Dubai: The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature concluded on Saturday following three weekends of live and virtual appearances and sold-out sessions from Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Elif Shafak, and Lemn Sissay.
Programme highlights also included internationally acclaimed authors and Booker nominees Avni Doshi (Burnt Sugar) and Oyinkan Braithwaite (My Sister the Serial Killer), behavioural specialist and author Thomas Erikson, and a dedicated day to Emirati talent.
Three weekends, three venues
For the first time, the Festival took place across three weekends and three venues: Jameel Arts Centre (January 29 to 30), the middle weekend at the event’s home InterContinental Dubai Festival City (February 4 to 6) and finally Alserkal Avenue (February 12 to 13). Also, the festival’s digital ticket provided access to more than a dozen live streamed sessions including Malala, Amin Maalouf, and Elif Shafak. It enabled creative professionals from as far afield as Algeria, Bahr
The final weekend of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature kicks off at Alserkal Avenue, a vibrant cultural district in the Al-Quoz industrial area of Dubai, on Feb. 12-13, rounding off this year’s literary festivities with a celebration of creativity, hope, and triumph over adversity.
Highlights of the final weekend include Emirati diplomat and author Omar Ghobash with his thoughts on the positive paths ahead of us, a virtual solo session by English author Lemn Sissay, who joins in conversation with a moderator live on stage to give a searing account of his autobiography “My Name is Why,” and the inspiring festival finale celebrating poetry, with Dana Dajani, Lemn Sissay, Afra Atiq, Danabelle Gutierrez and Zeina Hashem Beck.