All events will be held at the InterContinental, Dubai Festival City.
This year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is set to begin today in Dubai, featuring 206 authors from 43 countries, on top of a strong contingent of home-grown talent – the largest number ever recorded for the celebration.
Famous entertainers, the brightest thinkers and big names in different industries – including the first Emirati in space Hazzaa AlMansoori, explorer Ranulph Fiennes, kids’ favourite Magic Phil, and environmental campaigner Tony Juniper – will also be coming up on stage to share their stories, inspire and enlighten.
All events will be held at the InterContinental, Dubai Festival City. And for the first time, selected festival sessions will be live-streamed to almost 100,000 students at 284 schools from all of the seven Emirates. This is in addition to the full programme for students attending Education Day sessions, and the author school visit programme.
“There is no question of where you need to be this weekend to find out the latest thinking on a multitude of topics, discovering new ideas, igniting your imagination, and giving you a fresh point of view,” said Ahlam Bolooki, festival director for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.
“From climate change and conservation, to spirituality and mindfulness, space exploration to stories of heroism, overcoming life’s greatest challenges to celebrating its joys, we have something for everyone, along with comedy, romance, crime writers, history and more.”
There is a fun-filled programme for children with more free family fun events, up by 50 per cent from last year, including Festival Fringe’s showcase of drama and music from schools and community groups around the region.
Bestselling fiction writers include Rosie Project author Graeme Simsion, epic romance writer Santa Montefiore, Killing Eve creator Luke Jennings, and two spine-tingling crime writers, Jo Nesbø and Linwood Barclay.
From opening to closing
The festival will open with an atmospheric evening of world poetry in the desert, Desert Stanzas.
Then next Sunday, it will be brought to a close with an extravaganza of music, poetry and readings in support of Dubai Cares’ programmes for child refugees across the region, featuring exceptional performances from renowned poets and writers and featuring the premiere of a song composed to celebrate the extraordinary story of refugee Nujeen Mustafa, Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo. All proceeds will go to Dubai Cares and tickets are priced from Dh99 to Dh799.
