WARSAW (ALETIHAD)
Sharjah’s participation as Guest of Honour at the Warsaw International Book Fair 2026 turned attention to the longstanding literary and academic relationship between Poland and the Arab world during a discussion titled “Arabic and Polish Literary Exchange: A Bidirectional History”.
The session brought together Emirati author Dr. Sultan Al Ameemi and Polish academic and translator Prof. Dr. Barbara Michalak-Pikulska, and moderated by Emirati poet Sheikha Al Mutairi.
Discussions focused on the role of translation, literature, and academic exchange in shaping cultural understanding between the two regions across generations.
During the session, Al Ameemi described literature as one of the most effective ways societies discover shared human experiences beyond political and geographical boundaries. He said Polish literature occupies an important position internationally because of its ability to engage with universal themes that resonate across cultures and languages.
He pointed to the influence of major Polish literary figures, including Nobel Prize winners Wisława Szymborska and Olga Tokarczuk, noting that growing global interest in Polish writing creates new opportunities for literary dialogue with Arab and Emirati literature.
Al Ameemi also explored the historical movement of language between cultures, describing the influence of Arabic on the Polish language as a “migration of words” shaped by centuries of exchange between peoples and civilisations.
He stressed that cultural exchange today must move beyond vocabulary and translation alone to include the exchange of ideas, lived experiences, and social memory.
In this context, he emphasised the importance of expanding the translation of Emirati and Arab literature into Polish to introduce readers to literary voices shaped by the region’s own social and cultural realities.
Addressing Emirati literature specifically, Al Ameemi noted that although much of it was documented in writing relatively recently, the literary tradition itself extends back generations through oral poetry, storytelling, and proverbs that formed an important part of social life in the UAE before the growth of publishing.
He added that Nabati poetry in the UAE dates back between 400 and 500 years and continues to engage with themes that remain socially and culturally relevant today. He also said the Emirati dialect preserves layers of historical and cultural memory connected to the wider Arabic language.
Concluding his remarks, Al Ameemi expressed hope that translating Emirati literature into Polish would allow readers in Poland to engage directly with Emirati cultural experiences and perspectives.
Prof. Dr. Barbara Michalak-Pikulska highlighted the long history of Arabic studies in Poland, noting that Jagiellonian University began teaching Arabic in the early twentieth century, making it one of the earliest centres for Arabic language education in the region.
She explained that the establishment of the university’s Department of Arabic Language in 1919 laid the foundation for sustained academic engagement with Arabic literature and culture in Poland.
She also highlighted the contribution of Polish orientalist Professor Tadeusz Kowalski, whose translations and research on Arabic poetry played a major role in advancing Arab studies in the country.
Michalak-Pikulska added that the university’s Arabic studies programme later became part of the Institute of Oriental Studies, which today includes Arabic, Turkish, and Persian studies, reflecting continued Polish academic interest in Eastern languages and cultures.
She also highlighted the university’s ongoing collaboration with Sharjah through an annual educational programme that enables students specialising in Arabic studies to practise the language within its cultural environment.
Students begin their day at the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah before visiting cultural and scientific institutions across the emirate, an experience she described as essential to understanding Arabic language and culture within their everyday social context.
Michalak-Pikulska added that translating Emirati literature is not simply a linguistic process, but a way of making human experiences accessible across cultures and societies.
The session formed part of Sharjah’s wider Guest of Honour programme at the Warsaw International Book Fair 2026, through which the emirate is presenting Emirati and Arab culture to Polish audiences through literature, heritage, poetry, intellectual exchange, and artistic dialogue.