An evening that brought together questions of creativity and the experience of writing discussed the role of 'creative testimony' in reading a poet's journey, and how this type of writing can open a window onto the pre-text and reveal the features of the personal and aesthetic formation of writers. Emirati poet and writer Ali Saif Al-Shaali and critic, academic Dr. Nizar Qabbilat from Mohammed bin Zayed University for Humanities discussed this at the Sharjah International Book Fair. Al-Shaali, during the session titled 'Creative Testimonies of Poets: Between the Question of Self and Critical Observation', recalled his beginnings when he discovered poetry at home, in sessions by the sea, and in folk tales, before his experience expanded at the university through professors, Gulf-wide participations and competitions that formed an early stage of his creative consciousness.
