Dubai: An Emirati author is promoting creative writing and reading skills in UAE schools as a way to encourage students to take up journalism and writing as a career.
Under the pen name Daawy, the lawyer turned writer recently visited Emirates International School (EIS) in Meadows, advising students how they can achieve their career goal as novelists and journalists.
The mother of four and author of From The Capital With Love (2015), which deals with temptations of modern life and the pressures of a traditional family on a young Emirati woman, said: “I hope to bridge the gap between the English and Arabic worlds through my writings. I want to correct misconceptions about local customs and bring to light modern day Emiratis who are traditional and at the same time modern in their thoughts and opinions. My message to students is that if they have a strong view to express, they should take the pen and put their thoughts on paper. Never fear to write.”
Read to grow
Her talk stressed the importance of reading. “I was a voracious reader as a child and that has helped me in my writing. Students must read different authors and genres of books. Before submitting any piece, they must revise it several times and polish the writing,” she said during her speech at EIS.
Daawy’s talk elicited a strong positive response from students who were curious to know about the challenge she faced as a writer. “Finding the right publisher was the biggest issue I faced. There are few writers from the UAE who have written novels in English. I wish that when I was studying in school, there were more authors who had come to share their experiences – as I am doing now. This way I would have been less scared writing my first book,” said Daawy.
