Reframing the Narrative on Sudan | Reading & Talk with Fatin Abbas & Tensae Desta

How do we write about war without reducing people to violence? How do stories preserve memory, care and belonging when homes, landscapes, and communities are transformed by conflict?

Join acclaimed Sudanese-American author Fatin Abbas for a reading from her novel Ghost Season and an evening exploring literature as a space for memory, resistance, and connection. Rooted in the borderlands of Sudan and South Sudan, Ghost Season tells a story of war through the lives of ordinary people, revealing not only loss and displacement, but also friendship, care, resilience and the fragile ties that hold communities together.

While Ghost Season is rooted in a different time and the fictive town of Saraaya, the novel's themes speak directly to the present. As war continues to devastate Sudan, Fatin Abbas' novel offers a lens through which to reflect on memory, displacement, care, and belonging - not through headlines or political analysis, but through the lives of the people who endure, remember, and imagine futures beyond violence.

Following the reading, Tensae Desta will join Fatin Abbas for a moderated conversation, followed by an open discussion with the audience.

The evening continues beyond the stage. Over Sudanese coffee and refreshments, you are invited to meet local feminist, anti-racist, and solidarity initiatives, browse a curated book table and connect across communities.

Whether you are part of the Sudanese community, active in social justice work or simply curious about literature and the stories that shape our understanding of the world, you are warmly welcome.

An evening organized by col.lit.ive and Sudan AG Rheinland, together with Afrika Film Festival Köln, Sudanesisch-Deutscher Verein and Frieden jetzt! Feministische Friedenskampagne Köln, supported by Buchsalon Ehrenfeld, Movement Hub and Mohammed Mustafa Abu Al-Hassan - thank you for lending us your art.