From early novels that examine questions of identity and tradition to contemporary works reflecting shifting family dynamics amid urban expansion, Emirati writers have used literature to trace a society constantly evolving while holding on to the enduring values responsible for the UAE's sense of purpose and resilience.
To mark Emirati Writers Day on May 26, several events are being held this weekend, ahead of Eid Al Adha. It is also a fitting moment to look at how the country's changes have been reflected in more than three decades of Emirati fiction, with many of these works appearing in The National’s lists of the most important Arabic novels of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Here are eight titles of note.
1. Shajan Bint Al Qadar Al Hazeen (1992) by Sara Al Jarwan
An important work in the history of literature from the UAE, Shajan Bint Al Qadar Al Hazeen is considered the first novel published by an Emirati woman.
The story follows Shajan, a woman who has strong modern dreams and desires while living in a community that expects its members to uphold traditional values. Shajan’s journey, and the conflicts she faces within herself and with her family, touch on themes of identity, cultural heritage and the struggles of women in the Gulf, which has undergone rapid change over the past few decades.
Exploring the evolving role of women in Emirati society, the novel is still relevant nearly 35 years after it was published and serves as a pivotal piece of Arab literature.
2. The Diesel (1994) by Thani Al-Suwaidi
An innovative and daring novel, The Diesel is written in dreamlike and surreal passages that delve into the quest for identity in the modern world. The story follows a teenage boy from a small Arab community who is breaking away from ancestral attitudes and social constraints.
Written in stream-of-consciousness style, the novel explores a sociocultural shift where the power of petroleum is shaping life and how people view themselves and their future. Al-Suwaidi’s novel includes a cast of complex characters and mystical creatures. Even as traditional familial relationships within the context of the Arab world are changing, the novel depicts how art in all its forms is the only constant transcending the material world.
3. Dubai Tales (1991) by Mohammad Al Murr, translated by Peter Clark
Dubai Tales is an English translation of select short stories by Mohammad Al Murr, one of the UAE’s most important storytellers. Set in and around Dubai, the collection moves through family life, love and relationships, capturing the social details, tensions and humour of everyday Emirati life.
Al Murr’s stories record a Dubai shaped by memory, manners and rapid transformation.
4. That Other Me (2016) by Maha Gargash
Set in mid-1990s Dubai and Cairo, Maha Gargash’s second novel tells the story of secrets and betrayals consuming three members of a prominent Emirati family. The main characters are an authoritarian father, a rebellious, abandoned daughter and a vulnerable niece.
That Other Me explores the goals and ambitions of the three seemingly different personalities and how their decisions affect each other. The novel sheds light on the expected role of women in Emirati society and how they are received and supported, or hindered, by their guardians.
5. One Room is Not Enough (2016) by Sultan Al Amimi
A man wakes up to find himself in an empty room with no windows. His only connection to the outside world is through a peephole in a door. Looking through it, he sees a man going about his normal life; he even looks and acts like him.
In the room, the man finds a book titled Unified Choices, with his name as its author. Other than a vague introduction, the book is empty. Using a pen he finds in his pocket, the man begins to fill the pages, recounting stories from his life.
Sultan Al Amimi’s One Room is Not Enough is about resilience and how, even in emptiness, purpose and pleasure can be found from our lived history and experiences.
6. Rose’s Diaries (2021) by Reem Al Kamali
Shortlisted for the 2022 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, Rose’s Diaries is set in Dubai's Shindagha district in the 1960s. It follows the title character, a young woman whose plans to travel to Damascus to study Arabic literature are crushed after her mother’s death. At home, she begins writing secret diaries to record her frustration, lost ambition and growing sense of confinement.
From evocative vignettes of family life and old Dubai to the social restrictions placed on women at the time, the diaries, and in turn the novel, show the distance between the future Rose wanted and the life available to her.
7. Circle of Spices (2023) by Salha Obaid
A poetic look at Dubai’s spice trade, Salha Obaid’s Circle of Spices spans centuries, following poets, spice traders and a young woman whose gift for scent shapes how she understands both spices and the people around her.
The story moves through family expectation, childhood memory and an unusual relationship with a boy living near a graveyard wall. Alongside personal stories, the novel traces Dubai’s rapid growth and the wider changes taking place in Emirati society. An English translation was released in January 2026.
8. The Touch of Light (2024) by Nadia Al Najjar
A blind narrator uses a piece of technology that scans photographs and describes what is in them. With every photograph scanned, Noura recalls a story surrounding it and what it meant to her. The narratives in The Touch of Light by Nadia Al Najjar range from the personal to the general, but also recount the journey of Dubai and its evolution from the discovery of oil to the global destination it is today.
Noura also describes how she experiences her city despite not being able to see it. This is a story of taking pride in one’s surroundings despite not being able to experience them as others do.
