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A UNIQUE and fascinating collection of short stories and poetry about living and life in Bahrain will be in the bookshops next month.
Destined to become one of the island’s biggest-selling books of its kind, it has been put together by Bahrain-based British author Robin Barratt.
"And a Brit, editing and compiling a book called My Beautiful Bahrain written by both Arabs and foreigners about life and living on the island is most definitely unique!" the 49-year-old Hoora resident said.
The publication follows the launch last year of his sixth book entitled The Mammoth Book of the World’s Hardest Men for the international publisher Constable Robinson. It featured 30 stories of the toughest people in the world from martial artists, gangsters, doormen and bodyguards.
The best-selling true crime author, former bouncer, doorman and bodyguard trainer has managed nightclubs, a security business and has worked in some of the world’s most dangerous trouble spots, including delivering aid to war-torn Bosnia.
But he passionately believes his latest project – My Beautiful Bahrain – has produced an important record for Bahrain on many levels, especially during these troubled times and the negative reports the kingdom has been suffering at the hands of some international media outlets.
It boasts 50 contributions from 40 writers from 15 countries – Arab and international – and aims to show that, firstly, there are a great many writers here on the island that should be heard and, secondly, more importantly, for most people – and despite the current unrest – Bahrain is still a wonderful place to live and much better than many other countries!
With lots of fascinating personal life stories, quite a few tourist-type information and fact-based contributions, some wonderful poetry, an occasional piece of fiction set on the island and a mixture of other diverse and captivating prose, the contributors to My Beautiful Bahrain, believe it will be an indispensable guide for travellers and visitors to the island, as well as a ‘must-read’ book for people living here, doing business here, or just interested in what life is like living on this tiny kingdom in the Arabian Gulf.
Mr Barratt explained: "The call for contributions for this book was simple and straightforward; to write about life and living here with no other – or hidden – agenda.
"The only conditions for contributing were that there was to be no political or religious agenda and writers should always keep in mind the title: My Beautiful Bahrain."
Although many contributors to the book are members of the Bahrain Writer’s Circle, contribution was open to all – Arab or foreign, young or old, published or not – whether a veteran writer with years of experience or a beginner stumbling through their first few words.
"The aim was to give everyone a chance to be heard and to tell their own personal story about their own personal beautiful Bahrain,î said Mr Barratt, who comes from the English city of Norwich and has lived in the kingdom for three years.
"And, because of this, aside from obvious errors in grammar and spelling, as much as possible all contributions have been kept as original as possible, highlighting just how many people can write such wonderful prose and poetry even in cases where English is not their mother tongue!"
My Beautiful Bahrain has not been sponsored by any company or organisation, it is completely independent and supported by its author and the publisher. However, the aims and goals are to eventually find support and help in order to publish My Beautiful Bahrain in the UK, USA and then worldwide; thereby telling the world about how beautiful Bahrain really is and why people should visit.
The list of authors involved are Aaron Maree, Ana Corradini Boreland, Anita Menon, B.M.Engel, Bron Vanzino, Catherine Purchase, David Hollywood, DaVonda St. Clair, Dilraz Kunnummal, Eva Burns, Fahad Ali, Faridah Serajul Haq, Fatima Dincsoy, Hameed Al Qaed, Hasina Patel, Heera Nawaz, Jim Scalise, Joanne Jones, Kathleen Dodd, Kevin Howarth, Lillian Mills, Lorraine Charlesworth, Madhavi Tiwary, Maeve Kelynack Skinner, Mary Coons, Nadia Muijrers, Namit Bhatia, Natasha Khan, Nawf Al Basam, Omar Ahmed, Osama Arshad, Phari Poitier, Pooja Rajpal Kasala, Rohini Sunderam, S Krishna Kumar, Shauna Nearing Loej, Steve Royston and Zahra Zuhair.
It is now available on Amazon Kindle and ibookstore for ipad. Published by Miracle, the paperback, priced BD5, will be sold at major bookshops in Bahrain from April.
‘Bahrain is beautiful. And, as many of the stories in this book will demonstrate, Bahrain’s beauty is fundamentally the subtle, gentle beauty of the island, its way of life and the friendliness and compassion and openness and warmth of its people’ – Robin Barratt
