Alia Al Shamsi is an Emarati Italian author whose career started as a photojournalist travelling the world before settling back in the UAE and teaching photography as an adjunct at the American University of Sharjah. She has a BA in Photography from Griffith University, Australia and MA in Photo-Image from Durham University, UK and currently finishing her second MSc in Applied Psychology bridging the creative arts with mental wellbeing. Her work has been exhibited internationally alongside pillars of photography Julia Margeret Cameron and Cindy Sherman as well as part of the UAE Embassy in Washington DC private collection and displayed at Rove Hotels. She holds awards including EDAAD Scholarship 2007, British Council Cultural Leadership International 2010 and 2011 Emirates Woman Artist of the Year.

Al Shamsi’s published book Alayah has been awarded the support from Dubai Culture part of their printing and publishing movement “Reading in Arabic Challenge”. Her second book, an illustrated silent book Night and Day is one of the first UAE published silent books. Her first bilingual poetry book is scheduled to release October 2020 with Rawashen Publishing House, marking her transition into adult literature. She has also dedicated her time to philanthropy, specifically children and education and has traveled to India, Kenya, Egypt and Morocco. She has also dedicated two years teaching children art and writing workshops across the UAE in remote locations as she is an advocate for inclusion and diversity. She currently works at Louvre Abu Dhabi as Cultural Programming Manager, connecting the community.