The Girl Who Spoke to the Nile
© Shiroug Idriss
In the village of Nab, life depends on the Nile and its seasonal floods. The villagers once honoured Hapi, the river god, but years of taking without gratitude have changed him. When the time comes, one girl refuses to remain silent and steps forward to challenge the order that has governed her community.
Selected spreads
A glimpse into Shiroug Idriss’s visual world. Full project material is available to publishers on request.
© Shiroug Idriss · All rights reserved
A living heritage
The story draws on Sudanese and Nubian folklore, bringing an old narrative into a contemporary visual world while keeping its roots visible.
Sisterhood and transmission
At the centre of the story is the bond between girls and women, and what passes from one generation to the next through stories, memory and shared experience.
Courage and the natural world
The girl questions a tradition others have learned to accept. The Nile is part of that tradition, but also part of everyday life, survival and belief, giving the story a strong connection to questions that still feel present today.
Shiroug Idriss
Shiroug Idriss is a Sudanese medical doctor, illustrator and author, moving with equal ease between medicine and visual storytelling. Deeply human and attentive to the details of everyday life, her work draws on Sudanese traditions through the eye of a contemporary artist. With great sensitivity, she captures the diversity of Sudanese faces, gestures and experiences, while engaging with the country’s rich heritage of stories and oral traditions. Through her illustrations and narratives, she contributes in her own way to keeping this cultural memory alive and carrying it forward.
Interested in The Girl Who Spoke to the Nile?
Full project material is available to publishers and professional partners on request.
Contact us at hello@swissarab-cap.ch →The Girl Who Spoke to the Nile
Shiroug Idriss · Author & Illustrator
A young girl confronts the god of the Nile in a contemporary reimagining of a Nubian story from the ancient Kingdom of Kush.
32 pages · Leporello format · English · In development
Drawing on oral storytelling traditions, the project reinterprets them through a contemporary visual and narrative form.
It belongs to a still underexplored space within Arabic children’s literature, where the dialogue between cultural heritage and contemporary forms remains limited.
Through a clear and accessible narrative, it opens space for stories from Sudan that remain largely absent from international publishing circuits.
- Illustrated Arab Team
THE STORY
In the village of Nab, life depends on the Nile and its seasonal floods. The villagers once honoured Hapi, the river god, but years of taking without gratitude have changed him. Proud and unforgiving, he now demands a terrible price: each year, a young girl must be sacrificed so the waters will rise. When the time comes, one girl refuses to remain silent and steps forward to challenge the order that has governed her community.
Technical details
Trim Size: Leporello
Length: 32 pages
Tone: Mystical, contemplative, and symbolic.
Original Language: English
In-House Translation Available: All languages.
Shiroug Idriss
Sudanese Author-illustrator
Shiroug is an artist and medical doctor based in Sudan, with over 5 years of experience as a freelance illustrator. She worked in a diverse range of projects including graphic novels, comics, editorial illustration and children’s books. Her work is deeply inspired by African folklore and mythology, with a strong emphasis on representing Afro-Arabian heritage. Through her illustrations, Shiroug seeks to highlight and preserve the rich narrative of her roots, creating art that resonates with both historical depth and contemporary relevance. She has additionally received the Mahmoud Kahil Award 2025 in the children’s illustration category.