Packed programme for Emirates Literature Festival 2017

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Monday, Feb 20, 2017

Dubai: The ninth Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is set to start in the first week of March, continuing the journey of creativity it launched in 2009. With a fully-packed schedule of events and programmes, the festival, one of the biggest literary events in the region, offers a rich haul of panel discussions, literary insights, performances, workshops and master classes featuring authors and speakers from every part of the globe. For the first time, the festival, which will be held from March 3-11, will host creative writing courses over three days by award-winning authors for both start-up writers and children.

It will also hold the first Dubai International Publishing conference on March 5-6 on the trends and fashions of publishing today.

Organisers on Monday revealed the final line-up of writers and events, and announced two new strands to the festival, the themes of ‘Happiness’ and ‘Tolerance’, on which panel discussions will be held to highlight their importance in the community.

Emirates Literature Foundation chief and festival director, Isobel Abulhoul, said that more than 180 authors, from 33 nationalities, will be a part of the festival this year, a record this year.

“We have 70 authors from the UAE and Arab world of which 41 are Emirati writers across a variety of genres. There will be 130 attending authors visiting us as well,” Abulhoul said.

A new list of authors added to the festival was also revealed, some of whom include: writer and translator John Hemingway, publisher of the bestselling sequel to The Devil Wears Prada, Thalia Suzuma and Jordanian author Rana Nejem.

Some of the famous star guests announced earlier for the festival were best-selling British author Jeffrey Archer and baking champion and cookbook writer Nadiya Hussain.

“More than 25,000 children will be impacted by the five-day education programme, which will see authors interact and speak to a large number of students,’ she said.

Abulhoul said the nine-day festival, mostly taking place at the InterContinental Hotel in Dubai Festival City, will help enrich the minds of people from all ages and promote positive reading habits.

“[With its new strands], the festival will also make everyone think about tolerance, adopt it and think about being happier,” she added. Shaikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of State for Tolerance will lead one of the panel discussions on tolerance.

“We are also having the first Dubai Police panel. Some CID officers have taken up their pens and have written crime fiction. Many of them got their inspiration from their jobs and will be here to share their experiences.”

The Emirates Literature Foundation, organisers of the festival, will also be awarding two school librarians from the UAE community of schools “who continue to impart their love and knowledge of books to the next generation of students,” she said.

Survey

Abulhoul shared results of a nationwide survey on reading habits, which showed that 72 per cent of the respondents read books every day and their preferred reading medium was physical books over other forms.

Up to 51 per cent of parents felt their children read enough, while 43 per cent were unhappy with the limited amount of time their children spent reading. “It is really down to parents to make sure children are reading by locking away iPads, phones, games, and turning off the TV and making reading a daily activity,” she advised.

In line with preferences of those surveyed, crime fiction and thrillers were at the top of the popular genres, she added.

“Word of mouth recommendations remain the most popular method in selecting books and the most recommended author by parents was, unsurprisingly, JK Rowling, but we hope they will broaden their reading habits.”

Saeed Al Nabouda, Acting Director General at Dubai Culture, partners of the event, said the festival represents the opening event of Dubai Art Season and coincides with the National Reading Month 2017.

“Literature is a key art form that touches the human spirit, as it upholds noble values such as understanding and harmony between different people… This promotion of knowledge has a direct link towards the achievement of happiness, and the spread of positive energy across all members of society.”

Emirates Fstival of Literature 2017: Highlights

Dubai Police panel discussion

Dubai International Publishing Conference (begins March 5)

Four creative writing courses

Five-day education programme

Happiness and Tolerance discussions

School Librarian of the Year award

Festival Art exhibition by school students

Cook for Syria charity dinner

Spices on the Silk Road: Supper club session

Murder Mystery Dinner

‘I’ll make a man out of you’ panel