Books — Made in UAE
Our participants
Our writers
Aisha Hamad Almehairi was born in Al Ain, she is married and mother of a child. She studied Arabic Literature and received a diploma of Education from UAE University. She used to read and write in young age and she participated in many activities and social programs such as writing workshops. Recently, she wrote a story called I’m free and contributed in the Encyclopedia of Reading. Currently, she is working in the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority.
A daydreamer with a traveller soul, Alyazia Khalifa develops her observing-self through photography and writings. She was the first intern from the UAE to participate in the IFA cross-cultural internship in 2007. In 2013, she was awarded the Doctorate degree on Intercultural Broadcasting from Kingston University, United Kingdom. Her travel experiences not only inspire her to look into foreign literature, but also expand her own imagination. Alyazia always believed that a person should never kill the child within them to keep their imagination and creativity at their peaks. Currently, she is working on two children’s books and her first young adult fantasy novel in Arabic.
alsuwaidi.alyazia@gmail.com
alsuwaidi.alyazia@gmail.com
Asma AlKetbi is a writer-in-the-making. She has been expressing herself through writing since the age of seven and has been doing so ever since. She holds a B.A. in International Studies from Zayed University, and two minors in English Literature and Applied Psychology. After her graduation she started pursuing writing as a career. Recently, she started blogging her thoughts and a few short stories while working on her novel, a fantasy for young adults. She is passionate about most things in life but if you must know; she loves books, psychology, philosophy, nail polish and coffee.
asma.ketbi@gmail.com
asma.ketbi@gmail.com
Mouza Al Shamsi is an aspiring writer and a Mangaka who was born and raised in Abu Dhabi and in the imaginary world in her head. She enjoys creativity in things around her, whether it’s art or ideas, trying new things and reading for fun.
Noura Abbas Al-Khoori was born in 1982 in the United Arab Emirates. She graduated as an environmentalist and pursued a four-year career in the field until she became a mother and a home-maker. Her three little children are the main source of inspiration and her bedtime stories spurred the idea of writing books for children that reflect the culture of this region. She is now coupling volunteer work with writing for children.
noura.khoori@gmail.com
noura.khoori@gmail.com
Shaikha Al Muhairi is an educator and librarian. She holds a Master’s Degree in educational leadership. Currently she works at the Cultural Resources Center of the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority. She trains librarians, teachers and parents on matters of reading, early literacy, children literature and Information Literacy. Shaikha is a UAEBBY board member.
Our Experts
With a Bachelor in English Literature (1986) and a Masters in Translation Studies (2004), Noura Al Noman had studied language for many years; but never expected to become a writer, let alone an author of books for Arab children. In 2010, she published her first two picture books for toddlers. Noting the huge deficit in books for young Arabs (aged 15+), she wrote her first novel, Ajwan, one of a handful of science fiction novels in the Arab world, published by Nahdet Misr (Egypt). Noura believes that Arab youth are hungry for fiction, which can excite them enough to read in Arabic. In 2013, Ajwan won the Etisalat Children Literature Award, as Best Young Adult Novel. Noura also won the Arab Woman Award in the Literature category, presented by the ITP Group. Although she has a complete English translation of her first novel, Noura has delayed publishing it to give a chance for the Arabic version to take a foothold. Book two of Ajwan (titled: Mandan) was launched at the Cairo Book Fair in January 2014.
Rainer Wekwerth, born 1959 in Esslingen am Neckar, writes with passion. He is the author of award-winning children’s and Young Adult books that he published in part under a pseudonym. Mainly native to fantasy novels, he tells stories that go beyond the boundaries of the genre. His latest novels The Labyrinth awakens and The Labyrinth chases you are part of a trilogy that will be finished in 2014. Besides writing, Rainer Wekwerth coaches young authors and students with their book projects.
www.wekwerth.com
www.wekwerth.com
Dr. Sattar Izwaini graduated with a PhD in Translation Studies from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom in 2004. He has taught languages, linguistics and translation for undergraduate and postgraduate students in Britain and the Middle East. He has a long experience in translating literature and teaching literary translation. He translated Herman Hesse (Klingsor’s Last Summer), Virginia Woolf and Velhelm Moberg into Arabic and Mahmood Jindary into English.