Global Learning
Explore Library resources for study abroad, international learning, and countries represented by our Kirkwood students.
About Sudan
Some facts about Sudan, from Global Road Warrior database:
- "Sudan is a country in northeast Africa covering over 1.5 million square kilometers (575,000 sq miles) with coastline along the Red Sea."
- "The country’s official languages are Arabic and English though more than 100 different languages and dialects are spoken throughout Sudan."
- "The savannas of Sudan are dominated by acacia trees, grasses, thorny trees, and baobab trees. Much of the country’s natural vegetation has been lost over the years to desertification. Wildlife includes antelope, giraffes, elephants, cheetahs, lions, leopards, rhinoceroses, and several kinds of monkeys. Common birds are bustards, storks, and guinea fowl, while among the country’s reptiles are crocodiles and various lizards. Sudan has several protected areas including Dinder and Radom national parks, which are also UNESCO biosphere reserves."
- Read much more about Sudan in Global Road Warrior!
Books and other sources about Sudan
Modern Sudanese Poetry by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781496218216Publication Date: 2019Spanning more than six decades of Sudan's post-independence history, this collection features work by some of Sudan's most renowned modern poets, largely unknown in the United States.
The World and Darfur by Call Number: 962.404 W927ISBN: 9780773535350Publication Date: 2009This updated edition of The World and Darfur brings together genocide scholars from a range of disciplines - social history, art history, military history, African studies, media studies, literature, political science, and sociology - to provide a cohesive and nuanced understanding of the international response to the crisis in Western Sudan. Contributing authors, including Eric Reeves, Frank Chalk, Eric Markusen, and Samuel Totten, look at the lessons learned from the United Nations' failure to intervene during the Rwandan genocide, the representation of Darfur in the mainstream media, atrocity investigations, activist and NGO campaigns, art exhibitions and political rhetoric, and the role of the international community in the discourse of genocide prevention and intervention.
What Is the What by Call Number: 813.6 E295wISBN: 9780307385901Publication Date: 2007The epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children --the so-called Lost Boys--was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom. When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges.
South Sudan by Call Number: 962.9 J667sISBN: 9780821422427Publication Date: 2016Africa's newest nation has a long history. Often considered remote and isolated from the rest of Africa, and usually associated with the violence of slavery and civil war, South Sudan has been an arena for a complex mixing of peoples, languages, and beliefs. The nation's diversity is both its strength and a challenge as its people attempt to overcome the legacy of decades of war to build a new economic, political, and national future. Most recent studies of South Sudan's history have a foreshortened sense of the past, focusing on current political issues, the recently ended civil war, or the ongoing conflicts within the country and along its border with Sudan.
Son of Elsewhere by Call Number: 971.004 A135sISBN: 9780593496855Publication Date: 2022At twelve years old, Elamin Abdelmahmoud emigrates with his family from his native Sudan to Kingston, Ontario, arguably one of the most homogenous cities in North America. At the airport, he's handed his Blackness like a passport, and realizes that he needs to learn what this identity means in a new country. Like all teens, Abdelmahmoud spent his adolescence trying to figure out who he was, but he had to do it while learning to balance a new racial identity and all the false assumptions that came with it.
The Drowning by Call Number: 892.737 Z824dISBN: 9781623719067Publication Date: 2022Sudan, 1968, the military coup taking place in Khartoum echoes all the way to the small rural town of Hajer Narti, where the body of a young girl has been found in the Nile. Fatima shows up, as according to popular belief, when the Nile brings a new body back, it also brings back an old one. Fatima is still looking for her daughter Souad, believed to have drowned many years ago.
No Time to Mourn: An Anthology by South Sudanese Women by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9970480189Publication Date: 2020No Time to Mourn is a collection of short stories, poems, artwork and photography penned, produced and presented by South Sudanese women. It reflects the lives of the women writers and artists, and at the same time gives voice to the very real lived experiences and lives of every woman of South Sudanese heritage. The ideas and experiences in this book span decades they straddle borders, they cross continents and describe events that are hard to imagine, even with some knowledge of South Sudan's history.
God Grew Tired of Us by Call Number: 962.404 D235gISBN: 9781426201141Publication Date: 2007A tale of suffering, tragedy, and sorrow redeemed by indomitable resolve and a stubborn refusal to despair, it is set in a Sudan shadowed by unrelenting war and ruthless violence, yet illuminated by faith, generosity, and steadfast commitment to the human spirit's finest instincts. It's also the eloquently plain-spoken self-portrait of a young man who has looked death in the face many times and come away with an inner strength as impressive as it is modest and a wisdom as inspiring as it is matter of fact.
