Shamma Al Bastaki speaks softly and slowly as she recounts how poetry has always been a part of her life. But her unhurried cadence and pauses to reflect on the questions posed are very intentional. She wants to find just the right words to express her exact sentiment. The choice makes absolute sense, considering that the 27-year-old has been searching for the best words to shape her poetry since she crafted her first verse twenty years ago.

“Language is at the core of everything,” Shamma says. “It shapes how we communicate, how we understand the world, and how we connect with one another. What makes poetry so powerful is that it is both deeply personal and universally resonant.”

The wordsmith’s journey into the world of poetry began in the melodic echoes of her early childhood, nurtured by the rhythmic songs and nursery rhymes her mother Fahima Al Bastaki shared with her. These moments, filled with the magic of words, laid the foundation for a lifelong love of poetry. It formed an artistry that is profoundly intertwined with her love for her country, her family, and the textures of everyday life that she loves to explore.

“Growing up, I was fascinated by rhyming words. So, when we learned how to rhyme in school, that was my favourite thing to do, and it just sort of happened organically,” explains Shamma. Her first poem, which she wrote when she was seven, was called Marshmallows. It was such a success that it was published in her school’s newsletter and even turned into a song that was sung by her classmates. 

This moment marked the beginning of her understanding of poetry as not just a personal outlet, but a shared experience capable of bringing people together. “That sort of recognition inspired me to continue. It made me understand how powerful poetry is when it is experienced collectively,” confirms Shamma. 

Her early works, written during her teenage years, served as a diary of emotions and a refuge for her shy and introverted self. Poetry became a mirror to her world and a means to step into the shoes of others, whether imagining the thoughts of a tree, the life of a fairy in a garden, or the struggles of a fictional misunderstood writer. These explorations weren’t just exercises in creativity – they were acts of empathy and profound imagination.

As Shamma matured, so did her poetry. What once served as a creative escape evolved into a reflection on the mundane and the overlooked beauty of life. 

Today, she describes her poetry as “infra-ordinary” – a celebration of the small, often unnoticed details of life. Influenced by the French writer Georges Perec, she eschews narrative depth in favour of capturing the textures of the everyday. 

For Shamma, poetry is not about grandiose storytelling but about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Her work is marked by playful experimentation with language, joyfully embracing alliteration and rhyme. Yet, she is quick to admit that her relationship with poetic structure has changed. 

In her youth, constraints like rhyme schemes and stanzas offered a liberating framework, almost like solving a puzzle. Now, she delights in the freedom of open-ended exploration, where language is a vast playground for endless curiosity and creativity.

Unlike the regimented routines of some writers, Shamma’s process is fluid. Inspiration strikes without warning, leading her to jot down verses in scattered notebooks, Google Docs, or on the nearest available surface. 

“It’s a very psychosomatic process,” she explains. “When I write, it’s as if my body is in sync with my thoughts. It’s intuitive and physical. But the predictability comes when I’m working on a project or a commission. That’s when I sit down intentionally and let the process take its course.” 

And if there is one type of imagery Shamma returns to often as a touchpoint in her poetry, it’s the cosmos. Stars, celestial bodies, and the universe itself often make their way into her verses, serving as her poetic comfort zone.

“I’ve always seen poetry as a process of distillation. A lot of people think about poetry as an embellishment of the truth and an embellishment of day-to-day life – making it prettier, more beautiful, more sonically conceivable. But I see poetry as a kind of distillation of moments and experiences to their very essence,” shares Shamma. “I think poetry has a way of saying something extremely sharp despite its indirectness. And I think it’s that capacity for being indirect while still being sharp that differentiates poetry from other mediums.”  

Along those same lines, Shamma has used poetry – including her soon-to-be-published volume of poems called House to House بيت‭ ‬لبيت– as a way to convey the complexities and the nuances of the richness and beauty of the UAE to the wider world. But she does it from a very interesting angle. Instead of highlighting more traditional aspects of the nation, she likes to broaden her audience’s minds by focusing on hyper-specific themes that are central to the UAE’s identity but not as well known to a global audience. House to House بيت‭ ‬لبيت, in particular, focuses on the collective memory and stories of Dubai’s creek communities from the 1940s to the 1980s. The creek and its history are also topics her father returns to again and again for his own artistic inspiration.

