It’s the UAE’s birthday! Happy National Day to a country that has taught us how to dream big, given us safety and opportunity, and the most beautiful beaches…

I had the exciting chance to talk about my love for Dubai after living here for 20 years and my upcoming debut novel launch in May - a historic moment for me and this city - on the Emirates podcast. It was a pinch-me moment. Catch me on the airwaves early next year!

In truth, I’m struggling with the highs and lows of life.

How can I fully celebrate with the ongoing devastation in Palestine and Lebanon? When a mere twist of fate, 70 years ago, means I am able to live in a safe and peaceful city like Dubai, while so many suffer? It feels like everything and nothing has changed.

I am aware that I am blessed and lucky. Joy is a basic human emotion. Basic. We have a right to feel it and spread it. It is strength.

And everyone deserves hope. My hope is that my book contributes to the empathy, kindness and love that the world desperately needs so that future generations won’t experience something like this again.

Thank you, Dubai, for being the most wonderful home. I am forever grateful for the beautiful quality of life we have here and my dream is to give back as much as I can!

Read: Poetry to Soothe the Soul

“Look how lucky the desert is, a clear sky above and emptiness below. Love travels end to end, on every wind.” - Rumi

Write: Fellowship Deadline Dec 4!

If you’re a writer of any kind - either in theory or one with dusty, completed manuscripts in your drawer - then this is your time to shine.

For UAE residents, there’s a one-of-a-kind writer’s fellowship that quite simply changed my life. I am on the road to getting published! The fellowship restored my broken confidence after years of rejections.

Deadline to submit is Dec 4 and here’s all you need to know to APPLY NOW: https://www.elfdubai.org/en/first-chapter-writers-fellowship

What you get:

• Famous writer as a mentor

• Trip to NYC or the UK for a writing workshop

• Community of writers to uplift you and commiserate with

• Ten year Golden Visa to live in the UAE and… write!

Perhaps the best outcome for me was that I went from being someone who “wrote stuff sometimes” to the ability to identify as a writer. And I made incredible friends, which is hard and necessary in your late thirties 🫠 

Writers, poets, novelists, dreamers - please consider submitting your work. It’s free!

Browse: These Links

I can’t with the news, so here’s random stuff from the internet:

• Arab writers win big at The National Book Awards

• Bitcoin millionaire hides 2 million in hidden treasures across US

• Emirates now has Spotify onboard

• Should your DNA determine your menu?

Countdown to My Novel’s Publication Day:

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

With kindness,

Sara