Salha Obeid

An acclaimed Emirati novelist, short-story writer, and electronic engineer. Obeid is recognized as one of the most inventive and daring voices in contemporary Gulf literature. She is the recipient of prestigious honors, including the Al Owais Award for Creativity (2016) for her collection An Implicitly White Lock of Hair and the Young Emiratis Prize for Creative Writing (2017). She achieved widespread international literary acclaim when her landmark novel Circle of Spices was longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2024. A member of the council of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and founder of the “Society of the Intellectual” cultural project, she is the author of celebrated works across novels and short stories—including Alzheimer’s (translated into German), Postman of Happiness, Perhaps a Joke, and Except Your Grandmother Was Singing. Renowned for her philosophical inquiry, rich sensory prose, and innovative narrative experimentation, Obeid’s fiction masterfully excavates the rapid transformations of Emirati society, female autonomy, and the intricate psychology of human perception.