-day series, among others, and in anthologies including The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop and The Penguin Book of Migration Literature. Her work has been translated into several languages, and commissioned by Under Armour, Cuyana, and the Bavarian State Ballet. With Fatimah Asghar, she is co-editor of the anthology Halal If You Hear Me (Haymarket Books, 2019).
Nada Elmikashfi
From an early age, Nada Elmikashfi has been passionate about climate change, politics, social justice, and activism. After emigrating to Wisconsin from Sudan, she studied Legal Studies and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin and organized for the climate org NextGen.
Since 2021, Nada has been serving as Chief of Staff for Wisconsin Representative Francesca Hong. Nada previously ran as a climate-focused candidate for Wisconsin Senate and served on the Sustainable Madison Commission. She is currently writing the Wisconsin Green New Deal and is a consultant for political campaigns on climate justice and sustainability. Along with being a columnist for Isthmus in Madison, WI, Nada enjoys hiking and graphic design.
Gayatri Sethi, PhD
Gayatri Sethi is an educator, writer, and community builder. She teaches and writes about Social Justice, Global Studies, and Comparative Education. She is a learner of decolonization, liberation and abolition. Born in Tanzania and raised in Botswana, she is of Punjabi descent, multilingual, and polycultural. She reflects on these lifelong experiences of identity, immigration, and belonging in her award-winning non-fiction book titled Unbelonging.
Gayatri is also an earnest advocate for KidLit community, as a creator of initiatives to build solidarity among diaspora writers for young people. When she is not reading or recommending reads on Instagram as @desibookaunty, she is envisioning traveling, collaborating and gathering for liberation in collectives.
Karla J. Strand, DPhil, MLIS
Karla J. Strand is a librarian, historian, and writer living and working on the ancestral lands of the Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi peoples, also known as Wisconsin. Committed to queer, feminist, anti-racist, and anti-colonial knowledge and praxis, Karla helps facilitate healing through somatic trauma-informed coaching using bibliotherapy, astrology, tarot, and genealogy.
A regular contributor to Ms. Magazine, Karla makes book recommendations in her popular "Reads for the Rest of Us" column online and in "Bookmarks" in the print magazine. She also writes a column focused on tarot, witchcraft, astrology, and wellness for Literary Craft Editorial, the publication of Spirit Bound Press. Karla can be found @karlajstrand on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, BlueSky, and Threads.