Leila Aboulela: Writing the Stories of Scotland and Sudan

Leila Aboulela is a writer inspired by two very different continents. Born in Egypt, she grew up in Khartoum in Sudan and now lives in Aberdeen in the north east of Scotland. She won the first ever Caine Prize for African writing for her short story The Museum and her works reflect the interwoven history and cultures of the UK and Sudan.

Leila is normally a secretive writer, but in a complete change to her usual creative process, she has decided to take up a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation in Bellagio and share her ideas for her latest novel, which has the working title of Rammed Earth, Smooth River. The BBC’s Andrea Kidd joins her on the shore of Lake Como, to find out how this Italian retreat and the conversations taking place with fellow residents, are impacting her story about the rebuilding of Khartoum following the siege it endured in the late 19th century.

(Image: Writer Leila Aboulela)