Estela Gaetano…simplicity stories
A collection of short stories in German
Estela Gaetano…simplicity stories
Sudan Events – Magda Hassan
The creative writer Estella Gaetano launched her collection of short stories in German, (Endless Days at Point Zero) amid great celebration from intellectuals and readers who love the word Estella, the simple writer who started writing early when she was the daughter of Sudan in general before she is currently described as the daughter of South Sudan.
Who is Estela Gaetano?
Stella Gaitano, born in 1978, is a South Sudanese writer and pharmacist.
She is known for her short stories that often highlight the harsh living conditions of South Sudanese, who have suffered from discrimination and military dictatorship, or because of their suffering from war in Northern part of Sudan. She has also been writing about public life in her new country since South Sudan’s independence in 2011.
Estela Gaetano: I am African, so it is natural that my upbringing was on stories. Grandmothers are pioneers and wells of secrets, tellers of amazing legends, which expanded my imagination to the limit, in addition to the cultural richness found in them.
Gaetano grew up in East Nile – Popular Housing – in Haj Youssuf before the secession of the South from northern Sudan, and learned several languages.
She spoke with her parents in Latoka, one of the languages of South Sudan, and spoke the Sudanese dialect and Arabic with other people.
I studied at the University of Khartoum in English and Arabic.
Gaetano writes her stories and novels in Arabic, which is her favorite language to write, even though Arabic is not the official language of South Sudan.
Gaetano said in an interview with the New York Times: “I love the Arabic language, and I love writing in it. “
It is the linguistic template that I want to fill my personal stories and culture with, which is distinct from the Arabs.” She explained the reasons for her preference for the Arabic language in her writings: “It was important to me that the North Sudanese realize that there are lives, values, and people with a different culture, and they need space to be recognised and respected.”
In 2020, her novel “Spirits of Edo” won the British Pen Prize for Translated Fiction.
Since 2012, Gaetano has been living in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, and working as a pharmacist while continuing her work in literary consulting.
Some of her books include:
New Paths, Sudanese Story Club, 2002
A lake the size of a pawpaw tree
Withered Flowers, Dar Azza, 2004
The Return, Dar Rafiqi, 2014
Spirits of Edo, Rafiqi House, 2018.
