Under the Neem Tree: Stories

by Rania Mamoun

A exquisitely wrought, deeply personal collection of short stories from a remarkable new voice from Sudan



A young girl grows jealous of her mother’s lemon tree, which may be more sentient than she knows. A college student confronts tragedies past and present when police attack a university protest. A lawyer desperately searches the city for a woman claiming to have been sent from the Hereafter.



In her second collection of stories after Thirteen Months of Sunrise, which was named a finalist for the 2020 Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, the unique voice of Sudanese writer and poet Rania Mamoun is on full display. Under the Neem Tree, her first collection to be published in the United States, now in a wonderful translation by Elisabeth Jaquette, is a powerful and intimate collection that blends fiction with memoir to create a rich, multifaceted portrait of Sudanese women—one with a magical edge.



From unexpected love to political defiance, Mamoun brings tenderness and a poetic sensibility to tales of human connection. Grounded in the reality of life and politics in Sudan, while also laced with elements of the surreal and uncanny, these twelve stories will be embraced by fans of Claire Keegan and Marie NDiaye, and by English-language readers eager for emotionally intimate characters, deeply human stories, and a striking, unique voice.

Kindle Edition

Expected publication June 9, 2026

About the author

Rania Ali Musa Mamoun (born 1979) is a Sudanese journalist, novelist and writer. She was born in the city of Wad Medani in east-central Sudan, and was educated at the University of Gezira. As a journalist, she is involved in both print media and television. She edits the culture page of the journal al-Thaqafi, writes a column for the newspaper al-Adwaa, and presents a cultural programme on Gezira State TV.

As an author, Mamoun has published a book of short stories ("The Thirteen Months of Sunrise") 2009, and a novel ("Green Flash") 2006. One of her stories ("The Thirteen Months of Sunrise") has appeared in English translation in Banipal magazine, and she has many stories & articles has been translated to English & French. Mamoun was the recipient of an AFAC (Arab Fund for Arts and Culture) grant in 2009, and the following year, she was selected to participate in the second IPAF Nadwa, an annual workshop for young Arabic-language writers.

From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rania_M...