Main Programme

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MAIN PROGRAMME

4-9 FEBRUARY 2020 InterContinental, Dubai Festival City emirateslitfest.com

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Contents Chairman’s Message

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Festival Director’s Message

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Message from Sponsors

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Saturday 1 February

15

Tuesday 4 February

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Wednesday 5 February

20

Thursday 6 February

30

Friday 7 February

42

Saturday 8 February

68

Sunday 9 February

93

Authors & Speakers

95

Moderators & Hosts

100

Sponsors & Partners

102

All information is correct at the time of going to print. However the Programme is subject to change. Please check emirateslitfest.com for the latest updates.

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A very warm welcome to the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature Ahlan wa Sahlan. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 12th edition of the Festival.

As I reflect on the past 11 years, I am filled with gratitude to all the incredible writers who have visited the Festival to share their works, their thoughts and their world with us.

Dubai’s long history as a meeting place, a trading hub, and a melting pot of cultures, makes it the perfect host to such a diverse and enlightening event.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum

Every year the Festival brings together people from all corners of the world, with different areas of expertise, different voices and perspectives. They would probably never have met if not for the Festival. But here they do meet, and in that meeting something magical is created. New ideas are born, new friendships are formed, and we find new ways to look at some of the most pressing issues in life. This magic is what brings visitors and authors back, time and again.

I believe the world needs that magic now more than ever. All around us we see people confronted by questions. Questions of how to live, what to think, who to believe, how to be happy. We are all searching for a better tomorrow.

The 2020 programme is a source of inspiration, solace and optimism. Looking at the line-up, I know we can find the answers with this many extraordinary writers sharing their insights and their unique voices. This Festival of ideas, of conversations, and of stories still being written fill me with hope for tomorrow.

I encourage everyone to visit the Festival and discover a world of possibilities.

Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum President, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group Chairman, Dubai Airports Chairman, Emirates Literature Foundation 6

A note from our Festival Director Words. They have a life of their own. They can awaken thoughts we never knew we could have, or help us relate to situations we have never encountered. They can give us the strength to believe we can take on the world, or linger hurtfully at the back of our minds for a lifetime. But the right words… It is said that the right words can save a life.

In a world so full of information, it is becoming increasingly challenging to make responsible choices every day. Choices like how we can eat in a way which has the least impact on the planet, but most benefit for our bodies? Or how can we make sure that the psychological impacts of our interactions with loved ones are healthy? Or that we are spending all our days building towards what truly makes us happy, and not what society has lead us to believe happiness is?

Ahlam Bolooki

Director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

Without identifying our own position, it is difficult to interact with the world around us on a daily basis. It is in the small actions of our daily lives which our life’s purpose is fulfilled and our impact on the world is made. Therefore, we can’t afford not to be inquisitive and not to ask the big questions in life. We may not find all the answers, but with every word we read, we get a little bit closer.

Young people around the world today are asking, “What is the point of planning for a future which may never come?” They have concerns about the future of our planet. About the state of jobs after AI. About the political conditions around the world. Many of the big problems of our world today were predicted in science fiction books long before we could even imagine them. Can we therefore look in today’s literature for answers on tomorrow?

Words. They say the right ones can save a life. My wish for you is that you find the ones which elevate yours at this Festival.

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A word from our sponsors Message from Emirates

Message from Dubai Culture

Once again, Dubai will welcome world-renowned authors, thinkers, and opinion-makers to this year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.

Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated entity for culture, arts, heritage, and literature, is proud to support the 12th edition of Emirates Airline Festival of Literature taking place in February 2020. This comes in line with the ’National Strategy for Reading 2016-2026’, launched by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to nurture a generation that adopts reading as a habit and establish the UAE as the capital of cultural and knowledge content. The Festival places home-grown talent in the centre-stage and offers local fans a chance to interact with world-famous authors, attend literary debates and workshops, and participate in competitions. Its education outreach programme also gives students a chance to meet their literary heroes and positions the UAE as an icon of tolerance and openness in the region, promoting cultural exchange, harmony, and peace among different nations. In this respect, the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature plays a significant role in furthering our mandate to achieve Dubai Plan 2021 that aims to make Dubai a city of happy, creative, and empowered people, who proudly celebrate their cultural identities in addition to the National Reading Strategy that aims to make reading a life habit for 50% of Emirati adults and 80% of school students. The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature has become a popular event thanks to its dynamic agenda and the attendance of the brightest names in international literature and culture arena The Authority is committed to supporting the growth of the UAE’s literature scene to further instil the love and appreciation of literature in the UAE and the Arab world, as well as among residents and visitors. Dubai Culture will always recognise the legacy and contribution of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature that helps us further strengthen Dubai’s position as a leading destination for regional and global cultural exchange by enhancing the value of reading across the UAE.

Emirates has been the title sponsor of the Festival since its inception, and the event has quickly grown into a flagship event on Dubai’s ever-expanding cultural calendar.

We believe the Festival of Literature is important for the development of Dubai’s cultural landscape, which has become a fertile ground for creative expression. The city has become home to some of the most diverse and exciting events in the world, and Emirates has played an active role in supporting initiatives that offer more people the opportunity to experience cultural events.

