Manuel Castells addresses language as “a fundamental attribute of self-recognition […], the establishment of an invisible national boundary less arbitrary than territoriality, and less exclusive than ethnicity […], a direct expression of culture, […] the trench of cultural resistance” (Castells,1997 , p.52). In my presentation I would like to investigate the use of an estranged language, English, by a Kuwaiti author, Mai al-Nakib, in her collection of short stories. Writing and recording words, storytelling and diaries as active actions performed by the main characters in the book signal a distance from everyday life and reality that is mirrored by the use of the language, an estrangement pervading the characters in specific moments of their existences. The short stories are marked by a vivid sense of loss, signaled by the sharp changes brought about in Kuwaiti society by historical markers as the oil era or the Invasion. The longing for a different past reveals the longing for a different future, a sense of impotence conveyed by the use of language. To what extent can the use of English in Gulf literature be seen as a form of displacement? How can a ‘foreign language’ convey a sense of literary Kuwaitiness and national belonging? Or can this be a means to bridge transcultural hybridity in the younger generations, in the post-Invasion/post-Liberation era? The examination of the short stories will focus on the use of language paralleled by the sense of loss and estrangement of the young women protagonists in their native Kuwait, employing literary and sociological critique tools.