RIYADH: While many authors travel the world in search of human stories, Saudi novelist Hadeel Al-Shubaili found hers growing up in the holy city of Makkah, where encounters with pilgrims from around the world inspired her second novel, “For Each of Us, an Ismail.”
“The natural instinct in Makkah is (to) give unconditionally, to offer everything you can, and link your relationship with God to the situations happening around you with other people,” Al-Shubaili told Arab News.
“Especially since my novels reflect human and social experiences ... Just from Tawaf alone, you can comprehend the amount of joy and pain that the world experiences, while you are in a place where the whole world has come to you. You didn’t go to the world; the world came to you,” she explained.
Hosted at the Sard Cultural Center in Riyadh, the immersive literary exhibition translates the novel’s themes into a multi-sensory experience using storytelling, sound and visuals. (Supplied)
Reflecting on how her upbringing shaped her duty to share Makkah’s heritage with the world, the writer described herself as “deeply blessed” to have grown up in the holy city.
