View source for Ali El-Makk

{{Short description|Sudanese writer, translator and literary scholar}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Ali El-Makk
| image =
| caption = [[Sudanese writer]]
| birth_place         = [[Omdurman]], [[Sudan]]
| birth_date          = 13 February 1937
| death_place         =[[United States]]
| death_date          =  October 1992
| occupation = literary writer, academic and translator
| years_active = late 1950s–1992
}}
'''Ali El-Makk''' (({{langx|ar|علي المك}}; 13 February 1937 - October 1992) ), full name Ali Muhammad Ali El-Mak, also spelled '''Ali El-Maak''' or '''Ali Makk''', was a Sudanese writer, translator and literary scholar, known for his short stories, translations from English into Arabic and literary studies.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2003-10-12|title=السيرة الذاتية للكاتب /الكبير على محمدعلى المك|url=http://sudaneseonline.com/board/10/msg/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b0%d8%a7%d8%aa%d9%8a%d8%a9--%d9%84%d9%84%d9%83%d8%a7%d8%aa%d8%a8--%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%83%d8%a8%d9%8a%d8%b1--%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89--%d9%85%d8%ad%d9%85%d8%af%d8%b9%d9%84%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%83-1071640605.html|access-date=2020-07-20|website=sudaneseonline.com|language=ar}}</ref>
==Early life==
Ali was born in [[Omdurman]], [[Sudan]]. When he was less than six years old, he started his primary education in [[Kottab]] Wad El-mostaffa, but because his father moved about as a judge, he moved to Argo in the [[Northern, Sudan|Northern State]], then moved again to El-Fasher in Darfur state (now called [[North Darfur]]). When he finished third class, the school administration advised that he join the El-woostta, or intermediate school, because of his high marks (at that time in Sudan, primary school lasted for four years), but Ali's mother refused, preferring that he finish the fourth class. Ali finished the fourth class in the El-Salemeaa primary school  when his father transferred again to Meroë (Merowe) in the [[Northern, Sudan|Northern State]], a place which he later wrote much about.
His interest in writing started in Al-Amiriyah intermediate school in [[Wad Medani]] in 1947. He was also inspired by his father's library, which contained many books of [[Sharia Law]] and its [[statutory interpretation|interpretation]]. Ali made his first attempt at writing in Meroë during the summer holiday, where he edited a fortnightly magazine, writing under the pen name Gesimtty Keeda (''This Kismet''). His interest in music began  even earlier when listening to Mohamed Ahmed Sarror, Karoma, and Abdallah El-Mahhi. He joined the Wadi Sidenna secondary school in 1951.
==Career and literary works==
El-Makk joined [[Khartoum University]] in 1955, graduating from the Faculty of Art with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] with honours degree in 1961. He then moved to the United States, earning a [[master's degree]] in [[public administration]] in 1966 from the [[University of Southern California]]. El-Makk returned to Sudan and worked in the Human Resource Department in the Ministry of the Treasury (1961–1970) (He had been working there since graduating in 1961, and then went to the US for his studies until his return in 1966), and also worked as a chief officer in the State Institution for Cinema (1970–1971), then he worked as a lecturer in Intuition of Public Administration in [[Khartoum]] (1972–1973), and then chief and chief-editor in Housing Publishing in [[Khartoum University]] (1973–1983). Ali worked as an expert and as a professor at the Translation and Arabization Unit in Khartoum University (1983–1992). El-Makk was awarded a scholarship from American [[Fulbright Program|Fulbright Institution]] in 1988, and conducted research at  the [[University of New Mexico]], focussing on the translations of [[Native Americans in the United States|native American]] myths into [[Arabic language|Arabic]].
