United Arab Emirates / All works
Short stories
Dubai Tales
Mohammed al-Murr · 1991
Synopsis
Twenty-one short stories, chosen from across the author's work and translated into English, which tell of daily life in Dubai and in the Gulf states enriched by oil: family, marriage and divorce, old customs and values. Along the way we meet dhow captains, gatherings of men in the majlis, feasts and local dishes, jinns, and we listen to Umm Kulthum; among these stories is “Jasmine”.
Context
The selection was made by the translator Peter Clark with the author, and appeared in London in 1991 from Forest Books; a second selection followed in 1994 under the title The Wink of the Mona Lisa. In Arabic, these stories had first appeared in several separate collections. The academics Moza Al Tenaijy and Mohammed Al-Batineh studied in 2024 the way the translation renders terms specific to Emirati culture, from clothing to dishes and beliefs.
Who it is for
Short stories, readable in English, which assume some familiarity with Gulf society.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English as early as 1991, these stories still serve as a corpus for university studies of Emirati literature.
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