Ishraga Mustafa Hamid (, born 16 September 1961 in Kosti, Sudan) is an Austrian writer, translator,

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and human rights activist of Sudanese origin, living in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria, since 1993. A member of the Austrian PEN-Club, her works mainly deal with her own or other migrants' experience of

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

, racism or other forms of discrimination.

Early life and education

Mustafa Hamid studied journalism at the

University of Khartoum The University of Khartoum (U of K) () is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 1956 when Sudan gained independen ...

and first worked as a journalist. After the coup d'état of

Omar al-Bashir Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (born 1 January 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as Head of state of Sudan, Sudan's head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in 2019 Sudanese c ...

, she emigrated to Austria in 1993 and enrolled at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

for another degree in journalism, this time in German. Moreover, she earned her PhD in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

about processes of

empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

Black women Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

of African descent in Vienna.

Career

After completing her studies, Mustafa Hamid worked as lecturer at the University of Vienna and acted as counselor and researcher for the city of Vienna, focussing on female victims of

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

. She also co-founded the 'African Women's Community', wrote studies about racism,

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

and

reproductive health Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's Human reproductive system, reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Se ...

issues relating to female migrants and has spoken at conferences and universities. As a member of the Austrian writers'

PEN club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

, she has edited anthologies and translated contemporary

Arabic poetry Arabic poetry ( ''ash-shi‘r al-‘arabīyy'') is one of the earliest forms of Arabic literature. Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry contains the bulk of the oldest poetic material in Arabic, but Old Arabic inscriptions reveal the art of poetry existe ...

into German. Further, she translated a story by fellow Sudanese writer

Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin (Arabic: عبد العزيز بركة ساكن, born in Kassala, Sudan, in 1963) is a Sudanese fiction writer with roots in Darfur in western Sudan, whose literary work was banned in Sudan in 2011. Since 2012, he has live ...

, who lives in exile in Austria. In 2015, she edited an anthology of contemporary Arabic poetry, entitled „''Symphonie der Rub al-Chali''" (''Symphony of

Rub' al Khali The Rub' al KhaliOther standardized transliterations include: /. The ' is the assimilated Arabic definite article, ', which can also be transliterated as '. (; , ) or Empty Quarter is a desert encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabi ...

'') in her German translation. Further, she is an associate editor of the bilingual 'Words and Worlds' magazine for

migrant literature Migrant literature, sometimes written by migrants themselves, tells stories of immigration. Settings Although any experience of migration would qualify an author to be classed under migrant literature, the main focus of recent research has been on ...

, published in cooperation with the Austrian writers' PEN-Club. In a

video recording Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) system ...

of a conference about Arabic literature in July 2021, she named English writer

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

and Sudanese novelist

Malkat al-Dar Muhammad Malkat al-Dar Mohamed Abdullah (, Sudanese Arabic, Sudanese: , 1920 – 17 November 1969), also spelled as Malikah ad-Dar, was a List of Sudanese writers, Sudanese literary writer, educator and Gender inequality in Sudan, women's rights acti ...

as early influences on her as a

feminist writer Feminist literature is fiction, nonfiction, drama, or poetry, which supports the feminist goals of defining, establishing, and defending equal civil, political, economic, and social rights for women. It often addresses the roles of women in soci ...

. In 2020, her short story "On the train", where she gives an account of leaving her home town in Sudan, was translated into English by Jonathan Wright and published online by literary magazine The Common, based at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

in the U.S. The 2021 collection of stories ''Mo(a)t'' by authors of the

Arab diaspora Arab diaspora is a term that refers to descendants of the Arab emigrants who, voluntarily or forcibly, migrated from their native lands to non-Arab countries, primarily in the Americas, Europe, Southeast Asia, and West Africa. Immigrants from ...

and published by

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

Publishing Project also presented one of her stories. As of 2021, Mustafa Hamid has published or edited seven volumes in Arabic and six books in German. In January 2023, her Arabic memoir ''Woman of two rivers'' was awarded as one of fifteen books from ten languages a PEN Translates grant.

Awards

In October 2020, she was awarded the "Golden Medal of Merit" by the city of Vienna.

References

External links

Excerpt of her autobiography 'Razor blade rattle and the beginnings of being tamed'
translated by Sawad Hussain
Short biography in German as well as her poem "Desert of the Body – Body of the Desert" in German and Arabic

Short story "On the Train" by Ishraga Mustafa
translated by Jonathan Wright
Ishraqa Mustafa Hamid speaking about women and youth in the Sudanese Revolution
video on YouTube in Arabic with English subtitles
Video with Mauritanian novelist Ahmed Val Bin El Dine and Sudanese writer Ishraga Mustafa, from the July 2021 conference 'Bilaa hudood: Arabic literature everywhere'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafa Hamid, Ishraga 1961 births Living people 21st-century political scientists University of Khartoum alumni Austrian writers Austrian women writers Sudanese writers Sudanese women writers

Early life and education

Career

Awards

See also

References

External links