Breaking Sudan by Call Number: 962.905 J749bISBN: 9781786070036Publication Date: 2017Breaking Sudan is a meticulous account, analyzing why violence became so deeply entrenched in Sudanese society and exploring what can be done to find peace in two countries ravaged by war.
My Name Is Sangoel by Call Number: Easy Reading 305.906 W724mISBN: 9780802853073Publication Date: 2009Sangoel is a refugee. Leaving behind his homeland of Sudan, where his father died in the war, he has little to call his own other than his name, a Dinka name handed down proudly from his father and grandfather before him. When Sangoel and his mother and sister arrive in the United States, everything seems very strange and unlike home.
Lyrics Alley by Call Number: 892.736 A155LISBN: 9780802119513Publication Date: 2011Lyrics Alley is the evocative story of an affluent Sudanese family shaken by the shifting powers in their country and the near-tragedy that threatens the legacy they've built for decades.
Minaret by Call Number: 892.736 A155mISBN: 9780802170149Publication Date: 2005Leila Aboulela's American debut is a provocative, timely, and engaging novel about a young Muslim woman -- once privileged and secular in her native land and now impoverished in London -- gradually embracing her orthodox faith. With her Muslim hijab and down-turned gaze, Najwa is invisible to most eyes, especially to the rich families whose houses she cleans in London.
River Spirit by Call Number: Popular Books ABOISBN: 9780802160669Publication Date: 2023The spellbinding new novel from New York Times Notable Author and Caine Prize winner Leila Aboulela about an embattled young woman's coming of age during the Mahdist War in 19th century Sudan. Leila Aboulela, hailed as "a versatile prose stylist" (New York Times) has also been praised by J.M. Coetzee, Ali Smith, and Ben Okri, among others, for her rich and nuanced novels depicting Islamic spiritual and political life.
Long Walk to Water, A by Call Number: English Language Acquisition 006 P235LISBN: 9780547577319Publication Date: 2011Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park interweaves the stories of two Sudanese children who overcome mortal dangers to improve their lives and the lives of others. A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours' walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay.
Brothers in Hope by Call Number: Easy Reading 962.404 W725bISBN: 9781584302322Publication Date: 2013Based on heartbreaking yet inspirational true events in the lives of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Brothers in Hope is a story of remarkable courage, and an amazing testament to the unyielding power of the human spirit. Eight-year-old Garang is tending cattle far from his family's home in southern Sudan when war comes to his village. Frightened but unharmed, he returns to find everything has been destroyed. Soon Garang meets other boys whose villages have been attacked. Before long they become a moving band of thousands, walking hundreds of miles seeking safety -- first in Ethiopia and then in Kenya. The boys face numerous hardships and dangers along the way, but their faith and mutual support help keep the hope of finding a new home alive in their hearts.
Thirteen Months of Sunrise by Call Number: 892.737 M265tISBN: 9781910974391Publication Date: 2019A young woman sits by her father's deathbed, lamenting her failure to keep a promise to him... A struggling writer walks every inch of the city in search of inspiration, only to find it is much closer than she imagined... A girl collapses from hunger at the side of the road and is rescued by the most unlikely of saviours... In this powerful, debut collection, Rania Mamoun expertly blends the real and imagined to create a rich, complex and moving portrait of contemporary Sudan.
Girls That Never Die by Call Number: 811.6 E41gISBN: 9780593229484Publication Date: 2022Intimate poems that explore feminine shame and violence and imagine what liberation from these threats might look like, from the award-winning author of The January Children.
Home Is Not a Country by Call Number: Children's Literature 811.6 E41hISBN: 9780593177051Publication Date: 2021This powerful novel-in-verse captures one girl, caught between cultures, on an unexpected journey to face the ephemeral girl she might have been. Woven through with moments of lyrical beauty, this is a tender meditation on family, belonging, and home.
January Children, The by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9781496200075Publication Date: 2017Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets 2018 Arab American Book Award Winner, Poetry "A taut debut collection of heartfelt poems."--Publishers Weekly In her dedication Safia Elhillo writes, "The January Children are the generation born in Sudan under British occupation, where children were assigned birth years by height, all given the birth date January 1." What follows is a deeply personal collection of poems that describe the experience of navigating the postcolonial world as a stranger in one's own land.
