With everything in modern life seeming to move at an unrelenting pace, literature remains one of the few spaces where time disappears and perspective deepens. Books offer more than just stories, as they allow us to step into alternative lives and other worlds, only to return in the blink of an eye, the moment the cover falls shut, to our own with greater clarity. This magical ability of books is what drives Ahlam Bolooki, the CEO of Emirates Literature Foundation. Her work with the foundation and the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature continues to shape new generations of readers, thinkers, and storytellers. Through community-driven initiatives and global conversations, she has been instrumental in making literature more accessible, relevant, and engaging to a wider audience. Here Bolooki reflects on reading as a form of travel that transcends borders, time, and lived experience, offering those brave enough to crack open a tome the opportunity to not just escape the everyday but also to discover a deeper understanding of the self.
The theme of this issue of Emirates Woman is Odyssey—a journey in every sense of the word. How do you interpret the idea of an “odyssey” through the lens of literature?
Literature offers us the opportunity to deeply experience lives and perspectives far beyond our own. While other art forms allow glimpses into different worlds, books allow you to immerse yourself in the mind, the emotions, and the inner dialogue of others. To step into a novel written centuries ago and still find yourself relating to its emotions, or to experience something completely foreign yet deeply understood, is the true gift of literature.
In an increasingly fast-paced, hyper-digital world, do you see books as a form of escape or as a way of returning more deeply to ourselves?
Reading is both, as it offers the ability to escape and also a return to clarity and to ourselves. In many ways, it’s similar to how we felt drawn to nature, to quiet, and to human connection after periods of disruption. These are essential to our humanity. A book allows you to slow down and process the world more deeply. Unlike quick, surface-level information, reading invites you into nuance, into emotion, into reflection. It affirms the idea that the journey matters. You can summarize information quickly, but you cannot replace the experience of engaging with it deeply.
With the rise of short-form content and digital consumption, how do we sustain deeper engagement with books, particularly among younger audiences?
Young people are at the heart of everything we do at the Foundation. More than half of our initiatives are designed for children, because fostering a love for literature early on is key. It’s not about positioning reading as a chore or competing with digital platforms—it’s about complementing them and showing young people the value that books can bring to their lives. When children meet authors, hear them speak, and connect with them, something shifts. They begin to see storytelling as something aspirational and exciting. We also engage them through multiple formats – writing competitions, digital storytelling, poetry, and creative projects – because every child connects differently. The goal is to make literature immersive, accessible, and deeply engaging.
What role do initiatives like the Emirates Literature Foundation play in shaping not just readers, but thinkers and storytellers of the future?
The Foundation plays a deeply active role within the community. Whether through the festival, educational programs, publishing initiatives, or outreach projects, everything we do is centered around impact. Literature has the ability to connect, to comfort, and to inspire. When we nurture that connection early, we’re not just building readers—we’re shaping individuals who think more deeply, feel more empathetically, and engage more meaningfully with the world.
Are there particular books or authors that have made you feel as though you’ve traveled across places, time, or emotional landscapes?
Authors like Han Kang offer a powerful glimpse into cultural perspectives, particularly in how everyday life is observed and expressed. Reading her work felt like experiencing a completely different way of thinking. I also recently read works by Orhan Pamuk and Milan Kundera, whose writing explores identity, memory, and the human condition in deeply layered ways. Books like Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri capture the quiet, often overlooked moments of everyday life with remarkable clarity.
How do you personally experience reading as a form of travel, especially across cultures and perspectives?
In moments of difficulty, I often find that the answers I’m searching for are in books. Whether it’s understanding a historical moment, processing personal experiences, or simply seeking perspective, literature becomes a space where everything is accessible—if you’re willing to look for it. Through books, you can travel across cultures, across time, and across emotional landscapes. You gain insight into how people think, how societies function, and how history continues to shape the present.
June’s – The Odyssey Issue – Download Now
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: emirateswoman.com
