GAITANO Stella
Country: Sudan
Year of Birth: 1979
Biography
Stella Gaitano (1979) is a South Sudanese writer and activist who writes in Arabic. Born in Khartoum, she studies pharmacy before turning to literature. Her fiction explores war, displacement, identity, exile and the intertwined histories of Sudan and South Sudan. She is the author of several short-story collections and novels and her work has been featured internationally.
Her novel “Edo’s Souls” was the first South Sudanese novel to win the PEN prize for translation. In 2024, this novel was nominated to the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation. Her novel Ireme was on the shortlist in PEN English and Booker Prize Award for translation in April 2025.
In 2022, she moved to Germany through the PEN Writers-in-Exile programme. In 2025, she shared the PEN Pinter Prize with novelist Leila Aboulela and was named an English PEN Writer of Courage.
Titles
Withered Flowers, short stories| Zuhūr Dhābila (2004)
A Lake the Size of a Papaya Fruit, short stories | Buhayra bi Hajjm Shajaret el-Babāya (2003)
The Return, short stories | Al-‘Awda (2015)
Edo’s Souls | Arwah Edo (2018)
Ireme | Ireem (2025)
In the press
“The South Sudanese author, Stella Gaitano, transforms the pain of war and dual identity into a powerful literary voice, using myth and poetics to deconstruct tragedy and advocate for self-reconciliation… She creates a world where spirits coexist with humans, and memory with dreams, in a language that combines poetry and political precision. This blend has made her one of the most prominent figures in post-war Sudan and South Sudanesse literature.” — Geeska, 2025
“Throughout her short stories, Gaitano doesn’t romanticise suffering. Instead, she humanises it… Through her characters, she highlights themes such as dual identity, exile, and the betrayal of liberation. Her writing style is lyrical yet grounded, weaving myth and metaphor into narratives that feel both timeless and urgent deconstructing tragedy and advocate for self-reconciliation. ” — The Sudanist, 2025
“Stella Gaitano is a wonderful, enriching writer who has already broken new ground in African literature.” — Leila Aboulela, PEN Pinter Prize
Cessions
Withered Flowers (2004)
Rafiki edition (Arabic, English, 2015)
A Lake the Size of a Papaya Fruit (2003)
Magellan & Cie (French, 2009)
The Return (2015)
Rafiki edition (Arabic, and English, 2015)
Edo’s Souls (2018, 2022)