Oum Al-Nasser Mamine Sidaty, known by her literary pseudonym Al-Samra, is a Mauritanian writer, poet, and researcher holding a BA in Sociology. Her work engages deeply with questions of freedom and marginality, with a particular focus on women’s experiences in nomadic environments and the social and cultural complexities they embody.
In her poetry, as critics have observed, she transforms ordinary moments into evocative symbols that reflect the isolation of contemporary individuals in bustling urban spaces, their struggle with inner emptiness, and the lived realities of individuals in conservative societies—especially women. Her writing captures subtle emotional textures, foregrounding feelings of loneliness, fear, fragility, and the significance of fleeting, intimate details.
Her literary and intellectual works have been published across a range of Arab platforms and newspapers, including Arabi Post and Akhbar Al-Adab (Egypt), in addition to her contributions to cultural journalism and content writing for several prominent outlets such as Raseef22, Al-Manassa Platform, and Ruyaa Magazine.
She has received several awards and recognitions in literature and reading. Notably, she was the first Mauritanian girl to win at the national level of the Arab Reading Challenge international competition, and she was awarded the Ideal Citizenship Prize in Mauritania in 2019. She also won a short story competition on the Hikawi Kutub platform in 2017, where her story “I Wish I Hadn’t” was published. In 2018, her article “Let Us All Rebel” was selected as Article of the Month in Al-Sohba Cultural Magazine.
She has published four books, including two collaborative works: Playing on Emotions (2018, charisma Publishing) and I Am the Poet and the Critic’s Consciousness (2024, Afaq for Studies and Research). She also authored two individual books: O You Who Pass Through Fleeting Words (2021, Al-Rawi Publishing) and her poetry collection What We Hide in Our Empty Cigarette Boxes (2025, Rawafed Publishing).
Oum Al-Nasser has served as a jury member at the National Amateur Theatre Festival (2021) and as a judge for the Ghaith Al-Uqoul Creative Writing Competition between 2020 and 2022.
She is also an active cultural advocate, dedicated to expanding the presence of literature in public spaces.
