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In a Fertile Desert: Modern Writing from the United Arab Emirates
Selected,
translated and introduced by Denys Johnson-Davies
Arabia Books, 2009
Pbk, 112 pp. ISBN 978-1906697136
A Comprehensive Collection
The lyricism and haunting sound of
traditional Nabati poetry has nowhere been more celebrated than the United Arab
Emirates. While the poetic tradition remains rich, experimentation with prose
and the formulation of short stories by Emirati writers came much later than in
other countries of the region. As the book’s introduction explains, while
capital cities such as Cairo were producing novels and short stories in the
1930s, the Emirates started to introduce this type of literary expression
approximately 40 years later. However, they have had no lesser impact.
In a Fertile Desert is a gem of a volume, both showcasing and cementing 20
Emirati authors, of whom eight are women, in their talent and worth as writers.
Translated by pioneer literary translator Denys Johnson-Davies, who himself
lived in the Emirates during the 1960s, the volume includes stories of varying
length from writers across each of the seven emirates. It is hoped, Johnson-Davies
writes in his introduction, that In a Fertile Desert –
the first ever published volume of Emirati short stories – will be followed by
further compilations, which will propel local writers into global view. Banipal 42 – New Writing from the Emirates, featuring poetry and novels as well as short stories,
is a great follow-on.
Each of these twenty short stories provides valuable
insight into the UAE – its history, the tough nature of life there before the
discovery of oil, the expansion and development of modern living and the
conflicts that this sometimes causes.
Perhaps the most prolific writer is
Mohammad Al-Murr, Deputy Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and
author of at least 15 volumes of short stories. His story “Two Neighbours”, published
in this collection, is a unique and humorous metaphorical take on birth, life
and death. The tale centres on a conversation between two newborn babies in a
hospital, talking about their lives to come, and forms a fantastic insight into
the fragility of the human condition, with a sprinkling of ironic humour.
Mohammad Al-Murr is also one of the most renowned writers in the UAE,
especially for his stories “The Wink of an Eye” and “Bleeding Heart”.
A pioneer
of Emirati short story writing, Abdul Hamid Ahmed mixes the controversial with
the notion of freedom of speech in “A Slap in the Face”. A young male student
heading for the city from his home in Khor Fakkan makes an indecent proposal to
an attractive woman he spots on the street. Horrified, she calls over a
policeman and the student makes the mistake of arguing freedom of speech with
the officer. A slap round the face and a stay overnight in jail is all that
awaits the young man before going home to his friends. Abdul Hamid Ahmed
published three volumes of short stories Al-Sibaha fi Aynai Khaleej Yatwahash (1982), Al-Bayader (1987) and
Ala Hafat al-Nahar (1992). He is now editor-in-chief of the English daily
newspaper Gulf News.
The women authors include Sheikha al-Nakhi, one of
the earliest of Emirati short writers, while well to the fore with published
short story collections are Maryam al-Saedi, Ebtisam al-Mualla and Rowdha al-Balushi,
Maryam Jumaa Faraj, Salma Master Seif and Aishaa al-Za’aby. Lamees Faris al-Marzuqi,
another contributor, has also published a novel and two collections of poetry.
In a Fertile Desert is a comprehensive first collection of Emirati short
stories in translation, collected from across the UAE and from authors of all
ages and experience, male and female, both established and emerging.
From Banipal 42 - New Writing From the Emirates
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