Shahd Thani Winner of First Emirates Literature Foundation Mentorship Programme (#EAFOL, @Rambling_Sha)

The Emirates Literature Foundation Mentorship Programme won by the aspiring writer Shahd Thani.

The Emirates Literature Foundation announced today that Shahd Thani won the Mentorship Programme they announced back in August 2015. The award-winning fiction author Liz Fenwick will be giving Thani the benefit of her expertise and work closely with her to complete her manuscript and pitch it to publishers and literary agents. The other two finalists were Shaima Al Shamsi and Roudha Al Shehhi.

The application of the mentorship programme required the applicants to send a 2000-word submission of their novel, along with a brief synopsis and the theme of the book. The programme was open exclusively to emerging Emirati women writers who write about the United Arab Emirates in English. Thani is an Emirati novelist and poet, who has written two serialised novels on her personal blog. She is also an active member of the Untitled Chapters (a community for female Emirati writers) where she also mentors younger writers.

‘I chose my top three and set some questions that would tell me where they were in their writer’s journeys and where they were in the writing process. From their answers I made my final selection. It wasn’t an easy process because all the entries showed promise. It was a difficult decision to choose just one,’ Fenwick explains. She also shared the entries with an agent to help her make the final decision.

‘Thani’s story, Just Another Emirati Love Story, first captured me with the title. It showed humour and instantly intrigued me. The writing was accomplished and the characterisation was excellent. I felt I was being given an insight into a world that was unknown to me yet was familiar too because we all search for love.’

“I never for one second imagined I would win, but I kept hoping. Through the programme I wish to be guided in the next stage after writing a manuscript and to reach a universal audience through it’s publication.” Thani told Sail when asked about her well deserved win. We also asked Thani about what advice she would give for aspiring writers, she answered “The advice is the same one I give to younger writers in Untitled Chapter, I would advice them is to keep going, to be brave and that the talent is in them if they just keep putting pen to paper”