The 28th edition of the Muscat International Book Fair sees a collaborative work that is a result of love for Oman and for the German language.

The book, ‘Faces from the Land of Tolerance Oman,’ sees the joint work of multi-lingual Omani poet, Lubna al Balushi who writes in Arabic, Balochi, German, and English, and Anja Menzel, German photographer, and journalist.

It was launched recently and is available at Bain Al Sutton Publishing house 2L20 at the Muscat International Book Fair.

The book features a collection of photographs and poems reflecting Oman’s beauty and cultural diversity of Oman and its people. Lubna’s poems are written in Arabic, English, and German.

Lubna’s poetry is about feelings, happiness, love, hope, and dreams. According to her, poetry is the mirror of the soul, heart, and culture.

Images taken by Anja have been captured by the photographer during her journeys around Oman and are complemented by heartfelt poems in Arabic, German, and English.

In the book, Anja says she was thrilled with the frankness and friendliness of the Omani people ever since her first visit to Sultanate of Oman. She then continued her visits and her three journeys to various parts of Oman taking her from Musandam to Dhofar inspiring the photographer in her.

The way the book came about was interesting. Lubna explains, “I had a heart to heart reading within my poetry tour for a group of women tourist guests from Switzerland. I had made an album exemplar and read from the collection of my first book Schönheit des Herzens (German), ‘Beauty of the Heart’ and ‘Faces from the Land of Tolerance.’ They enjoyed the poetry and the photos so much that they wanted to buy the book. At that moment, the book was not in print.

After a month, I found on Instagram some Omani authors initiating a new publishing house. So, I sent my manuscript and it was accepted.”

And thus this book was born, a book that also has an objective to promote Oman as a tourism destination.

During her journey, explains a note in the book – “She captured her impressions of the multifaceted people and it’s landscape. Anja is also a member of Oman-German Society and has presented an exhibition titled ‘Oman-People and Moments’ at the ‘Werkstatt der Kulturen’, in Berlin in Cooperation with the Oman Embassy in Berlin.

So what inspires Lubna to write?

While speaking to Observer, she said, ‘Love of people, love of the wonder of words, and the fact that everything is full of life, people’s kindness, good-hearted deeds, roses, sky, emotions, photographs, news and stories.

Lubna‘s new collection, “Once Upon a Heart”, will be featured in her upcoming poetry reading tour around the world.

So this is how she is looking forward.

“Looking forward to the inauguration of the project in November during National Day celebrations. The desired outcomes are book/e-book and photo poetry exhibition in Oman, Germany, Switzerland, and selected countries as significant as the Flying Arts Exhibition. The project is designed in Arabic, German, and English.