Reem Gaafar

Gaafar grew up between New Zealand and Oman.{{Cite web |title=Reem Gaafar |url=https://andariya.com/authors/5a537422f39d8e0014d22f6a/Reem%20Gaafar/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Andariya magazine}} In 2007, she obtained a Bachelor degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Juba in what was then southern Sudan. After having first served as a clinical practitioner, she turned towards public health in 2012 and served as community medicine resident at the Sudan Medical Specialization Board. In 2014, she obtained a Master of Public Health from the University of Liverpool, UK.{{Cite book |last1=Balakrishnan |first1=Melodena Stephens |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2F2EAAAQBAJ |title=Agile Government: Emerging Perspectives In Public Management |last2=Awamleh |first2=Raed |last3=Salem |first3=Fadi |date=2022-04-07 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-12-3971-7 |pages=445 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Diab |first=Ola |date=2023-07-30 |title=Interview with Reem Gaafar, The First Sudanese to Win The Island Prize for African Novels |url=https://500wordsmag.com/interviews/interview-with-reem-gaafar-the-first-sudanese-to-win-the-island-prize-for-african-novels/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=500 Words Magazine |language=en-US}}

As a researcher and public health physician, Gaafar has been affiliated to the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and since 2022 as Graduate Research assistant at the Faculty of Health Sciences of Ontario Tech University in Canada. As consultant, she has worked for organizations including the WHO country office in Khartoum, the Transitional Government and Federal Ministry of Health in Sudan, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, as well as for health communication campaigns in the MENA region.{{Cite web |title=Reem Gaafar, Maysoon Dahab and Rahaf Abukoura, Author at African Arguments |url=https://africanarguments.org/author/reem-gaafar/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=African Arguments |language=en-GB}} Among others, she has published studies related to COVID-19, mental health policy and health risks of children in Sudan and the UAE.{{Cite web |title=Reem Gaafar |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Reem-Gaafar |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Researchgate}}{{Cite web |last=Abukoura |first=Reem Gaafar, Maysoon Dahab and Rahaf |date=2022-01-28 |title=Covid-19 Response in Sudan: The Pandemic vs. the Politics |url=https://africanarguments.org/2022/01/covid-19-response-in-sudan-the-pandemic-vs-the-politics/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=African Arguments |language=en-GB}} In a 2014 article published by Al Jazeera, she was quoted with her very critical experience of the public health sector in Sudan.{{Cite web |last=Syeed |first=Nafeesa |title=Sudan hospitals |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/1/6/sudans-hospitals-ravaged-by-privatisation |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}

In 2020, Gaafar was shortlisted for the Miles Moreland Foundation Writing Scholarship. In 2023, she won the Island Prize for a debut novel from Africa for the manuscript of her novel A Mouth Full of Salt. The title of the book refers to a Sudanese proverb that evokes the "taste left in one’s mouth after a great loss."{{Cite web |last=Snaje |first=Olivia |date=2024-04-12 |title=History, superstition, and realism come together in Sudanese author Reem Gaafar's 'A Mouth Full of Salt' |url=https://www.theafricareport.com/342282/history-superstition-and-realism-come-together-in-sudanese-author-reem-gaafars-a-mouth-full-of-salt/ |access-date=2024-04-16 |website=www.theafricareport.com}} She is the first novelist from Sudan to be distinguished by this award.{{Cite web |last=Malec |first=Jennifer |date=2023-06-15 |title=Sudanese writer Reem Gaafar wins 2023 Island Prize for 'compelling, profound and brilliant' debut novel A Mouth Full of Salt |url=https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2023/06/15/the-jrb-daily-sudanese-writer-reem-gaafar-wins-2023-island-prize-for-compelling-profound-and-brilliant-debut-novel-a-mouth-full-of-salt/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=The Johannesburg Review of Books |language=en-US}} The publisher Holland House Books gave a short description of this story, published in 2024 by Saqi Books:{{Cite web |title=Saqi Books scoops 'searing' debut novel from Gaafar |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/saqi-books-scoops-searing-debut-novel-from-gaafar |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}}{{Cite web |title=The Shortlist 2023 {{!}} Holland House Books |url=https://www.hhousebooks.com/the-shortlist-2023/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |language=en-GB}}

{{Blockquote|text=During the search for a drowned boy in the North of Sudan, a strange woman appears and with her a series of strange and tragic events. Animals die of a mysterious illness; the date tree field catches fire and burns to the ground; a young girl dies. The women in this story are trapped in a gender and racial hierarchy, with ingrained bigotry blaming all change in society on evil outside forces.|author=Holland House Books|title=A Mouth Full of Salt, Reem Gaafar|source=}}

