Insight into local women

Bahraini blogger-turned-author Nazli Tawfeeqi offers a contemporary view of local women in her first novel in a bid to move away from the stereotype of the Arab world, writes May Al Mousawi.

My Foggy Tomorrow, named to highlight its cleverly-constructed flashbacks and the idea of how the main character is ‘living today as if it was tomorrow’ is a fictional social drama.

It is set in New York and Bahrain that tells the story of protagonist Hadia’s troubles and struggles. It focuses on love, betrayal and belief.

The 30-year-old took six months to complete the work. In January of this year Nazli looked for publishers and concentrated on formatting and editing it.

Already more than 300 copies have been snapped up since its recent release and she hopes to use its success to help her publish a follow-up novel, which she has already completed.

Nazli, from Zinj said: “When I first wrote the book I wasn’t even planning to publish it, so I am more than happy that it became a printed novel.

“It was a simple idea. I put everything that inspires me to write into it such as my love for travelling, music, art and movies.

“Many English books set in the Gulf only highlight a lack of women’s rights and abuse. I focus on Bahraini culture as well as romance and give the reader a modern interpretation of how we, as Bahraini young women, live our lives.

“It’s a contemporary view and is trying to move away from the predictable media slant of the Arab world. That’s why I decided to publish it.

“I’m what people would call a heavy reader. I love books. I love art, culture and theatre so with my passion it was only natural that I created a book. It’s a social drama that is purely Bahraini. The characters are Bahraini and it is written by a Bahraini.

“Although it mainly focuses on romance, a genre I am not particularly fond of, it was a good challenge and has received amazing feedback so far.

“You don’t find local books in the style I write in and I think that’s what has attracted many people to it. We just don’t have any English novels that speak about our community with local characters describing our modern day culture.”

The book is very much a community venture too. Nazli would write one chapter each week and send it to her friends via email. Their positive feedback encouraged her to complete 24 chapters.

Many ask if the characters in the book are based on people she has met but she insists My Foggy Tomorrow is completely fictional and some of the characters involved are people Nazli would ‘love to meet’ one day.

“The characters are all made up,” she said. “Obviously there is a starting point before creating them, so I mixed the personalities of people I know or I exaggerate their traits … but I wouldn’t say they were strictly based on any of them.”

Although a marketing graduate from the University of Bahrain and Ahlia University, Nazli has always had a dream of becoming an established author.  She said: “Writing is a hobby for now. I wish I could rely on my hobby to become a profession but in this part of the world it is extremely hard.

“My parents are very supportive, even though my mother Sawsan Qamber hates reading. I believe I got my ability from my father, Dheya. He has published two books. One is focused on management and the other is poetry. They are both Arabic books.

“We have a huge library at home thanks to my father. I used to always read the books, four or five at a time. When I got a little older I started to form my own library. I currently have more than 300!”

Nazli founded the New Dawn Society in 2006, an organisation that creates events to serve the social and educational pillars in Bahrain. But her journey with writing started in 2007 with an online blog before starting the Bahrain Bloggers Society in 2012.

She currently works for her father’s company Dheya Tawfiqi Engineering Consultancy Bureau as a human resources and administration officer. She has two siblings whom she describes as ‘creative’ - Abdulaziz, 24, an architect and product designer, and Reem, 27, a photographer.

* My Foggy Tomorrow is available in Words BookstoreCafé priced BD5. She also hopes to sell it on Amazon and Kindle after publishing a second edition in the near future.