·        My name is Fatima Hussain Al-Essa Al-Qanaie

·        Born In Kuwait in 1937.

·        I completed my Secondary School Education in Kuwait. I was Granted scholarship by Government to pursue University Education abroad. This was the first time women were allowed to study abroad.

·        Studied at Cairo University, College of Arts, Journalism Department 1956-1960.

CHALLENGE AND EXPERIENCE

·        Was married in 1960, and accompanied my husband, Sulaiman Al-Mutawa, when he traveled for the Master Degree in Educational Guidance at Columbia University (New York).

·        During my continuous attempts to utilize my time, I studied English at the Community Services Department of Columbia University. I was dazzled by life in New York, and expressed that feeling by cooperating with the Voice of America Radio, where I prepared and presented messages to Radio Kuwait, under the theme name “Journal of a Kuwaiti Lady in New York”.

·        In appreciation of what I had been doing in this field, Radio Kuwait gave me a scholarship to study the art of Broadcasting.

·        During the last year in which I accompanied my husband, I transferred to the University of New York where I took a number of special courses in the Art of Broadcasting.

·        Following my return to Kuwait, I started to work at Radio Kuwait where I was put in charge of preparing and presenting the woman’s daily program (a 15-minute daily program)

·        In order to free myself from the bounds of femininity which was imposed upon me by my profession, I fled to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs- Journalism and Culture Department, and later on, joined the Political Department under Sheikh Salem Sabah Al-Salem.

·        Once there, I took the first step in the dialogue for women’s rights. At the beginning, the dialogue focused on the diplomatic capacity of women at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

·        The dialogue dragged on, and eventually we came to that serious and critical stage that led me to resign. At that time, I was requested by Kuwait TV to present a woman’s program, again.

·        In order to remain outside the strict “feminine bounds”, I also prepared and presented another program called “The Family World”, which addressed issues of interest to every member of the family regardless of age or gender. This program came from my strong belief that family life was one of mutual help and cooperation from all.

·        Because of my work at Kuwait TV was outside the scope of being a civil servant, I had the opportunity to venture into the world of business, in addition to volunteer writing for Al-Hadaf magazine, then for Al-Watan Newspaper.

·        The Dunia Al-Usra’s program mission being to achieve educational guidance, I soon found myself volunteering to work in many social fields, such as N.G.O., women’s societies in particular. My work also included the school and guidance centers of the Ministry of Social Affairs, At the same time, I continued to write my press articles, through intermittently. Indeed, I found at Al-Watan Newspaper a warm welcome for my thoughts, wherever I wrote to express my opinion, wherever it was.

·        The the Iraqi invader stormed into my country on August 2, 1990, trying to separate Kuwait from its historical roots, it was only natural for every Kuwaiti citizen to resist that criminal act at all political, economic, cultural and social levels, in general, and at the psychological level in particular, I was one of those citizens.

·        Once that traumatic experience was over, I found myself becoming a soldier with a mission to serve my country. An Invitation from the late Jassem Mohammed Al-Mutawa opened  the door wide open for me to wage my eternal war, a war that was actually imposed upon me, That was how I became Editor of Al-Watan Newspaper on December 2, 1991.

·        Two years later I started to realize my eternal dreams to publish a woman’s magazine that respect the woman’s mind and educates her with the need to focus on necessary things rather than luxuries. And so, Samra Magazine saw its first issue published on Jun 1, 1993. I was the founder and chief editor.

·        However it is in the nature of things not to remain unchanged, and I let go the position of chief editor at Samra when the magazine was able to manage on its own.

·        During the 1980’s I published to book “Nuqta” (a point) which contained a selection of articles I had previously published in the press.

·        In 2001, I published the book “Awraq”, an auto-biography written against the background of Kuwaiti’s progress and the cultural and material changes that happened.

·        I currently devote all my time to drama writing.

·        Kuwait and Arab TV’s presented two series written by me on issues related to the “Family” and the prominent role the women play within the small world of the family, in terms of language and acts. These were:

-         Beit Taskunuhu Samra (A house in which Samra lives)

-         Wajhon Wahidon La Yaki (One face is not enough)

This third series which consists of 30 episodes, called “Yawmiyat Malgoufa” (Loosely translated, It means “Journal of a woman who is a meddler in the affairs of every body’s life with an air of superiority and “I know best”).