The UAE’s literary scene is booming, with Emirati authors sharing fresh perspectives and bringing their stories to a wider audience.
Looking to discover Emirati female authors? From inspiring women pursuing their dreams in Dubai to poets capturing life along Dubai Creek, these books offer a glimpse into the history, heritage and changing identity of the Emirates.
Explore stories of girls fighting for their right to education, novels examining the boundaries between memory, imagination and reality, and tales of travelling traders with stories of their own. Together, these seven books invite readers to immerse themselves in Emirati literature, discover the voices shaping its literary scene and see how local stories are reaching readers around the world.
Rose’s Diaries by Reem Al Kamali
If stories of women finding their voice against the odds are more your thing, Emirati novelist Reem Al Kamali’s award-winning novel Rose’s Diaries offers a compelling read. Set in 1960s Dubai, before the founding of the UAE, it follows Rūza, a gifted young writer forbidden from pursuing her studies in Damascus. Confined to her family home, she pours her thoughts into secret diaries, longing for the freedom to express herself in a society that expects her silence.
House to House by Shamma Al Bastaki
Photo: House to House by Shamma Al Bastaki
Emirati poet Shamma Al Bastaki’s House to House offers multilingual poems and fragments of oral history; Shamma traces the life along the Creek from the 1940s to the 1980s. Through intimate memories and stories passed down through generations, her poems capture the beauty of everyday moments, the humour of neighborhood life, and the bonds that turned them into family before the city’s rapid transformation. A beautiful tribute to the people who shaped the city, the collection finds extraordinary stories in the rhythms of ordinary life.
LET THEM KNOW SHE IS HERE: Searching for the Queen of Mleiha By Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi
Journeying through Arab history and heritage, Her Highness Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi’s book revisits the stories of inspiring women who shaped the region’s past. From warrior queen Mavya to Zenobia and the queens of Sheba, it brings lesser-known stories to light, celebrating the women whose wisdom, leadership and influence continue to inspire generations to come.
Photo: Circle of Spice by Salha Obaid
In Circle of Spice, award-winning Emirati author Salha Obaid tells the story of Sherihan, who grows up in a family of spice traders and experiences the world through scent. As Dubai transforms around her, aromas become intertwined with memory, identity and belonging, connecting her personal experiences to the traditions of the city she calls home. Through this distinctive premise, Obaid explores the relationship between family heritage and social change, offering readers a sensory portrait of Emirati life and the stories that connect generations.
Daughter of the Rain by Maryam Al Ghfeli
Set in mid-twentieth-century Abu Dhabi, Daughter of the Rain is an intimate novel about womanhood, agency, and resilience. Maryam Al Ghfeli writes with restraint and insight, giving voice to Latifa, who is determined to hold on to her dreams when life is shaped by the decisions of others.
The Bells of Solitude by Latifa Al-Haj
In The Bells of Solitude, Emirati author Latifa Al-Haj explores the fragile boundaries between memory, imagination and reality. The novel follows Maryam, whose quiet life in the UAE begins to unravel as her husband Rashid’s growing success as a novelist draws her into worlds that blur the line between fiction and her own experience. A lyrical, unsettling exploration of love, identity and the weight of unspoken truths, it asks how well we can ever know our own stories.
Kohl Ithmid and Other Stories by Fatima El-Mazroui
What can the stories of mothers, grandmothers, and daughters tell us about a culture’s identity? In Kohl Ithmid and Other Stories, award-winning Emirati author Fatima Al Mazrouei explores the traditions, values, and everyday lives that shape collective memory. Named after Ithmid, a natural mineral used in traditional kohl across the Arabian Peninsula for centuries, the collection celebrates the women who preserve Emirati heritage.
