Thirteen Months of Sunrise

Book excerpt: A 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. From painful encounters with loved ones to unexpected new friendships, Mamoun illuminates the breadth of human experience and explores, with humour and compassion, the alienation, isolation and estrangement that is urban life. Translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette. One of World Literature Today's 75 Notable Translations of 2019. One of The Guardian's 'Top 10 books about Sudan'. One of Bustle's '25 New Short Story Collections To Read This Summer'. One of Bookshy Book's 'Ten-Plus Short Story Collections from Writers of African Origin'. It is a phenomental, exacting collection. It's intense and intimate, and always bordering, with absolute control, on the subversive and erotic. It's also very funny - Rania Mamoun is an extraordinary talent.' - Preti Taneja, author of We That Are Young ‘A stunning collection, remarkable for its sweet clarity of voice and startling depictions of the marginalised and the destitute. With mastery, Rania Mamoun reaches straight into the heartbeat of her subject matter, laying bare humanity in all its tenderness and tenacity.’ - Leila Aboulela, author of Elsewhere Home