Ramina Books Marks the New Year by Celebrating Its Authors in Sharjah

Ramina Books hosted a cultural evening on Sunday, 28 December, at the House of Wisdom in Sharjah to mark the New Year. The event brought together writers, poets and artists whose works have been published by the press.

The programme included poetry and literary readings, short intellectual interventions and musical performances. It reflected a wide range of voices and languages and was attended by a large audience of readers, writers and figures active in the cultural and literary fields.

The evening opened with remarks by Abdullah Mezar, Executive Director of Ramina Books. In his address, he emphasised the role of the book as a space for dialogue and as a means of fostering cultural exchange. He also reviewed the press’s main achievements during 2025, including its participation in Arab and international book fairs, the expansion of its translation programme and the launch of new publishing initiatives.

Mezar said that holding the event at the House of Wisdom was intended to underline Ramina Books’ commitment to literature as a shared human space that encourages understanding and brings different cultural and literary experiences into conversation.

He described 2025 as a significant year for the press, noting that Ramina Books continued to strengthen its multilingual publishing project, with a focus on both original publications and translation as tools for connecting literatures across languages.

Throughout the year, Ramina Books took part in a number of regional and international book fairs and expanded its translation activity from and into Arabic, particularly into English, Kurdish, Bosnian and Turkish. The aim, he said, was to broaden access to knowledge and reach new and diverse readerships.

Mezar also highlighted several partnerships developed during the year with public and private institutions in the fields of publishing, printing and translation. Among the initiatives launched in 2025 was the Cholbir Prize for Kurdish Lexicographical Studies, established in memory of the late researcher Bilal Hassan.

Looking ahead, Mezar announced that Ramina Books will launch a number of specialised publishing series in 2026. These will include series dedicated to African literature, sports literature, art and architecture, as well as a series focusing on books published in the Syriac language.

The programme featured poetry readings by Syrian poet Fawaz Qadri, who is based in Germany. Ramina Books has published the Kurdish translation of his poetry collection The Lover’s Biography, the Biography of Place. Poetry readings were also given by Syrian poet Jamil Dari, who lives in the United Arab Emirates and whose collection I Have No Wing has been published by Ramina Books in both Arabic and Kurdish.

A literary reading followed by Syrian-Ukrainian writer Catherine Yahya, who read from her memoir I Was Still a Child When I Grew Up. The book reflects on life lived between two cultural and geographical contexts, shaped by war and by a dual sense of memory. Rather than addressing conflict directly, the narrative focuses on everyday experience, tracing how war leaves enduring marks on language, belonging and identity. In the text, war appears not as a military event, but as a persistent presence embedded in small details and in long-term memory.

Poet Suad Suleiman then read extracts from Inscriptions on the Cross, a novel by writer and visual artist Ismail Al Rifai. The work examines the relationship between art, pain and memory through a narrative in which drawing intersects with delirium, and the city with destruction. The novel centres on a painter who sees art as an act of revelation rather than a purely aesthetic pursuit. Religious and bodily symbols become means for reflecting on human disillusionment and on the possibility of resurrection as a creative act. Written in a dense and evocative language, the text draws on imagery of the Euphrates and the ruined city, raising questions of fragility, creation and the role of writing in confronting loss.

The evening also featured a presentation of All Things Are Devoid of Philosophy: Spiritual Confessions in the Age of Reason by Iraqi American author Mashhad Al Allaf. Blending autobiography with philosophical reflection, the book draws on the author’s personal experience and academic career. It explores questions of perception, meaning and time, and approaches knowledge as a process of lived experience and growth. The work revisits moments of intellectual formation shaped by Iraqi and international cultural contexts, presenting thought as a creative force that reconnects philosophy with everyday life.

The programme was accompanied by musical performances, including oud compositions by Bahraini artist and composer Hasan Hujairi. His practice brings together musical composition, sound art and cultural research, and engages with perspectives that sit outside established Western classical traditions. His work also examines how musical and artistic narratives are shaped over time, exploring the relationship between sound, history and lived experience. A further musical interlude was presented by artist and translator Lawin Sheikho, who performed on the baglama and sang in Arabic and Kurdish. Ramina Books has published several of his works in Kurdish translation.

The evening concluded with an open discussion between the authors and the audience. In the closing remarks, participants emphasised the importance of cultural gatherings as living spaces for intellectual exchange and human connection. The audience was then invited to visit the exhibition The Dice Player by Mahmoud Darwish, currently on display at the House of Wisdom.

Photos by Motaz Mawid