Four works by three Emirati women writers are being published in English by London-based Ramina Books, bringing stories of memory, family, identity and social change in the UAE to a wider international readership.
The new releases comprise three novels and a short-story collection: The Bells of Solitude by Latifa Al Haj; Daughter of the Rain and Days of the Zaghnabut by Maryam Al Ghfeli; and Kohl Ithmid and Other Stories by Fatima El Mazroui.

The books are being released to coincide with the 35th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, taking place from 13 to 18 September 2026 at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi. All four titles will be presented during Ramina Books’ participation in the fair.

Three of the translations — The Bells of Solitude, Daughter of the Rain and Days of the Zaghnabut — received support from the Spotlight on Rights grant programme of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi. The initiative supports the translation of Arabic works into other languages and encourages collaboration between Arab and international publishers.

“Publishing these four works in English at the same time is, for us, a celebration of the diversity of Emirati fiction and an opportunity to introduce different voices and experiences to English-language readers,” said Haitham Hussein, 

novelist and Managing Director of Ramina Books.“We wanted each work to retain its distinctive character, and for translation to serve as a bridge that allows the text to move into a broader cultural space without losing its connection to its environment and memory.”

Between reality and imagination
In The Bells of Solitude, Latifa Al Haj explores the shifting boundaries between memory, imagination and reality. The novel follows a woman whose apparently settled life begins to change as her husband, Rashid, establishes himself as a novelist and his writing increasingly intersects with her own experience.
Set in contemporary Emirati society, the novel examines silence, love and solitude, as well as the uncertain boundary between what is lived and what is imagined. The English edition was translated by Nabig Nour.
Born in Al Ain in 1981, Al Haj is an Emirati writer and translator whose work spans fiction, poetry and children’s literature. She holds a PhD in Environmental Sciences from United Arab Emirates University and is a member of the Emirates Writers Union.

Memory and women’s lives
Maryam Al Ghfeli is represented by two novels that approach memory and women's lives from different perspectives.
Daughter of the Rain takes readers to mid-20th-century Abu Dhabi through the story of Latifa, who loses her parents at an early age and grows up under the authority of a strict aunt. Her hopes for education and a life shaped on her own terms are challenged when she faces an arranged marriage to which she has not consented.

Through Latifa’s story, the novel explores women’s agency and resilience, as well as the struggle to preserve a sense of self when individual choices are constrained. The English edition was translated by Nabig Nour.
In Days of the Zaghnabut, Al Ghfeli turns to family memory through Muzna, a woman whose life has been marked by patience, duty and years of quiet endurance. A long-concealed confession forces her to confront a past that changes her understanding of her family and herself.

Moving between intimate family life and the spiritual landscape of Mecca, the novel considers trauma, forgiveness, justice and the ways one generation inherits the silences of another. Days of the Zaghnabut won first prize in the Emirates Novel Award in 2017. The English edition was translated by Fadi Al Tawil.
Al Ghfeli is an Emirati novelist and Director of the Sea of Culture Foundation. She has published several novels concerned with memory, identity and family relationships.

Stories from the fareej
In Kohl Ithmid and Other Stories, Fatima El Mazroui draws on the world of the traditional Emirati fareej, or neighbourhood, to explore the relationship between collective memory and social change.
Its characters include Amouna, an itinerant merchant who carries goods and secrets from house to house, and the mysterious “Son of the Sea”, a figure poised between myth and reality.

Through the textures of everyday life, the collection explores motherhood, exile, desire, power and social expectations, depicting a community undergoing profound transformation while remaining connected to inherited traditions and oral storytelling. The English translation is by Nabig Nour.
Born in Abu Dhabi in 1985, El Mazroui is an Emirati writer and poet whose work includes poetry, short stories, novels, theatre, screenwriting, essays and children’s literature.

Emirati fiction in translation
Taken together, the four books offer different perspectives on Emirati experience, moving between family and collective memory, women's lives, psychological experience and the social transformations that have reshaped the country.
Hussein said support for literary translation was essential to giving Arabic writing a life beyond its original language.
“We greatly value the role of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, through its Spotlight on Rights programme, in supporting translation and encouraging Arabic literature to travel into other languages,” he said.
“We hope these publications will mark another step in a process that requires sustained collaboration between writers, translators, publishers and cultural institutions, so that Arabic literature can gain greater visibility and readership beyond its original language.”

Ramina Books is an independent London-based publisher working in Arabic, English and Kurdish, with a publishing programme that includes Arabic literature in translation.