Edo's Souls by Call Number: Popular Books GAIISBN: 9781915568137Publication Date: 2024Edo's Souls is a compelling, multi-generational epic that sees the three main characters trapped in a nation gripped by the terrors of civil war, forcing each one to confront their past selves, and to resolve what is most important to them - love, family, or country.
Wedding of Zein and Other Stories, The by Call Number: 892.736 S165wISBN: 9780894102011Publication Date: 1985A collection of short stories by Arabic author Tayeb Salih.The Wedding of Zein" unfolds in the same village on the upper Nile where Tayeb Salih's tragic masterpiece Season of Migration to the North is set. Here, however, the story that emerges through the overlapping, sometimes contradictory voices of the villagers is comic.
Season of Migration to the North by Call Number: 892.736 S165sISBN: 9781590173022Publication Date: 2009After years of study in Europe, the young narrator of Season of Migration to the North returns to his village along the Nile in the Sudan. It is the 1960s, and he is eager to make a contribution to the new postcolonial life of his country. Back home, he discovers a stranger among the familiar faces of childhood--the enigmatic Mustafa Sa'eed. Mustafa takes the young man into his confidence, telling him the story of his own years in London, of his brilliant career as an economist, and of the series of fraught and deadly relationships with European women that led to a terrible public reckoning and his return to his native land.
Good Braider, The by Call Number: Children's Literature 813.6 F228gISBN: 9781477816288Publication Date: 2013In spare free verse laced with unforgettable images, Viola's strikingly original voice sings out the story of her family's journey from war-torn Sudan, to Cairo, and finally to Portland, Maine. Here, in the sometimes too close embrace of the local Southern Sudanese Community, she dreams of South Sudan while she tries to navigate the strange world of America--a world where a girl can wear a short skirt, get a tattoo, or even date a boy; a world that puts her into sharp conflict with her traditional mother who, like Viola, is struggling to braid together the strands of a displaced life.
Amira's Diary of the Sudanese Revolution and War by Call Number: Children's Literature 962.404 A267aISBN: 9798990049413Publication Date: 2024Young Amira takes readers through the events in Sudan from January 2018 to May 2023 via entries in her diary, which were developed through a process of narrative interviews and feedback from thirteen diverse Sudanese contributors.
Rope from the Sky, A: The Making and Unmaking of the World's Newest State by Call Number: 962.9 V567rISBN: 9781643130514Publication Date: 2019The untold story of America's attempt to forge a nation from scratch, from euphoric birth to heart-wrenching collapse. South Sudan's independence was celebrated around the world--a triumph for global justice and an end to one of the world's most devastating wars. But the party would not last long: South Sudan's freedom fighters soon plunged their new nation into chaos, shattering the promise of liberation and exposing the hubris of their foreign backers.
Films available to stream:
- Documentary: God Grew Tired of UsThree young men from Sudan embark on a journey to America after years of wandering Sub-Saharan Africa in search of safety.
- Movie (Drama) You Will Die at TwentyA moving meditation on what it means to live in the present, YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY is an auspicious debut and Sudan’s first Oscar submission, Shortly after his birth, the holy man of the village predicts that Muzamil will die at age 20. His father, unable to stand the curse, leaves home forcing Sakina to raise her son as an overly protective single mother.
- Documentary: Hope Road - a Sudanese Refugee Builds a School in His HometownA refugee of the Sudanese civil war, Zacharia (one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan), lives in Sydney with his wife and daughter. He desperately wants to do something for his former village, now in the newly created nation of South Sudan. His dream is to build a much-needed school, and he enlists the backing of numerous Australians who help him to raise funds, but his ambitious plans are challenged when life intervenes.
- Documentary: Khartoum OffsideSara is one of the pioneers and the team’s coach. She struggles not only with a lack of money, support and facilities, but also with bureaucratic problems: because she comes from South Sudan, the authorities make it difficult for her to stay in Khartoum. The filmmakers follow her and other team members in their daily lives, in surprisingly close detail. The women are outspoken about their opinions and talk—sometimes laughingly—about the violence and obstruction they have to deal with. The footage of soccer players on the field, lobbying for money, at work and on the road are punctuated by poetic close-ups of their bodies in action, as a celebration of strength and femininity.
- Documentary: All About DarfurA Sudanese immigrant to the UK returns to her homeland to understand why the seemingly racially harmonious country of her memories has become the scene of one of the worst instances of ethnic cleansing in recent history.
Up until now the perilous situation in Sudan has been seen only from outside the country. ALL ABOUT DARFUR offers an opportunity to hear it explained by eloquent, diverse even contradictory voices from within Sudan.
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