Mona Aljanahi here.

The Wink Of The Mona Lisa And Other Stories From The Gulf

Written by: H. E. Mohammad Al Murr Translated from the Arabic by Jack Briggs Published by: Motivate Publishing (1998, first published 1994) ISBN: 1860630766 ISBN13: 9781860630767

The Wink of the Mona Lisa, and Other Stories from the Gulf by H. E. Mohammad Al Murr, is a collection of short stories depicting Gulf societies in the past and present—which at the time of publication was 1998. This collection was translated by Jack Briggs, who has been living in the Gulf since 1949.

The stories illustrate the everyday lives of various Khaliji individuals—males or females who are rich, poor, free, or slaves. The stories also range in genre from satire to drama, tragedy, and comedy. This collection depicts the lived experiences of people in this region of the world. Al Murr does not romanticize the region nor its people; instead, the collection offers a raw, authentic sampling of round characters. From the unnamed womanizer in “words, words, words” and Khamaas, Aboud, and Khalood, the pigeon thieves in “The Night’s Catch” to the bitter and lonely Shamsa in “The Awesome Lady” and the naïve Hasan in “The Wink of the Mona Lisa,” the stories are unyielding in their depictions.

The tale that bears the title of the collection, “The Wink of the Mona Lisa,” tells the story of a young Emirati man falling in love with a girl he mistakenly thought winked at him at a wedding, and so the task of searching for said winker falls on his sisters. One of the funnier conversations in this particular story is when they did figure out who the alleged winker was. These were the sister’s comments:

“She drives her own car.”

“She was previously contracted to marry one of her relatives, and used to go out with him; then they broke off before the actual wedding.”

“She is anemic.”

“She went away last year to Cyprus with a group of girlfriends.”

Reading Al Murr’s work, I am reminded of O’Henry’s collection of short stories, whereby the following elements can be found: punchlines, surprise endings, wit, and irony.

I chose to post my review about this specific collection of stories because it was one of the first Emirati works of literature I had read in English. The story of “The Wink of the Mona Lisa” was actually an assigned reading during my first year at Zayed University, and I recall it vividly because it struck me as humorous. Also, I believe I recall the story well because I had the opportunity to meet H.E. Mohammad Almurr during the awarding ceremony for the Extremely Short Story Competition held at Zayed University. For this particular competition, applicants had to compose a story in exactly 50 words. Mohammad Almurr presented the winners with awards, and participants had their work published in the national newspaper.

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About the Author:

H.E. Mohammad Al Murr Al Falasi is an Emirati writer. His short story collections, Dubai Tales and The Wink of the Mona Lisa, have been translated into English. He chaired the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and was selected to serve as a delegate of the Emirate of Dubai in the Federal National Council. At the Mohamed Bin Rashed Library, which opened in 2022, he currently holds the position of chairman.

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About the Guest Contributor for #UAEReads:

Dr. Mona Humaid Aljanahi is an Assistant Professor and serves as the Vice Dean at the College of Education in United Arab Emirates University.

She holds a Ph.D in Curriculum & Instruction with a concentration on Language & Literacy. Her research interests include literacy education, pop culture, language learning, language arts, and academic integrity. Her research studies have been published in Q1 Scopus indexed journals.

She is currently an active reviewer for peer-reviewed international journals. Additionally, she presented at numerous national and international conferences on various topics in her field.

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About the Guest Editor/Curator for March 2024 [#UAEReads]:

Myra Garces-Bacsal has served as a teacher educator for 15 years and has led several research projects on reading and social emotional learning, diverse picturebooks and teacher practices, psychology of high creatives and exceptional people, culturally responsive and inclusive education. She is a quintessential lover and creator of booklists (see her Social and Emotional Learning bookshelf here and other publications below). Myra serves as the Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Studies with the College of Education, UAE University. She is a self-proclaimed nerd who lives and breathes books and enjoys organizing events and festivals where fellow nerds converge and attempt to joyfully change the world.

Publications on booklists:

Garces-Bacsal, R. M., Alhosani, N. M., Elhoweris, H., Tupas, R. (2023). A diverse social and emotional learning booklist for gifted learners and advanced readers. Roeper Review, 45(1), 25-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783193.2022.2145397

Garces-Bacsal, R. M., Alhosani, N. M., Elhoweris, H., Al Ghufli, H. T., AlOwais, N. M., Baja, E. S., & Tupas, R. (2022). Using diverse picturebooks for inclusive practices and transformative pedagogies. In M. Efstratopoulou (Ed.), Rethinking Inclusion and Transformation in Special Education (pp. 72-92). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-4680-5.ch005

Garces-Bacsal, R. M. (2021). Of grit and gumption, sass and verve: What gifted students can learn from multicultural picture book biographies. In S. R. Smith’s Handbook of giftedness and talent development in Australasian Pacific (pp. 431-453). Singapore: Springer International Handbooks of Education. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-981-13-3041-4_18

Garces-Bacsal, R. M. (2020). Diverse books for diverse children: Building an early childhood diverse booklist for social and emotional learning. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 22(1), 66-95. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798420901856