Sometimes writing is a remedy to the words our mouths fail to produce. For Fatma Al Bannai, writing is her escape; reading was always part of her childhood.
“I come from a family who reads, not writes,” says the 26-year-old from Dubai. “I still remember vividly the stories my father used to make up for bedtime.”
But her true passion lies in stories, she says, whether they come in the form of writing, reading, listening or telling.
The mother of one had to find a way to use the unspoken thoughts in her mind. It was then Al Bannai decided to set up the Untitled Chapters website.
“I took a lot of writing classes, and learnt different styles of crafting,” says the eldest of the five children. “But never did I have people who gave me feedback.”
Since the launch of Untitled Chapters, she has been able to meet people who shared her interests, creating a launch pad for writers in the community.
The inspiration behind Untitled Chapters, she says, is that it represents the untold or untitled stories of Emirati people who haven’t found a platform to give life to their stories.
"There isn't exposure to the young UAE writers," she says. She met the Emirati novelist Shahd Thani, author of Yet Another Emirati Kinda Love Story, who introduced her to writers and bloggers.
“It felt great discovering that there are people who get engrossed in writing.” she says.
Untitled Chapters was born in 2011, and has proved a great meet-and-greet location for female writers of all ages, and allows them to express their thoughts through words. What started as a solo writer’s brainchild today has more than 20 writers from across the Emirates.
To Al Bannai, writing is a solitary pursuit, one that she can only get better at through constructive feedback from seniors.
“In Untitled Chapters, we mentor young writers and pass on whatever knowledge we have,” she says. “We do not claim to be experts, but we do have some strong writers.”
aalhameli@thenational.ae