Gaafar also has advocated for women’s rights, women's health and civil society at large. In their 2019 article entitled Sudanese Women at the Heart of the Revolution, Gaafar and Sudanese journalist Omnia Shawkat explained the reasons, actions and vital role of Sudanese women before and during the 2018/19 Sudanese revolution. An important aspect in their analysis is the role that social media platforms have provided for the revolutionary mobilisation, where traditional media have failed.{{Cite web|last=Shawkat|first=Omnia and Reem Gaafar|date=12 February 2019|title=Sudanese Women at the Heart of the Revolution|url=https://africanfeminism.com/sudanese-women-at-the-heart-the-revolution/|access-date=6 March 2021|website=African Feminism (AF)|language=en-US}} Her fiction and non-fiction writing has been published in magazines including African Arguments, African Feminism, Teakisi Magazine, Andariya, 500 Words Magazine, International Health Policies and Health Systems Global.{{Cite web |last=Ijeoma |first=Eneanya |date=2023-06-21 |title=Reem Gaafar is Blurring the Lines between Science and Creativity: In Conversation with Afrocritik |url=https://www.afrocritik.com/reem-gaafar-is-blurring-the-lines-between-science-and-creativity-in-conversation-with-afrocritik/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Afrocritik |language=en}}

• A Mouth Full of Salt. 2024. London: Saqi Books, ISBN 978-0-86356-772-8.

Short stories

• Light of the Desert. Magid, Djamela, et al. (eds). 2014. I Know Two Sudans: An Anthology of Creative Writing from Sudan and South Sudan. {{ISBN|978-0993110801|}}
• Finding Descartes. Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond (ed.). 2023. Relations: An Anthology of African and Diaspora Voices. New York: Harpervia, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN 978-0063089044

Essays and journalistic articles

• The Never Ending Search For Home. 2016.{{Cite web |last=Gaafar |first=Reem |date=2016-12-18 |title=The Never Ending Search For Home |url=https://teakisi.com/the-never-ending-search-for-home/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Teakisi |language=en-GB}}
• 30 Sudanese Women You Should Know. 2016.{{Cite web |last=Gaafar |first=Reem |date=2016-06-15 |title=30 Sudanese Women You Should Know |url=https://teakisi.com/30-sudanese-women-you-should-know/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Teakisi |language=en-GB}}
• Briefcase: Bridging Musical Generational Gaps. 2017.{{Cite web |title=Briefcase: Bridging Musical Generational Gaps by Reem Gaafar |url=https://andariya.com/post/Briefcase-Bridging-Musical-Generational-Gaps |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Andariya}}
• FGM, Women Driving, And The Stockholm Syndrome Of Oppressive Societies. 2017.{{Cite web |last=Gaafar |first=Reem |date=2017-10-20 |title=FGM, Women Driving, And The Stockholm Syndrome Of Oppressive Societies |url=https://teakisi.com/fgm-women-driving-and-the-stockholm-syndrome-of-oppressive-societies/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Teakisi |language=en-GB}}
• Sudan Revolts. 2018.{{Cite web |last=Gaafar |first=Reem |date=2018-01-17 |title=Sudan Revolts |url=https://teakisi.com/sudan-revolts/ |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=Teakisi |language=en-GB}}
• Sudanese Women at the Heart of the Revolution. 2019.
• Covid-19 Response in Sudan: The Pandemic vs. the Politics. 2022.

• Sudanese literature
• List of Sudanese writers

{{Reflist}}

• Magid, Djamela et al. (eds.), [http://www.andariya.com/post/I-Know-Two-Sudans I Know Two Sudans: An Anthology of Creative Writing from Sudan and South Sudan], 2014

• [https://life.reemgaafar.com Life from Reem’s Perspective], Reem Gaafar's personal blog
• [http://500wordsmag.com/interviews/interview-with-reem-gaafar-the-first-sudanese-to-win-the-island-prize-for-african-novels/ Interview with Reem Gaafar] on 500 Words magazine
• [https://qantara.de/en/article/year-war-sudan-we-havent-lived-dignity-long-time Interview with Reem Gaafar on her writing and the forgotten war in Sudan]

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Category:1982 births

Category:Alumni of the University of Liverpool

Category:Living people

Category:Sudanese journalists

Category:Sudanese scientists

Category:Sudanese women activists

Category:Sudanese women journalists

Category:University of Juba alumni

Category:Sudanese expatriates in Canada

Category:Sudanese women novelists

Category:Sudanese novelists