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The Department of English Literature at the United Arab Emirates University organized its second academic forum on ‘Emirati Literature in the New Millennium’. The focus was on a collection of short stories called ‘Day of the Antelopes’ by literature professor Dr. Fatima Hamad Al Mazrouei. This forum was held on Monday 27^th April, 2015 in the College of Information Technology Theater. There were visitors from the USA and Canada as well as professors from the English Literature Department and many female students in attendance.

Professor Saif Al Qaydi, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, welcomed Dr. Fatima Al Mazrouei. He read from her collection of short stories (Day of the Antelopes). Those in attendance felt that Emirati literature has been unfortunate not to have a more international reach as few writers have worked or studied outside of the region. If they had done so then Emirati literature might have become a more significant bridge in promoting Emirati literature and culture worldwide. Events such as this forum go some way to redressing that imbalance.

Dr. Saddik Gohar, Chair of the Department of English Literature, gave an overview of the objectives of the forum. He stated that the participants were, “keen to deliver UAE literature to the world as a reflection of the development of the country, an image of the past and the vision for the future”. He added that, “every nation has writers who take pride in their country and that UAE writers have written about the past and present context of the UAE in a sophisticated and literary style”.

The forum had several themes. The first was an exploration of “dialectics and the aesthetics of narrative” in ‘Day of the Antelopes’. This research paper was presented by female students from the college. Following this, Dr. Ahmed Afify, a professor in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature, presented an overview of the textual binaries used in ‘Day of the Antelopes’, while Dr. Al-Rasheed Bu-Shair, another professor from the Department of Arabic Language and Literature, talked about the feminism apparent in ‘Day of the Antelopes’. Additionally, Dr. Eid Mohammed, a professor from the University of Waterloo, Canada, discussed the nostalgia and sense of belonging in the book, before Dr. Doris Himbash, from the USA, talked about Emirati poetry that has been translated into German. The forum ended by naming the winners of a competition to translate ‘Day of the Antelopes’ into English.