Algerian novelist Wassini Al-A’raj and poet Dr. Zainab Al-A’waj took part in a fascinating session at the 31st Abu Dhabi International Book Fair this week, where they discussed the creative ties that unite them as a married couple.

During the ‘Family and Culture’ session, organised by Al Multaqa Literary Salon Foundation and moderated by Emirati cultural activist Asma Al-Mutawa, the pair spoke about marriage and its impact on their creative projects. Al-A’raj is the author of books including The Prince's Book: Paths of the Iron Gates, with Dr Al-A’waj revealing that for the past 40 years she has always been the first to read her husband’s books.

“He has always given me his opinion of what I write and, in turn, I not only read to him, but listen to his story ideas before they are written. I live with its characters and events and enjoy it, then it is told to the children and grandchildren,” she said. Dr. Al-A’waj added that for her, creativity is a cumulative process based on her love of reading, listening to music, and watching theatre and cinema. Her husband, she said, has been a strong – and even unwitting – supporter as she recently worked on her first novel.

“Wassini encouraged me a lot, as I worked on my first narrative for about three years. When it ended, I needed the opinion of a specialised person, so I sent the novel to Wassini under a false name, so that I could find out his opinion objectively and without bias, and indeed he gave me a number of notes on the structure of the novel and deleted some parts,” she said. “I finished the novel with him after four or five months; I asked him which publisher he recommends, I sent it, and published my first novel.”

Her husband said that the pseudonym under which he received his wife's novel, Zeina Maria, sparked a certain memory that made him curious to know more about this writer.

Al-A’raj said: “I liked the work and wrote to her adding my positive and negative comments. I told my wife about the work and even gave it to her to read it. Then, I forgot the topic, so I was later surprised that Zeina Maria herself sent a request for help to publish the work. I helped her, and of course I told my wife about that as well, only to be surprised that she was the author and she did all this to receive an objective view of her work.”

He said that he is the first to read his wife’s poetry and is always honest with his opinions about her work.