Ghost Season by Fatin Abbas takes place in an NGO (non-government organization) facility in Saraaya, a town close to the border between northern and southern Sudan, during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005), which was essentially a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War (1955-1972). While there were multiple complex factors behind both wars, the conflicts that sparked them had roots in historical clashes between people living in rural areas and governmental powers, as well as British colonization in the region.

In the 1890s, the British invaded the area that is now Sudan and South Sudan, and split it into northern and southern provinces to be governed separately. The northern part was considered to be similar to Arab countries, such as Egypt, while the southern part was considered to have more in common with East African colonies, such as Uganda. When the two areas were integrated in 1946, a disproportionate amount of power was given to the predominantly Muslim ...