The Sudanese Writers Union was founded in Khartoum in 1985, the year that democracy was restored in Sudan for a short period.
[1] In 1989, four years after the Union's founding, a coup d'état took place, resulting in the organization being banned and expelled from the historic building in Khartoum.
[4][5] At the end of 2016, an administrative court of appeal in Khartoum annulled the Ministry’s decision and ordered the security apparatus to return the Union’s property, as well as to allow them to resume their activities.
[6] Sudanese writer, translator, and scholar Ali El-Maak led the Union from its founding in 1985 through 1986.
[8] Another founding member is Buthaina Khidir Mekki, who was dubbed an "icon of the Sudanese feminist novel" for her narratives about negative social stereotypes towards the education of young girls and the consequences of conflict and war for women.