Yes I have been a bit scarce I know. We just had a lovely vacation in Switzerland, and I have also been studying for an exam that keeps being postponed (most annoying) and also organising, with my partner, a “Come Wine and Dine with me” evening for my wine club. So really all go, but no excuse. So without further ado a couple of things that caught my interest for the month.
The third Emirates Airline Festival of Literature opens tonight – in fact the festival is being opened by Michael Palin, British comedian and author, and one of the crazy Monty Python gang (still one of my favourite shows I must say). Unfortunately by the time we realised it was all happening we had lost out (again) as all the workshops we wanted to attend are now fully booked. The festival is made up of 130 events overall including 20 workshops and the opening, and is definitely growing in popularity here in Dubai. If you are lucky enough to be attending one of the workshops please let me know how you get on. The festival runs until Saturday.
And continuing the book theme the winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) will be announced on the 14th March. The longlist was announced in November and I was very happy to see a record number of women authors on it this year. According to the website “the Judging Panel whittled down the longlist of 16 from a total of 123 entries, from 17 countries across the Arab world. They included, for the first time this year, Afghanistan. The highest number of submissions came from Egypt. The number of submissions is up on the previous prize year, when 118 titles were entered from 17 countries. 29% of the works submitted were by female writers, compared with 16% the previous year”. This translates into 7 out of 16 ladies – great work!
The shortlist was then announced in December last year. I look forward to seeing who wins actually, and if I can find an English translation, giving these 6 books a try:
- The Arch and the Butterfly by Mohammed Achaari (Morocco) – the story of a father who learns that his son, whom he thought was studying in Paris, in fact died on an al Qa’eda mission in Afghanistan.
- The Doves’ Necklace by Raja Alem (Saudi Arabia)* – the underbelly of Mecca provides a backdrop to the life of protagonist Aisah, who finds solace from the grime in the love letters she writes to her German boyfriend.
- An Oriental Dance by Khaled Al-Berry (Egypt) – a young Egyptian marries and older British woman and attempts to assimilate into the English capital’s Arab expat community.
- My Tormentor by Bensalem Himmich (Morocco) – drop right into an American prison where an innocent man is interrogated by Arabs and foreigners.
- The Hunter of the Chrysalises (Or the Head Hunter) by Amir Tag Elsir (Sudan) – follows a retired secret service agent who decides to write a novel about his experiences, only to find the police are watching him a little to closely for comfort.
- Brooklyn Heights by Miral al-Tahawy (Egypt)* – the book focuses on the US city’s Arab immigrants (in NY) and the relationships between East and West.
If that wasn’t enough culture for you, Art Dubai is also happening this month, from the 16th to the 19th March. I thoroughly enjoyed last year’s exhibition, so will certainly make a plan to attend this year for sure, and update you afterwards. My post from last year seems to get a lot of action still so I guess that means you are interested in my feedback on this (or maybe you are just bored).
And as you know I can’t let a moment pass without telling you about some item of food or other. So as not to disappoint I will be updating you soon about Jamie’s Kitchen, which has just opened in Festival City. A friend and I are having lunch there tomorrow. Sadly they don’t yet have their alcohol license yet so can’t see Stu being keen to have dinner there at this stage, but I thought I would try it out so long and see if the hype is deserved or not.
To close on a completely different subject, there is an article in the paper today about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in SUMMER. If you haven’t heard about SAD before it’s something that affects people during winter normally, in the Northern Hemisphere predominantly, where a lack of sunlight and vitamin D (they think), makes you depressed. Well a research team in Abu Dhabi has found that this disorder is also affecting people in the UAE as we are trapped indoors during the hot summer months and so don’t get enough Vitamin D either. Especially true if you are wrapped up in an Abaya or Khandora, or slathered in SPF. I have to say I do get a feeling of cabin fever eventually not being able to open the windows or get a breath of fresh air, so it kinda makes sense in a weird way. Not sure what the solution is but my bet would be to take a holiday somewhere where you can get outdoors – that always makes you feel better doesn’t it? Well not to make light of it too much (seriously no pun intended) – I know it is a very real problem and people do struggle with this. So I hold thumbs you manage not to have a SAD summer (or winter) this year.
And happy International Women’s Day to all my lovely lady readers. Have a super day.