More Big Names For Emirates Airline Festival Of Literature 2013
Shashi Tharoor, Ben Okri, Ahlem Mosteghanemi And 20 More Confirm Participation
Literary giants Shashi Tharoor, Ben Okri, Ahlem Mosteghameni, Simon Sebag Montefiore and William Dalrymple will all take part in the Fifth anniversary edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. Festival organisers today confirmed their participation as well as that of 20 more world class writers and speakers.
Also joining the roster are the world famous cookery writer Antonio Carluccio, comedian and scientist Ben Miller, French crime writer Maxime Chattam, children’s author Dominique de Saint-Mars and an exceptional line-up of local and locally based writers and speakers including Kamal Abdel-Malek, Dubai Abulhoul, Omnia Amin, Dherar Belhoul, Frank Dullaghan, Patricia Al Fakhri, Manal Al Ghani Liz Fenwick, Khulood Al Hajiri, Suzanne Husseini, Anne Love, Hermoine Macura, Charney Magri, Alexander McNabb, Abdulla Al Nuaemi, Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaemi, Kaltham Saleh, Hind Shoufani and Ali Al Suweidi
This announcement brings the tally of authors up to more than 100 following on from last month’s announcement of some 80 guest authors including Ian Rankin, Dan Rather, Anupam Kher, Shohbaa Dé, Ken Hom, Antony Beevor, Artemis Cooper, Anthony Horowitz and many, many other household names.
‘This is our fifth anniversary and we want to make sure everyone remembers this as the one which redefines what a LitFest should be. The line-up is quite frankly a dream. We will welcome an extraordinary wealth of talent from all genres and parts of the world and I defy anyone not to find something to enjoy and savour,” said Festival Director Isobel Abulhoul.
The 2013 Festival takes place 5-9 March 2013 at the Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and in partnership with Emirates airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated Authority for culture, arts and heritage.
The five day Festival offers around 200 events comprising panel discussions, lectures, in conversation sessions, workshops, masterclasses, a Fringe Festival, the Time Out Kids Zone and - new for 2013 - special evening events every night. These include a star-studded Opening Night, a Murder Mystery Dinner with crime writers, Desert Stanzas – a poetry night in a Bedu encampment - the Lighter Side - an evening of wit and storytelling - and a Closing Ceremony.
Also new for 2013 is the Public Area Events programme including three major happenings. These are Roger McGough’s and Mark Cockram’s Dubai Doors Project, a project in partnership with and commissioned by Dubai Culture, comprising poetry, painting and collaborations with Emirati Artists; Robert Crowther’s Icons of Dubai paper-engineering displays; and Korky Paul’s free-standing mural project, which will commemorate the five years of the Festival.
Genres and topics featured at the Festival include: Animation, Art, Biography, Bookbinding, Business, Calligraphy, Comedy, Cookery, Creative Writing, Crime Fiction, Current Events, Drama, Gardening, Historical Fiction, History, Illustration, Journalism, Language, Literary Agency, Literary Criticism, Literary Fiction, Mind Mapping, Poetry, Popular Fiction, Psychology, Science Fiction, Science, Screenwriting, Self-improvement, Sport and Travel.
The Festival is committed to encouraging participation in reading and writing by everyone and stages a number of competitions for students across the UAE, including the Taaleem Poetry Award and the Oxford University Press Story Writing Competition. The reading competition, the Readers’ Cup, is now running across the Gulf.
This year for the first time, there is a writing competition for unpublished adult novelists – the Montegrappa First Fiction Award – which gives aspiring authors the chance to have their work evaluated by a leading literary agent and which offers a range of wonderful prizes, including a Montegrappa pen.
The preview programme will be online and tickets will go on sale to the general public on 21 January 2013 and will be available online and at Kinokuniya booksellers in Dubai Mall. However, members of the Festival Friends membership programme will be able to buy tickets at a preferential rate one week before, on 14 January 2013.
“I really urge people to sign up for the Festival Friends programme” said Isobel Abulhoul. “For a small fee, which goes to supporting the Festival, you get loads of benefits, including a chance to buy tickets before anyone else. And with so many events which are bound to be sell-outs this year this is a real advantage.”
“And what better way to give your friends and family the chance to enjoy a unique experience –why not give them a membership too?” she said.
Emirate: Dubai
Date: Dec 17, 2012
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