Bushra Elfadil
Bushra Elfadil is a Sudanese writer and winner of the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story entitled “The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away,” translated by Max Shmookkler. “The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away” vividly describes life in a bustling market through the eyes of the narrator, who becomes entranced by a beautiful woman he sees there one day. After a series of brief encounters, tragedy unexpectedly befalls the woman and her young female companion. Nii Ayikwei Parkes praised the story, saying, “the winning story is one that explores through metaphor and an altered, inventive mode of perception – including, for the first time in the Caine Prize, illustration – the allure of, and relentless threats to freedom. Rooted in a mix of classical traditions as well as the vernacular contexts of its location, Bushra al-Fadil’s “The Story of the Girl Whose Birds Flew Away”, is at once a very modern exploration of how assaulted from all sides and unsupported by those we would turn to for solace we can became mentally exiled in our own lands, edging in to a fantasy existence where we seek to cling to a sort of freedom until ultimately we slip into physical exile.” His most recent collection Above a City’s Sky was published in 2012, the same year he won the al-Tayeb Salih Short Story Award. Elfadil holds a PhD in Russian language and literature. He lives in Saudi Arabia.
Links
- Bushra al-Fadil wins 18th Caine Prize for African Writing. The Caine Prize. 3 July 2017.
- Sudanese writer wins the 2017 Caine Prize for African writing. Daily Nation. 7 July 2017.
- An Interview with Bushra al-Fadil. Wasafiri.
Media
Seminar with Magogodi Makhene | February 27, 2018
Reading with Magogodi Makhene | February 27, 2018