ABDELAZIZ BARAKA SAKIN is one of the most prominent writers from Sudan today. He was born in Kassala, eastern Sudan, in 1963 and lived in Khashm el-Girba until he was forced into exile abroad by the Islamist regime in Khartoum. Although most of his works are banned in his home country his books are secretly traded and circulated online among Sudanese readers of all generations. 

Sakin was awarded the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) for contributions to literature in France in 2023 and was the winner of the 2020 Prix de la Littérture Arabe. His seminal work, al-Jungo Masameer al-Ardh, which appeared in English as “The Jungo: Stakes of the Earth”, was the winner of Tayeb Salih’s Novel Award. His other novels include Maseeh Darfur (The Messiah of Darfur), al-Aashiq al-Badawi (The Bedouin Lover), and al-Khanadrees (The Khandarees). Sakin was made a

MAYADA IBRAHIM is a translator, editor, and writer based in New York, with roots in Khartoum and London.  Her translations have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and published by University of Nebraska Press, Willows House, Archipelago Books, Dolce Stil Criollo, and 128 Lit. She was awarded the 2023 ALTA Travel Fellowship, participated as a judge on the PEN America Translation Award 2021, and has written reviews for Modern Poetry in Translation.

ABDIL BABIKIR is a Sudanese translator based in the UAE and is the author of The Beauty Hunters: Sudanese Bedouin Poetry, Evolution and Impact.  His translations include The Jungo: Stakes of the Earth, a novel by Abdel Aziz Baraka Sakin; Mansi: a Rare Man in his Own Way, by Tayeb Salih (winner of Sheikh Hamad Translation Award, 2020); The Messiah of Darfur, also by Sakin; and Seven Strangers in Town, by Ahmad al-Malik.

Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin

Samahani

Translation by Mayada Ibrahim and Adil Babikir

SUDAN

ISBN: 978-1-7384463-6-0

Samahani means ‘forgive me’ in Swahili, two words that stand in stark contrast to everything that happens in this novel.

Set in 19th century Zanzibar, this is a dark story of slavery, cruelty and vengeance, that depict the agonies of the native Zanzibaris at the hands of both Europeans and Arabs, that turns their apparent island paradise into a living hell of cruelty and exploitation. Through the relationship between a spoilt, scheming, powerful Omani princess and her eunuch African slave Sundus, captured and castrated by Arab slavers, Sakin builds a grand narrative that paints a picture of barbarism and man’s inhumanity to man and becomes a furious cry against persecution in all its forms.