New Monograph Explores the Literary Legacy of Ousha bint Khalifa Al Suwaidi

The Dubai LitArt Society is pleased to announce the publication of FATAT AL ARAB: A Woman’s Voice from the Desert – Ousha bint Khalifa Al Suwaidi: Poetess of the Soul of the Emirates, a new scholarly monograph by Dr. Ana Stjelja (pen name Ana S. Gad).

The book represents the culmination of months of dedicated research into the life, poetry, and cultural legacy of one of the United Arab Emirates’ most celebrated literary figures. More than a study of an individual poet, it explores how literature preserves cultural identity, collective memory, and the voices of women whose contributions have shaped literary history.

Dr. Stjelja’s academic work has long been devoted to researching and interpreting the literary heritage of women writers. Following her doctoral dissertation on the Serbian writer and traveller Jelena J. Dimitrijević, she expanded her research towards the literary traditions of the Arab world, where she found a remarkable subject in Ousha bint Khalifa Al Suwaidi, affectionately known as Fatat Al Arab (The Girl of the Arabs).

Throughout the research process, Dr. Stjelja examined Ousha’s poetry from multiple perspectives, analysing themes of love, spirituality, cultural heritage, and panegyric poetry within the broader context of the Nabati literary tradition. Distinguished by its interdisciplinary approach, the monograph combines literary scholarship with cultural history, women’s literary history, and Oriental studies, offering new interpretations of Ousha’s poetry while presenting it as a living archive of Emirati cultural identity.

Reflecting on the inspiration behind the book, Dr. Ana Stjelja explains:

A particularly significant stage of the research was Dr. Stjelja’s visit to the Women’s Museum (Bait Al Banat) in Dubai. Encountering Ousha’s poetry displayed on the museum walls and learning more about the museum’s work under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Rafia Ghubash provided valuable insight into the preservation of Emirati women’s cultural heritage and further enriched the research presented in the book.

By examining Ousha’s poetry through literary, historical, and cultural perspectives, the monograph contributes to the growing body of scholarship on Emirati literature and highlights the enduring significance of women’s voices within the literary and cultural history of the United Arab Emirates.

The publication also reflects the mission of the Dubai LitArt Society to promote literature, interdisciplinary research, and intercultural dialogue through publishing initiatives dedicated to the cultural heritage of the UAE and the wider Arab world.

The book was published as a digital edition and can be read at this link:

https://issuu.com/udruzenje.alia.mundi/docs/dr._ana_stjelja_fatat_al_arab_-_ousha_al_suwaidi