the editor and translator of The Book of Khartoum, Max Shmookler, Sudanese literature of the late 20th century is characterized by an "association between estrangement (ghurba) and the West (al-gharb)" that "has run deep in Sudanese society and literature." This cultural contrast between a largely conservative society, even in the urban centres, and the growing influence of a globalized world, is reflected in the choice of characters and plots of many contemporary authors. Examples for this contrast and estrangement can be found in Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North, but also in stories about human tragedy, like the pandemic in Amir Taj al-Sir's novel Ebola 76 or in the short story Isolation by one of the youngest authors, Sabah Sanhouri. Notable Sudanese writers The list of Sudanese literary authors with works written in Arabic, with some of them translated into English, comprises both established as well as emerging male and female writers: The first novel depicting the life of a working woman in Sudan was "Al-Faragh al-'arid" (The Wide Void). Written by the short story writer and novelist Malkat al-Dar Mohamed in the early 1950s, it was only published after her death in 1969. Arguably the most notable Sudanese writer is Tayeb Salih (1929–2009), who wrote both novels and short stories. His most famous work, translated as Season of Migration to the North and published in 1966, deals with the coming of age of a student returning to Sudan from England. The novel was banned in the author's native Sudan for a period of time, because of its sexual imagery, but later it has been readily available. It became famous among Arabic readers across the region, was included in Banipal magazine's list of the 100 Best Arabic Novels, and has been translated into more than twenty languages. Ibrahim Ishaq (1946–2021) was a Sudanese novelist and short story writer, whose narrative works are mostly set in his native Darfur region of western Sudan. From 1969 on, he published six novels and three collections of short stories, as well as academic studies about the history and literature of Africa. Through his subject-matter and elements of the local forms of language, he introduced the life and culture of Darfur to readers in other parts of the country. Fatima al-Sanoussi (born in the 1950s) worked both as journalist, writer and translator. She is known for her flash fiction that had a strong