كبرت ونسيت أن أنسى
I Grew Up and Forgot to Forget

"I Grew Up and Forgot to Forget" is a social novel by Kuwaiti author Bothayna Al-Essa, published in 2013 by the Arab Scientific Publishers in Beirut.

Set in Kuwait during the late 1980s and mid-1990s, it narrates the life of Fatima, a girl who loses her parents and is raised by her strict brother Saqr, who deprives her of life's simple curiosities—from toys and cultural stimuli to even writing poetry.

Fatima repeatedly suffers under social and religious restrictions. She is banned from playing with Barbie dolls or watching channels like SpaceToon. Her books are burned, and her identity is confined. Writing and poetry become her escape, a means to express herself and resist these constraints. Yet she is constantly told: "You’ll grow up and forget." Tragically, Fatima grows up—but she never forgets.

The novel goes beyond traditional narrative, employing poetic language and existential questioning to portray the journey of an Arab woman confronting cultural pressures and discovering the power of writing as a form of self-liberation.

Key Themes:
- The struggle between memory and forgetting
- The clash of individual identity with religious and cultural norms
- Female voice and personal emancipation
- Writing as a source of healing and social strength