How Lara Sabri Built a Powerful Voice Across Modern Media

For Lara Sabri, storytelling has always been about looking beyond what is immediately visible. The Palestinian Jordanian journalist and author, based in Dubai, has built her professional identity across journalism, digital media, technology reporting, multimedia and creative writing. Now, with the publication of her debut novella, Chaos, she is entering a new chapter where fiction gives her another space to explore memory, loss, imagination and the human experience.

Released in July 2026, Chaos follows two children living in a neighbourhood slowly being transformed by destruction. Their surroundings are losing their trees, streets and people to endless fire, yet the children continue to hold on to a memory of a different world. Through painting, imagination and the innocence of childhood, they create a vision filled with joy, toys and clear skies.

At the heart of the novella is a powerful image: a wall becoming a sky of its own.

The story follows two souls in two tiny bodies as they carry a brush that feels too heavy for their hands. Through their paintings, they attempt to recreate the world they once believed was real. But when they look through the darkness of a cave hole, they are confronted by leafless, burnt trees and a reality that is very different from the world they have imagined.

Rather than simply presenting destruction, Chaos explores what happens when people, especially children, try to preserve hope while surrounded by circumstances beyond their control. Memory becomes a form of escape, while imagination becomes a way of holding on to something human.

For Lara, the novella represents an important extension of the storytelling approach that has shaped her journalism. Her professional work often examines complicated subjects through the experiences of the people affected by them. With Chaos, she moves into fiction while continuing to explore themes that have long been present in her work: memory, change, survival, identity and the emotional side of major events.

From Journalism to Fiction, Without Leaving the Human Story Behind

Lara’s transition into literary writing does not represent a complete departure from journalism. Instead, it adds another dimension to her work as a storyteller.

Journalism is grounded in facts, interviews, research and verification. Fiction provides a different kind of freedom, allowing a writer to explore emotions, symbolism and experiences that may be difficult to express through conventional reporting.

That distinction becomes especially meaningful in Chaos. Through the eyes of two children, Lara creates a story where a small painting can carry the weight of an entire world. The simplicity of the characters contrasts with the complexity of their surroundings, allowing the novella to explore difficult realities through an intimate perspective.

Her debut therefore becomes more than another professional achievement. It reflects Lara’s growing interest in understanding how stories can communicate experiences across different forms.

An Early Interest in Stories Became a Professional Direction

Lara studied at the American University in Dubai from 2019 to 2023, where she developed her interest in journalism, media and storytelling. During her university years, she explored documentary work and began understanding the responsibility involved in telling stories about real people.

One of her student projects followed a food delivery driver in Dubai, focusing on the emotions, pressures and family responsibilities behind an everyday profession. Even at this stage, Lara was interested in looking beyond the surface of a story.

That perspective later became an important part of her professional identity. Whether she is reporting on technology, regional developments or human experiences, her work often seeks to understand the person behind the larger subject.

Training Strengthened Her Approach to Journalism

Moving from an interest in storytelling to professional journalism requires more than strong writing skills. Research, verification, source development and an understanding of information are equally important.

Lara continued developing these skills through professional training. In 2023, she completed a youth journalism programme in the Gulf with the Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists. She also participated in research training connected with Wikimedians UAE and the Emirates Literature Foundation.

These experiences helped strengthen the foundations behind her reporting and gave her greater exposure to the research and editorial processes that shape responsible journalism.

Technology, Finance and Digital Transformation Became Key Areas

As her career developed, Lara increasingly explored technology, cryptocurrency, finance and digital transformation. These subjects can often feel technical and distant, but her reporting brings attention to how they influence people, businesses and communities.

Her work has covered areas including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cryptocurrency and emerging digital systems across the Middle East and North Africa. She has contributed to publications including WIRED Middle East, Time Out GCC, LovinSaudi, The Crypto Radio and Atlas Broadcasting.

She has also covered major industry events such as Binance Blockchain Week, Arabian Travel Market and Expand North Star, gaining experience in reporting on industries undergoing rapid change.

Her Career Continues Across Multimedia and Creative Copywriting

Lara’s work extends beyond traditional written journalism. She has developed experience across scripts, multimedia content, live conversations, production and digital programmes.

She has hosted online discussions around cryptocurrency, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, while also moderating conversations connected to media and knowledge production. Her work with The Crypto Radio has given her experience in production and another perspective on how stories are developed for audiences beyond the written page.

Today, her areas of focus also include creative copywriting, alongside journalism, multimedia and storytelling. This expanding skill set reflects her interest in understanding how ideas can be communicated differently depending on the audience, platform and purpose.

Regional Reporting Added Another Layer to Her Work

In 2026, Lara’s reporting expanded further into regional politics, conflict, technology and the human impact of major developments. Through her work with Atlas Broadcasting, she has covered developments involving Jordan, Sudan, Syria and the Gulf, including stories connected to digital access, energy security, regional disruption and the experiences of people affected by wider events.

Her Palestinian Jordanian identity also gives personal relevance to her interest in memory, place and the preservation of human experiences through storytelling. These themes connect naturally with her literary interests and the ideas explored in Chaos.

A Career That Continues to Expand

Lara Sabri’s journey now brings together several forms of storytelling. Journalism allows her to investigate real events and give context to complex subjects. Multimedia gives her different ways to reach audiences. Creative copywriting allows her to shape ideas for specific purposes, while fiction gives her the freedom to explore memory, emotion and imagination from another perspective.

Her debut novella, Chaos, therefore arrives at an important point in that evolution. The story of two children painting a world of joy and clear skies while facing a landscape transformed by destruction reflects a central quality of Lara’s wider work: the desire to look for the human story inside difficult realities.

From her early documentary work in Dubai to technology and finance reporting, multimedia production and now literary fiction, her career has continued to move across different disciplines without losing its focus on people.

Chaos marks the beginning of Lara’s journey as a published author, but it also reveals how naturally journalism and creative storytelling can exist alongside one another. Her professional path continues to develop across journalism, multimedia, creative copywriting, technology, finance, digital transformation and literature.

Through each medium, Lara continues to explore the same fundamental question: how can a complicated reality be transformed into a story that people can understand, remember and feel?

Do follow Lara on Instagram and Also Checkout her Website

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