'I Wasn't Trying To Be Brave': UAE Women On Loss And Healing At Emirates Litfest

On Thursday morning, January 22, women took the stage to speak unfiltered, sharing stories of healing, loss, and growth at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, in collaboration with The UNMUTE Project.

The session was designed as a safe space where women could reclaim the power of their own stories, even when those stories felt unfinished, uncomfortable, or difficult to say out loud. Through collective storytelling, reflection, and shared experience, the aim was to remind participants that their voice matters, and that speaking honestly can be a form of strength.

It opened with Mariana Missakian, founder of The UNMUTE Project, speaking candidly about how motherhood, identity, and silence slowly erased her sense of self.

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“When I became a mother, the world told me I didn't matter anymore,” she said.“And the more I believed that, the more I silenced myself, until I disappeared.”

She described searching for stories that reflected her own reality, messy, uncertain, and without clear answers, and finding none. The absence of those stories, she said, convinced her that her own story did not matter either.

That moment of disappearance eventually became the reason UNMUTE exists.

“I realised that power is not a title, not a job, not even a perfectly curated social media feed,” Missakian said.“Power is voice. It's how we use our voice to tell our story, and how we invite others to tell theirs.”

She framed the mourning as a collective journey, comparing storytelling to climbing Mount Everest. Some participants, she said, were still at base camp, others had climbed before, and some were only beginning to consider the ascent.

At it's 18th edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, which opened its doors to visitors on January 21 and will run until January 27 at InterContinental Festival City, bringing authors from more than 40 nationalities to readers through sessions and activities.

“Storytelling is dangerous if you rush it,” she told the room.“We will meet you where you are.”

The keynote was delivered by Natasha Hatherall, founder and chief executive of TishTash Marketing Agency, who began by admitting that standing on stage was not natural for her.

“I've spent nearly 30 years giving visibility to other people,” she said.“This is me stepping out of my comfort zone.”

Hatherall spoke about how her carefully built professional life collapsed during Covid, when she lost 80 per cent of her clients almost overnight and feared she would not be able to pay her staff.

“I didn't know if my business would survive,” she said.“Everything I had built was suddenly at risk.”

Overwhelmed and unsure what to do, she picked up her phone one night and shared her reality on social media, not as a polished statement, but as raw, honest reflections about fear, loss, and uncertainty.

“I wasn't trying to be brave,” she said.“I was just being honest.”

By the next morning, thousands of messages had flooded in from people around the world, many sharing their own fears and struggles. That moment, she said, changed the direction of her life.

What followed became a daily Covid diary that lasted two years, resonating with people not because it was inspirational, but because it was unfinished.

“Real stories don't have neat endings,” Hatherall said.“They're messy, uncomfortable, and often still unfolding.”

As she continued, her story deepened. She spoke about her decade long IVF journey, multiple miscarriages, the loss of a child at birth, and her decision to speak openly about grief and mental health, even when it made others uncomfortable.

“Vulnerability is not weakness,” she said.“It's the greatest strength we have.”

That honesty, she said, helped build communities, safe spaces where people felt seen enough to say,“Me too.”

She spoke about running women led communities across the UAE and the wider region, spaces where women share truths about homelessness, mental health, loss, and survival, and where help often follows words.

“When one woman shares her story,” she said,“she gives permission for others to do the same.”

Throughout the morning, participants took part in collaborative writing, illustration, and reflection, turning shared emotion into something tangible. The session closed quietly, with conversations over coffee and stories that were held, even if they were not resolved.

The message was simple but heavy, that stories do not need to be finished to be shared, and that sometimes the bravest act is not speaking loudly, but speaking honestly.

As Missakian said earlier that morning,“The world doesn't need another perfect story. It needs yours.”

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