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In the Studio: Leila Aboulela: Writing the Stories of Scotland and Sudan

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Leila Aboulela – writing the shared histories of Scotland and Sudan

04/12/2018 GMT

Leila Aboulela: Writing the Stories of Scotland and Sudan

BBC World Service - In the Studio, Leila Aboulela: Writing the Stories of Scotland and Sudan

Sudanese author Leila Aboulela develops the storyline for her latest novel

Andrea Kidd joins Sudanese writer Leila Aboulela during an arts residency in Italy, to find out how this exchange of ideas is shaping her story about the rebuilding of Khartoum.

Leila Aboulela is a writer inspired by two very different continents. Born in Egypt, she grew up in Khartoum in Sudan and now lives in Aberdeen in the north east of Scotland. She won the first ever Caine Prize for African writing for her short story The Museum and her works reflect the interwoven history and cultures of the UK and Sudan.

Leila is normally a secretive writer, but in a complete change to her usual creative process, she has decided to take up a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation in Bellagio and share her ideas for her latest novel, which has the working title of Rammed Earth, Smooth River.  The BBC’s Andrea Kidd joins her on the shore of Lake Como, to find out how this Italian retreat and the conversations taking place with fellow residents, are impacting her story about the rebuilding of Khartoum following the siege it endured in the late 19th century.

(Image: Writer Leila Aboulela)

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