El-Makk worked as a supervisor with more than 20 postgraduate students in translation (Master and [[Ph.D.]]). He contributed in many congresses, seminars, and festivals around the world, including The International Congress of Poetry in Astroja in [[former Yugoslavia]] in 1971, The Seventh International Festival of Cinema in [[Moscow]] in 1971, The festival of Saudi Arabian Writers in [[Riyadh]] in 1983, and The Seminar of International Book in [[Cambridge University]] in 1990. He also contributed to many unions and councils as an example the member of the National Council of Art Auspice in 1974 and as same time the chairman of short stories and cinema and novel Committee, The chairman of Sudanese Music (one of the [[UNESCO]] branches) (1974–1985), the member of Council of lecturers of University of Khartoum (the highest academic institution in the university) (1983–1992), member of council [[Arab League]] Institution for translation in [[Algeria]], the chief editor of ''Magallat Ala-Addab'' magazine, and the chairman of [[Sudanese Writers Union]] from 1986 until his death. Finally, he was a member of the Council of Art Faculty, and member of the Research Council of Art Faculty, and a member of Central Researches of the [[University of Khartoum]].
El-Makk also edited collections of Arabic poetry by Sudanese poets [[Khalil Farah]]<ref>Ali El-Mak: Introduction to the Diwan of Khalil Farah, University of Khartoum Publishing House, Khartoum, 1977</ref> and [[Abdallah Al-Banna]].
==Selected works==
===Poetry in Arabic===
* ''A City of Dust (1974)'', translated from the original ''Medīna min al-turāb'', by El-Fatih Mahjoub and Constance E. Berkley<ref>Makk, A., Mahjoub, A.-F., & Berkley, C. E. G. (1982). A city of dust. Washington D.C: Office of the Cultural Counsellor, Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan.</ref>
=== Short stories ===
* ''The Case'' (2005), included in ''Modern Arabic Fiction: An Anthology'', edited by Salma Khadra Jayyusi<ref>Jayyusi, S. K. (2005). Modern Arabic fiction: An anthology. New York: Columbia University Press.</ref>
* [https://arablit.org/2020/05/04/lock-in-literature-ali-el-makks-forty-one-minarets/ Forty-One Minarets], translated by [[Adil Babikir]], on [[ArabLit]].
===Short stories by other authors, translated from English to Arabic===
*''The Petit Bourgeois'', translated as ''Al borogoizia alsageera'', Arabic title البرجوازية الصغيرة in collaboration with [[Salah Ahmed Ibrahim]] (1958)
*''In The Village'', translated as ''Fee Algareeia'', Arabic title فى القرية
*''The Moon Sitting on the Yard of Its Home'', translated as ''Al-Gammar Galis Fee Fanna Darihi'', Arabic title القمر جالس فى فناء داره   (1973
*''The Climb to the Bottom of the Town'', translated as ''Al-soad alla asffel almedina'', Arabic title الصعود الى أسفل المدينة
*''The Fever of El-Dreiss,'' translated as ''Homma El-dreissa'', Arabic title حمى الدريس
== <!-- ===Translations from English to Arabic=== *A- Sample from Black American Literature 1971. *B- Guilty land by [[Patrick van Rensburg]], he translated in 1972 in collaboration with his friend [[Salah Ahmed Ibrahim]] *C- Selective from Indian-American Art and their stories, published in many Sudanese newspapers. *D- He translated a short story written by the great American writer [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]] published in El-Faysal, [[Saudi Arabian]] magazine No 94 in January 1985. *E-He translated A Questionnaire for Rudolph Gordon by [[Jack Matthews (author)|Jack Matthews]] *F-Also translated short story by the title The Cliff written by American writer [[Charles Baxter (author)|Charles Baxter]] from his book of stories Harmony of the world. *G-Also translated short stories Old Stories from China *H-Also translated Zeineb The Red Sugar, written by Sudanese writer Jamal Mohammed Ahmed * Five poems by [[Garcia Lorca]]-->
== See also ==
* [[Sudanese literature]]
* [[List of Sudanese writers]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* Ali el-Makk's short story ''Forty-one Minarets'', translated by [https://arablit.org/2020/05/04/lock-in-literature-ali-el-makks-forty-one-minarets/ Adil Babikir]
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:El-Mak, Ali}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:1992 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Omdurman]]
[[Category:Sudanese male short story writers]]
[[Category:Sudanese short story writers]]
[[Category:Sudanese translators]]
[[Category:Translators to Arabic]]
[[Category:University of Khartoum alumni]]
[[Category:USC Sol Price School of Public Policy alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Khartoum]]
[[Category:20th-century translators]]
[[Category:20th-century short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century male writers]]