Setting corporate ambitions aside, we all need something that we do for our creative soul. Writing and illustrating are mine. I’m not sure when I started, but in 2020 I published my first Arabic children’s book, and I have been exploring that world and the wonderful community I have met through it ever since.

Colorful packaging boxes with cartoonish animal faces and Arabic text, featuring vibrant purple, yellow, and teal colors.
Table of books and gift bags with Arabic titles at an outdoor event, with plants and a wooden fence in the background.
Coloring pages with animal and nature illustrations, some filled with Arabic text, displayed on a white round table with several colored pencils and sticker sheets.
Illustration of a woman with curly hair and a man, surrounded by small fairies, in a nature scene with mountains, trees, clouds, and a bear. There is Arabic text on the image.
A woman with long dark hair, wearing earrings and a light-colored blazer, is seated at a table and writing on a large piece of paper. The table has a water bottle, a bag, and some papers. In the background, shelves with boxes and products are visible
A woman in a yellow outfit sitting at a table signing books for a group of young girls at a book signing event.
A group of children sitting on colorful chairs outdoors watching a woman read a book. There is a large hashtag sign that says '#REMARKET' in the background, with trees and a blue sky.
Sheet of colorful stickers with Arabic text and illustrations including a book with a heart, a hedgehog, a fox, star-shaped glasses, a spaceship, a swan, and a person meditating.
Four young people sitting on rocks outdoors, all looking at their smartphones. One boy is crouched near a small plant, and two of them are standing, one near a bush, all surrounded by distant hills and clouds.
A woman speaking into a microphone in front of a projector screen displaying a colorful graphic with Arabic text and a cartoon face, in a classroom or conference setting.
A woman with purple hair holding a microphone interacting with a young girl during an outdoor event with many children in blue uniforms sitting in rows.
A woman reading a book to a group of children in a library, with bookshelves filled with books behind them and children sitting attentively on yellow and wooden chairs.
Two women are standing next to a colorful cartoon standee with an illustration of a girl with purple tentacles, holding a book and a test tube. The women are giving each other a high-five. The background has writing in Arabic and English indicating a
A panel discussion at the Arab Child Summit, with three women seated on stage, including one wearing a headscarf. Behind them is a large blue screen displaying the summit's logo and images of the speakers.
A class of seven young schoolgirls and their teacher posing together in a classroom, with some of the girls making peace signs. The teacher is seated in the center holding a book, and the girls are standing around her. The background features a white
Colorful abstract illustration depicting a woman's face with teal hair, holding a decorated cup, with hand-drawn text and illustrations including a small creature inside a planet, and various patterns in warm and cool tones.
Illustration of a person's face and a glowing light or sun in the background with some Arabic and English text in yellow and purple.
A close-up of a colorful handwritten or painted message in Arabic script on yellow and blue paper with a cartoon face partially visible on the right side.
A woman with dark hair gazing out of an airplane window with a faint reflection of an elderly woman's face on the window glass.

Books

Children’s Picture Books ages 4–8 (Arabic)

The Life Kit Series: Arabic children’s books that give kids language for what they feel before they have the words for it themselves.

My Secret World عالمي السري (2022) Buy

My Power Goggles عدسات القوة (2023) Buy

My Ball of Light كرتي المضيئة (2023) Buy

Youth Sci-Fi Chapter Books Ages 8–13 (Arabic)

Commissioned and published by Quarter of a Century (مؤسسة ربع قرن) and written in collaboration with Emirati Author Hessa Almeheiri.

Laith wa Heila ليث و هيلة (2025)

Laith wa Heila: The Strange Visitor.

ليث و هيلة و الزائر الغامض— Planned for 2027

Adult Sci-fi Short Stories

Dabbling in this area for now…

The Cord (2025) DFF’s Sci-fi Short Story Competition Top 10 Finalist (2025)

Read here.

Vacancy (2026)

The Love Letter (2026)

Purple Manna (2026)

Workshops

ورشة المؤلفين الصغار:

Young Authors Workshop, Kalmashi, kids designing superhero comics

1

ورشة مسابقة دار جامعة أكسفورد للطباعة والنشر: Emirates Literature Foundation workshop, kids writing their hero story.

2

Through a series of worksheets, this online course helps young authors think through their main character, the basics of world-building, and the hero’s journey to help them structure their stories for a short story writing competition held by the foundation.

Emirates Literature Foundation Arabic Sci-fi writing workshop.

3

The 2-hour workshop was designed to help participants brainstorm and refine entries for the prestigious MBRSC Short Story Award: New Voices in Sci-Fi, a competition run by the Emirates Literature Foundation in collaboration with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre.

Futuristic spaceship interior door opening to a landscape with mountains and clouds, with logos of Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre and Emirates Literature Foundation, and Arabic text encouraging registration for a storytelling workshop.
Woman with dark hair and wearing a maroon hijab, facing forward, against a dark background, with Arabic text overlay about a virtual event.

Through a series of worksheets, I walk children through what the hero of their stories might look like, act, and behave in order to build their character arc for a personalised comic book.

Imagining a better future: Speculative fiction ideation workshop.

4

Utilising futures studies techniques like those taught by Jane McGonigal in her book “Imagineable” as well as the CLA method developed by Suhail Inyatullah, this workshop explores ideas around possible, probable and desirable futures for writing speculative fiction.

In The Press

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In The Press *

3a2ilati Interview Read

Laith wa Heila Launch Press Release

Sharjah 24: Laith wa Heila Read

Sharjah Radio X Listen

Kalam Nawa’em Interview Watch