In Conversation
with
Mahmoud Darwish
House of Wisdom × UAEBBY × The Super Power of Me
Sharjah, UAE
In 2026, The Super Power of Me was invited by House of Wisdom and the United Arab Emirates Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) in Sharjah, UAE, to create a special edition of the project inspired by The Dice Player: Mahmoud Darwish, an exhibition honouring the legendary Palestinian poet and his enduring literary legacy.
Widely regarded as one of the most influential voices in modern Arabic poetry, Darwish explored themes of identity, memory, belonging, homeland, love, and the lifelong process of becoming. Drawing inspiration from these themes, participating students reflected on family, self-discovery, confidence, empathy, and home through a series of writing and portrait workshops.
The resulting poems and portraits reveal voices that are deeply personal while engaging universal questions about who we are, what shapes us, and who we are still becoming.
FEATURED VOICES
My strength is knowing I am incomplete—
and in searching for wholeness
I am always becoming.
TABAREK
age 15
My mother is a homeland
within me.
I carry her certainty within my eyes and see what others feel.
RAWDHA
age 14
My strength comes from my confidence. It is quiet and steady, like the pulse beneath my feet.
My confidence is a candle that does not beg to be believed.
RAYYAN
age 12
How did I become this new me,
when she was the old me?
I see there is no box.
I am free to keep becoming
TASNIM
age 14
Through times of fear,
my hope and my determination carried me.
I am not broken. I am a light that dispels the sadness of years.
LAYAN
age 14