Tayeb Salih

@Writers, Family and Childhood ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Tayeb Salih was a Sudanese author who shot to fame through his novel ‘Season of Migration to the North’ Cancer Celebrities Sudanese Writers Novelists Tayeb Salih was a Sudanese author who shot to fame through his novel ‘Season of Migration to the North’. He was often described as the ‘genius of the modern Arab novel’ by literary critics. Coming from a humble background of religious educators and small farmers, Tayeb Salih set his storylines grounded to his hometown, outlining the communal rural life. In a period when social criticism, bitter realities of life and committed literature dominated Arabic literature, he broke the monotony with his distinct ideologies of his cultural background and religious upbringing. After a stint in teaching, journalism and broadcasting, he took to writing and authored some of the most acclaimed literary works. ‘Mawsim al-Hijra ila al-Shamal’ (or ‘Season of Migration to the North’) became his classic work of fiction of his literary career, which made him one of the greatest Arabic authors of the 20th century. Despite being the top novelist in the Arab world, his works were hardly recognized in the US. Nevertheless, such was his popularity that his novels have seen translations in more than 20 languages. Some of the novels authored by him include ‘Urs al-Zayn’, ‘Al-Rajul al Qubrosi’, ‘Doumat Wad Hamid’, and ‘A Handful of Dates’. He introduced a Yearly Award to encourage and appreciate young and budding writers

Personal Details

Birthday: July 12, 1929 Died on: February 18, 2009 Nationality: Sudanese Famous: Writers, Novelists Known as: Tayib Salih Universities: University of London University of Khartoum Birth Place: Al Dabbah, Sudan Information Detail Birthday July 12, 1929 Died on February 18, 2009 Nationality Sudanese Famous Writers, Novelists Known as Tayib Salih Universities University of London University of Khartoum Birth Place Al Dabbah, Sudan Gender Male Sun Sign Cancer Born in Al Dabbah, Sudan Famous as Writer Died at Age 79

Al Dabbah, Sudan

Tayeb Salih born at Unsplash Birth Place

In 1965, he married Julia Maclean, a Scottish native, and settled down in south-west London. The couple has three daughters – Zainab, Sara, and Samira. Unsplash Personal Life

He died on February 18, 2009, at the age of 80, after suffering from a kidney failure in a London hospital. Unsplash Personal Life

His body was flown to Sudan where he was buried at al-Bakri Cemetery, Omdurman, on February 20, in the presence of over 1,500 mourners. Unsplash Personal Life

Tayeb Salih was born on July 12, 1929 in Karmakal, close to Al Dabbah village, northern Sudan, into a family of farmers and religious teachers. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He went to quranic school initially and later completed his schooling from Gordon College, Khartoum. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He attended the University of Khartoum and started working as a teacher, with the desire of making a career in agriculture. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Eventually, he left for the University of London, England, for higher studies. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

After graduating from the University of London, he started working with BBC’s Arabic Service as the Head of Drama. He was then hired by the Ministry of Information, Doha, Qatar, as Director-General. Unsplash Career

For ten years, he worked as UNESCO’s representative in the Gulf States. Unsplash Career

He was introduced to literature while working at al Majalla, a London-based Arabic magazine, where he used to write a weekly column. Unsplash Career

Most of his fictional works were centered on the village life and complex relationships of people in northern Sudan, despite living abroad for most of his life. Unsplash Career

He released his novel ‘Mawsim al-Hijra ila al-Shamal’ in 1966, which was published in English in 1969 and was later translated into over 30 languages. Unsplash Career

Through his 1964 ‘A Handful of Dates’, a collection of short stories, he attempted to make the reader realize that life offers plenty of choices and is not just a palette full of worries. Unsplash Major Works

His 1966 masterpiece ‘Mawsim al-Hijra ila al-Shamal’, translated as ‘Season of Migration to the North’, describing the clash of east-west civilizations, is a modern classic work of Arab literature, which made him world-famous. Unsplash Major Works

He launched the Yearly Award, in association with Abdelkarim Mirghani Cultural Centre, Omdurman, in 1998, wherein the Board of Trustees awards a writer from the participating novels. The first prize was given away in 2003. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	July 12, 1929
Died on	February 18, 2009
Nationality	Sudanese
Famous	Writers, Novelists
Known as	Tayib Salih
Universities	University of London University of Khartoum
Birth Place	Al Dabbah, Sudan
Gender	Male
Sun Sign	Cancer
Born in	Al Dabbah, Sudan
Famous as	Writer
Died at Age	79

Tayeb Salih

Sudanese

Jul 12, 1929

Biography

Personal Details

Al Dabbah, Sudan