“The way I do it through poetry is by being comfortable with what may be alien to others, but hyper-specific and hyper-local to the UAE and not shifting that focus to cater to a larger audience, but rather to maintain the particularities that are unique to our very specific context and heritage,” says the poet of her art. “And then, I let these particularities, whether or not they translate in a direct way, speak for themselves. And so it’s a more kind of subtle way, to build a deeper connection and awareness.”

Beyond her poetry, Shamma’s work in cultural diplomacy also showcases how art and narrative intersect. Having earned a master’s in Middle Eastern studies at Harvard, her academic background informs her approach to diplomacy, where language and storytelling are central. “Everything boils down to narrative,” she explains. “Whether it’s cultural diplomacy or poetry, mastering language is essential to communicate meaningfully across boundaries.”

From the beginning, both Shamma’s mother Fahima, a long-time leader in the UAE’s banking and financial sector, and her father, Faisal Abdulqader, a renowned Emirati painter who also made a career for himself in the financial arena, were steadfast supporters of her love for poetry. 

Faisal – whose work acts like a powerful backdrop in the images of his daughter and wife that accompany this cover story – naturally connected with his daughter through their shared love of artistic expression. The duo are even collaborating for the first time for an upcoming art exhibition where a poem by Shamma will merge via calligraphy with a series of original watercolour paintings her father is creating for the show. 

“Honestly, I wish I did this earlier,” admits Shamma of the project, which focuses on their mutual fascination with the Dubai Creek area and, more generally, the exploration of the power of memories and the history of the UAE. “I can’t believe I have not collaborated with my dad before,” she says. “I have really enjoyed the process and working with him.”

But every great artist who can let their imagination run wild needs a grounding force in their life. For Shamma, this is her mother. Fahima’s analytical mind and feet-on-the-ground approach to life have created a safe haven from which the poet has the confidence to dream big. It’s a skill set that Fahima has also used countless times in the course of her career to mentor people from younger generations who are following in her footsteps, helping them set career goals and strategically pursue professional development.

“My mum has always been a very inspirational figure in my life,” shares Shamma, who saw first-hand her mum’s ability to be a strong female role model. “I grew into the current social skills that I have through observing my mum. She is just naturally sociable and extroverted and loves people. And for me, that inclination didn’t come naturally. I was always more introverted growing up, so having her as an example really helped me.” 

The choice to follow the calling to be a poet can be a daunting one. But Shamma finds deep solace in the knowledge that she was born in the Middle East, a part of the world that has long appreciated the importance of poetry from a cultural perspective. Her heritage is deeply rooted in the oral traditions of the Arab world.

For centuries, poetry has been a vessel for connection and storytelling in Emirati society. Shamma sees herself as part of this continuum, her work carrying echoes of the nation’s rich poetic legacy while offering a modern perspective.

“I think human beings are just naturally more drawn to the poetic form. If you really want someone to listen, poetry has been the medium that we’ve used for millennia,” she confides. “Since the dawn of human language, we have bonded through song and storytelling. Elevated language brought people together historically in all sorts of cultures, not in the least in the Arab world.”

Shamma is quick to point out that the UAE, with its vibrant artistic and cultural scene, provides fertile ground for poets. In a region where poetry remains a respected and cherished art form, she feels fortunate to have the freedom to embrace her identity as a poet with the support and encouragement of her family and her community. 

Ultimately, Shamma’s philosophy of poetry is one of joy and liberation. “Poetry is the enjoyment of language in its most beautiful and expressive form,” she says. It is this sense of joy, combined with her unyielding curiosity and willingness to experiment, that makes her work so compelling. 

As the UAE celebrates its National Day, Shamma is a beautiful testament to the power of poetry to bridge the past and the future. Her words, steeped in tradition yet vibrantly modern, embody the spirit of a nation that values both its heritage and its creative evolution. Whether through her intricate verses, her passion for cultural diplomacy, or her contributions to the arts, Shamma continues to inspire, empower, and elevate the voices of her community.

In her own words, “Poetry is all around us – it’s joy, it’s connection, and it’s a way of life.” For Shamma, and for the UAE, poetry remains a timeless force, uniting hearts and minds in its pursuit of beauty and truth. 

Follow @shammakab on Instagram

Photographer: Greg Adamski 
Stylist: Beagy Zielinski
Makeup: Karolina Kurowivka
Stylist Assistant: Muriel Nehme