Sara Chaabi
"I write stories for those who feel they belong to two worlds and are still searching for their own."
Sara Chaabi
about
I grew up between two worlds – Morocco and Germany.
For a long time, I thought I had to choose.
Between cultures. Between languages. Between ways of life. Between expectations.
Part of my childhood was marked by lightness, another by loneliness.
I felt most at home in stories, fairy tales, and legends.
The stronger the protagonist, the more unique her voice, the more something within me healed.
When I was twelve, my father gave me a diary. I’ve never stopped writing since.
What began as a refuge became, over the years, my voice, my space, my profession.
Today, I write about young people caught between heritage, longing, and the future.
About the feeling of being a stranger in your own world – and still doing everything you can to build a home for yourself.
My Publications:
Underneath the Stars
Self-published | 2022
My debut novel tells the story of Mira, a young woman with Moroccan roots growing up in Copenhagen – between two cultures, two languages, two identities. Mira stutters, which pushes her even further to the margins in a world that demands speed and clarity. But she carries a quiet strength within her – and the desire to find her own path.
Underneath the Stars is about the feeling of not belonging – and still moving forward. About what goes unsaid. And about the right to have a voice – even with all its cracks. Moroccan representation and the depiction of speech differences like stuttering are almost invisible in the German-speaking New Adult genre. This book was my attempt to change that.
Johnny - Magazine
Literary Magazine of Goethe University Frankfurt
Contributions in several issues:
Prose, short texts, poetic reflections – on origin, insecurity, heartbreak, self-discovery.
„Traum“ (Heft 18)
„Masken“ (Heft 19)
„Spuren“ (Heft 20)
Press & Visibility
Public-Readings
Balthasar-Neumann-Gymnasium Marktheidenfeld, 2023
Bilingual reading from Underneath the Stars – in German and Arabic (Darija), my mother tongue. For many students, it was the first time hearing this language – and experiencing this kind of representation. For me, it was the greatest gift to share this other side with them: A piece of identity that rarely finds space in classrooms.
Library Offenbach am Main, 2023
Reading from Underneath the Stars in German.
Library Marktheidenfeld, 2022
Premiere Reading – Book Release Special from Underneath the Stars in German.
Inspiration & Travel
At 18, I started to travel – first through Europe, then alone to Berlin.
I wanted to find out who I am when no one knows me. When I don’t have to be anyone.
Later, I let go of everything.
I followed my heart’s desire, packed my suitcase, and traveled through Southeast Asia with my husband.
