The poet's first novel "Raihana " was our book club selection for September 2011.
Find more information on the author and her work on the book's page.
Poet and artist, Al-Kasimi, was born in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. She received a master's degree in economics and political science from the University of Cairo in 1981. Between 1989 to 1995 she held the position of Director of Cultural Department, Ministry of Information & Culture, U.A.E. She has participated in many festivals and poetic / literary meetings in Arabic and Foreign countries, and has designed many book covers.
Her selected solo exhibitions include: General Items, Tunis, 1998; General Items, Bahrain, 1997; The Other in his Darkness, Alatelia Alopera, Cairo, Egypt, 1995; Narration on his Staff, Royal Cultural Center, Amman, Jordan and Alatelia Alopera, Cairo, Egypt, 1992; Standing on Romantic Wreckage, Cultural Foundation Exhibition Center, Abu Dhabi and Alatelia Alopera, Cairo, Egypt, 1991; Scratches on the Wall of Voodoos & Memories by an Astonished Gulf Woman in Letter and Color, and Cultural Foundation Exhibition Center, Abu Dhabi and Alatelia Alopera, Cairo, Egypt, 1990.
Her selected group exhibitions include: The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., 1994; Royal Cultural Center, Amman, Jordan, 1993; and Cultural Foundation Exhibition Center, Abu Dhabi 1992.
In January 2003, Saqr wrote her first novel Raihana. Set in the Arabic Emirates and Egypt in the 50ies and 70ies of the 20th century this novel depicts the transitional phase from colonialism to independence and the building of nation-states in the Arabic world illustrated by the stories of two women. Giving information about history, everyday life and culture and taking up explosive issues such as slavery, homosexuality and addiction, the author succeeds in offering a complex picture of her homeland, the Arabic Emirates.
