Youngest Emirati author wants to honour her country

Sharjah - Fatima spoke about her novel at the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) which concluded yesterday at the Expo center Sharjah.

The youngest Emirati author dreams of seeing her books on shelves of international book fairs, not only for profit but to honour her country too.
The 16-year-old Fatima Saud Al Mualla, donated the proceeds of her best-selling book,  "The Hidden", to Friends Of Cancer Patients Association (FoCPA).
Fatima spoke about her novel at the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) which concluded yesterday at the Expo center Sharjah.
Fatima, said that it is not difficult for a teenager to write a novel concerning realistic events in life or imagination. Her novel falls in the category of being imagi-realistic which narrates the story of two sisters who live their lives happily, until one day the older sister gets diagnosed with breast cancer. While the older sister's health condition deteriorates, the younger sister takes over all the domestic responsibilities.
Fatima said that it took her four years to write the novel.
She added that the things that make "the Hidden" special are the titles of its chapters. Every chapter has titles written in a format of the date(day-month-year) but in the last chapter the timing was added to the date format.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Fatima said that she reads a lot as she believes that every writer is also a reader. "every one of my sisters and brothers love to read, but I'm the only one who writes" she said
She said that her novel is quite imaginative, but is connected with real life. "I was devastated; when my mother passed away five years ago due to cancer.  She asked me to continue writing the day she was travelling abroad for medical treatment, as writing was the only way for having people to remember me. I decided to take her advice and completed the novel as she wanted it, to be", Fatima explained
Fatima plans to write two more books in the future.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com

• Sharjah International Book Fair