Shaykha al-Nakhi

Shaykha Mubarak al-Nakhi (Arabic: شيخة مبارك الناخي; born 1952) is a writer in the United Arab Emirates, the first Emirati woman to publish a short story. In addition to a pioneer of the short story in the UAE, she is considered one of the country's best-known women writers.[1][2][3][4][5]

Nakhi was born in 1952 in Sharjah, a city in the United Arab Emirates.[1][2] She studied humanities at the United Arab Emirates University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1985, and later earned a degree in education in 1997.[1][2][3] She has worked as an educator since 1971, including as principal of a girls' school.[1][2]

In 1970, Nakhi became the first Emirati woman to publish a short story when her story "Al-Rahil" ("The Departure") appeared in a Dubai magazine.[1][2][3] "Al-Rahil" went on to win a short story prize from the country's Ministry of Youth.[3] She published a short story collection of the same name in 1992.[1] This was followed by the collections "The North Wind" in 1997 and "Playing the Strings of Joy" in 2007, which dealt with issues affecting Emirati women.[3][6][7][8] She also wrote a novel, Qisat Al Raheel ("Story of Departure").[9] Her work has been published in French translation,[10] and in 2009, her story "Threads of Delusion" was published in English translation in the collection In a Fertile Desert.[11]

In 1990, she helped found an organization for Emirati women authors, and she worked to produce its magazine Voice of Women, sometimes described as the first women's magazine in the UAE.[1][2][3][6] She is also a founding member of the Emirates Writers Union[1][2][3] and participates in literary festivals in the country.[12]