Arabic Language and Cultures students Lama Sweidan, Sidra Ghanawi, Jaseena Al-Helo and Emilie Garcia-Dolnik were selected by academic merit to represent the University of Sydney and partake in the 17th Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, also known as the Emirates LitFest, in Dubai from 29 January to 3 February. As a leading international cultural event in the Arab world, the festival features hundreds of writers and a youth program which brings together students from around the world.
The four Sydney students formed one of 25 university student delegations from the United Kingdom, the United States, Malaysia, Pakistan, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and European countries such as Norway and France. They participated in a range of workshops, lectures and discussions on storytelling, business and entrepreneurship through author talks and presentations, Q&A panels, and immersive sessions in Arabic and English. They were accompanied by Chair of Arabic Language and Cultures, Associate Professor Lucia Sorbera, who took part in a series of workshops for professors on the pedagogy of Arabic language and cultures.
In celebration of the Arabic language, the Festival's International Youth Programme promoted cross-cultural dialogue and broadened students’ perspectives on the interconnectedness of literature and the universal power of storytelling.
Arabic Language and Cultures students Emilie Garcia-Dolnik, Lama Sweidan, Jaseena Al-Helo, Sidra Ghanawi and Associate Professor Lucia Sorbera at a workshop of the 17th Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature in Dubai
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LinkLearned importance of storytelling in the Arab world
The beauty of storytelling and all its faculties resonated with the four students during the session on Mudun (‘cities’ in Arabic), an anthology of Arabic and English short stories. It addressed the editorial decision to leave the Arabic and English stories untranslated as a tribute to the lived realities of many bilingual Arabs who have grown up in a world with identities spanning two languages, as well as to retain the integrity and nuances of the writers’ voices.
“Storytelling in the Arabic-speaking world holds a power like no other,” said Sidra Ghanawi, Bachelor of Arts student who is also doing a minor in Socio-Legal Studies. “It arms us with the ability to tell our own stories, dismantle the misconceptions piled on top of our collective identity, and reconstruct an image of our truly rich and diverse cultures that transcends what we see in the media.”
We gained deeper insight into the power of storytelling across different forms of media, and the interconnectedness of diverse cultural perspectives in the realm of literature.
Lama Sweidan
Bachelor of Arts (Arabic Language and Cultures & Immunology and Pathology majors)
Appreciating meaningful duality
Students engaged with themes of duality and cultural pride in the session with world-renowned Syrian American journalist and long-term CNN correspondent, Hala Gorani, who presented her memoir, But You Don’t Look Arab, which weaves together stories of loss and identity as the daughter of Syrian immigrants through reflections of her place as a Syrian-American journalist. Highlighting the importance of journalism as a form of storytelling, the session emphasised the need to explore a people, their culture and their land beyond moments of war and aggression.
“As an aspiring Syrian journalist, I found her words deeply resonant,” said Sidra. “Her work epitomises the urgent need for nuanced, human-centered reporting that is unencumbered by biased agendas, as good journalism creates space for the process of what is essentially ‘re-humanising’ the Middle Eastern and North Africa region.”
Arabic Language and Cultures student Sidra Ghanawi with American-Syrian journalist Hala Gorani
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LinkAffinity with the absent winner
For Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws student Jaseena, hearing from the brother of imprisoned Palestinian writer Basem Khandaqji, 2024 recipient of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, a prestigious literary award for Arabic novels also known as the Arabic equivalent of the Man Booker Prize, brought her home.
“To be surrounded by the cadence of Arabic, unfiltered and unburdened by the need for translation, was liberating,” said Jaseena.
With Khandaqji’s brother Yousef receiving the award for the novel Qina‘bi-Lawn al-Sama’ (A Mask the Colour of the Sky), Jaseena reflected on the significance of literature as form of work that is often born out of human and political struggle: “It was eye-opening. Sometimes, the most powerful forms of resistance exist within the margins of literature.”
University of Sydney students Jaseena Al-Helo and Lama Sweidan presenting an exchange of gifts that represent their cultures at the 2025 Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature in Dubai
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LinkAn educational experience to cherish
For all four students, their experience in Dubai was invaluable as they left with new friends from around the world and a lifetime of memories.
“The exposure to Arabic – whether through formal Modern Standard Arabic or diverse dialects (such as Emirati, Omani and Jordanian) – combined with detailed, in-depth sessions on literature and writing, enhanced our learning experience and allowed us to apply the skills learned in class, shared Emilie, Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Politics and International Relations) and Diploma of Language Studies student.
Header image: Sidra Ghanawi, Lama Sweidan, Jaseena Al-Helo, Isobel Abulhoul OBE (Director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature), Associate Professor Lucia Sorbera, Emilie Garcia-Dolnik, Dania Droubi (COO and Director of Education Initiative of the Emirates Literature Foundation) and Khadija Sharafi (Emirates Literature Foundation Project and Processes Manager) at the 17th Emirates Festival of Literature's International Youth Programme / Images supplied