The inundation of so much of Nubia  and displacement of its inhabitants through the 20th Century has been a source of inspiration to many, beyond the more academic studies of its archaeology and heritage, and the processes of displacement.

• In the book series “Paradise Lost” a beautiful photo-portrait of the people and landscapes of Sudanese Nubia has recently been published in Khartoum by the DAL Group:

Dvorak, R., Payne, H. and Abdelhafiz Gafar Ali 2015. Sudanese Nubia. Portrait of a Vanishing Culture, Khartoum. [ISBN:978-99942-3-961-0]

• An important recent addition to such work is ‘Morning in Serra Mattu‘ by Arif Gamal  in the McSweeney’s Poetry Series  (“An epic poem that manages to be exquisitely intimate and one of the greatest works of literature to emerge from Sudan” [Dave Eggers]).
• More powerful writing with a strong Nubian focus (the relocation of the Abu Simbel temple and destruction of Nubia being one of its parallel tales) may be found in ‘The Winter Vault‘ (2009), by Anne Michaels (winner of Orange Prize 1997; Guardian Fiction Award 1997).

“Avery knew that a river that has been barraged is not the same river. Not the same shore, nor even the same  water .. the temple would have become a deceit” (Winter Vault, p.4)

A project for the future? This Arabic-language collection of Nubian proverbs surely merits a wider audience?  Badr, M. M., 1978 : Hikam wa-amthal al-Nubah. al-Khartum: Mahad al-Dirasat al-Ifriqiyah wa-al-Asyawiyah Shubat al-Fulklur.