Nujoom Al-Ghanem

Nujoom al-Ghanem (born 24 October 1962 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates) is an Arabic poet and film director from the United Arab Emirates, where she currently lives and works.^[1] She has published six poetry collections and has produced and directed four films. Al-Ghanem is an active member of her community and currently writes poetry full-time.

Early life and education

Al-Ghanem was born in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and was raised there. She initially began her career as a journalist in the UAE but after marrying and starting a family, Al-Ghanem decided to continue her education abroad. She studied TV production and direction in Ohio University in the United States and later went on to obtain an MA in cinema production from Griffith University in Australia.^[2]

Poetry

Al-Ghanem has published the following poetry collections:^[3]

1. Masaa Al-Janah (Evening of Heaven), 1989.
2. Al-Jarair (The Consequences), 1991.
3. Rawahel (Journeyings), 1996.
4. Manazel Al-Jilnaar (Homes of Pomegranate Blossoms), 2000.
5. La Wasf Lima Ana Feeh (No Describing What I Am In), 2005.
6. Malaikat Al-Ashwaaq Al-Baeeda (Angels of Distant Longing), 2008.

Films

1. Ice Cream, 1997, short film.
2. The Park, 1997, short film.
3. Between Two Banks, 1999, documentary film. Based on the story of the last local rowing-boatman remaining in Dubai. This film was sponsored by the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi.
4. Al Mureed, 2008, documentary film.
5. "Hamama", 2010.
6. "Amal", 2011.
7. "Red, Blue, Yellow", 2013
8. "Sounds of the Sea", 2015
9. "Nearby Sky", 2015

Recognition

Dr. Omnia Amin, a professor at Zayed University in Dubai, says this about al-Ghanem's poetry and work:^[4]

Nujoom al-Ghanem is one of the strongest modern Emirati poets who rose in the early 1980s in the Gulf region. Her language is such that it permeates the soul with a rich and flavoured life experience that goes beyond the five senses. Her ability to mix the spiritual and the physical, the real and the unreal, the mythical with the present, is what makes her poems resonate in the mind more than any other writer. Al-Ghanem offers a spiritual and mystical surrounding without ascending or descending into deep and obscure regions of the psyche. Hers is an experience that combines the possible with the limitless and all-embracing possibilities of love, regeneration and an infinite room for acceptance and change. Her words are laden with a past full of sorrows, but this is not a hindrance to the boundless love contained in the mystic heart of a loving poet. Hers is an experience that mixes the culture of the East with that of the West in unique and unparalleled way of accepting the other as part of one's own making.

References