Emirates connects people, places and passions across the globe, through our air transport services, as well as our support of sporting and cultural events such as the Festival of Literature.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s vision to create a generation of readers and intellectuals demonstrates the importance of reading and learning as keys to knowledge. He has supported numerous initiatives, investing in education and the development of knowledge and creative industries, and today the evolution of the UAE literary landscape showcases the dynamic potential of the arts here and in the broader region.

We look forward to meeting this year’s line-up of top authors and storytellers and welcoming you to join us, as we celebrate the power of the imagination and the joy of the written word.

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Let’s be Friends!

Becoming a Foundation Friend also gives you discounts, priority seating, access to exclusive Foundation events and first dibs on Festival tickets.

10%

off all full price ticket purchases Become a Foundation Friend and enjoy a world of perks at the Festival and beyond.

If you love good books, great conversations and fantastic writing, you will love being our Friend. The Festival has welcomed more than 1,500 writers, thinkers and doers since it was first launched in 2009, and as a Foundation Friend you could have been in the front row for all of them.

Not only will you reap rewards and get exclusive access to tickets before they go on general sale, your support will also help us keep going, year after year. As a non-profit organisation established to spread the love of literature and reading, we depend on the support of our community and our partners. Book by book, we aim to make the world a better place by making reading for pleasure accessible to all. Join us today and be a part of something amazing.

Reserved Seating

Priority booking

Foundation Friends Festival Lounge access

Invitations to selected events

10% 10%

off Costa Coffee outlets in the UAE (you can never have too much coffee)

off books at Magrudy’s (you can also never have too many books)

15% 30%

off Montegrappa merchandise

off City Sightseeing Tours in Dubai

10%

10%

off selected Emirates Literature Foundation events and workshops

off Frying Pan Adventures with a discount voucher

+ Much more Visit www.emirateslitfest.com/ support-us/foundation-friends/ to become a Foundation Friend!

9

The wonderful world of the LitFest With high jinks and merriment, workshops, shows, readings and plenty of space to roam, a visit to the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature makes for the perfect family day out.

The Festival brings the magic of literature to life, giving children and young people a chance to meet the creators of their literary favourites. Children of all ages will be enchanted by the talented authors and illustrators from near and afar. Sessions are interactive, designed to mesmerise and entertain while leaving children eager for more.

A Programme for all ages Our sessions for children have age recommendations. These are only intended as a guide as all children are different, and you know your child best.

Running times and breaks in the children’s programme are all age appropriate. Please note accompanying adults also need tickets to enter the children’s session. Babies and young children are welcome and we recommend families to come a little bit early so you can get a good seat near the action!

If you’re bringing a child to an adult session, be mindful that it is a live conversation aimed at an adult audience.

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Penguin Random House Story Corner Perfect for younger children, this is the place where you and your child can stop and listen to free story readings from brilliant authors and storytellers. Check out the daily schedule in this quiet corner of the Event Centre, on the lobby level near Magrudy’s Festival Bookshop.

The Fringe The Festival Fringe is the home of unmissable free performances, exciting book launches, and talented students from around the country representing their schools on stage. Expect singing, dancing, acting and more. You will find the Fringe at the end of the corridor past Al Baraha 2 on the Waterfront level. If you find yourself with any free time between sessions, this is the place to go.

From Lego building to crafting and drawing, these activities will entertain a wide age range.

When hunger strikes Between the Festival Café, the Creekside food trucks, and the restaurants and cafés at the adjoining InterContinental and Crowne Plaza hotels, even the most picky of palates is spoilt for choice.

The outdoor waterfront area is great for children to run free and re-energise between sessions. Boisterous children are welcome!

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Education Programme Schools welcome The Emirates Literature Foundation focuses on bringing literature to life for students of all ages, working with schools, universities, libraries and teachers to enhance their enjoyment of reading for pleasure. Our year-round Education Programme offers the opportunity to explore new ideas and brings a joy of reading to students and schools across the country.

Last year, more than 30,000 students from around the GCC engaged with the Festival, enjoying the unique opportunity to interact with and hear from a top international author, either at the Festival or at their own schools and universities.

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Get involved Competitions We run a number of popular student competitions throughout the year: Taaleem Award, Oxford University Press Story Writing Competition, Emirates NBD Poetry for All, and the Chevron Readers’ Cup. If you enjoy creative writing, poetry or reading, then there’s a competition for you!

Make sure to sign up to our newsletter and follow us on social media so you can stay up to date.

We welcome all children and encourage all schools in the UAE to get involved. Whether it’s entering a competition, inviting an author to visit your school, visiting Education Day sessions or performing at the Fringe, there are so many enjoyable and inspiring ways to join in the fun.

If your school isn’t already participating, speak to your teacher.

Maybe you will be a part of the Festival in 2021!

Free

still and sparkling water!

Quench your thirst – just bring a reusable bottle.

The LitFest colour is green Our planet needs us. Global warming is rising at a rapid pace with disastrous consequences for our environment, our communities and our health. We all need to do our part to reduce our environmental impact and work towards making a difference.

At the Emirates Literature Foundation, we strive to be a sustainable organisation by reducing the amount of resources we use, reusing the things we can’t do without, and recycling materials when we can no longer use them.

And that is not all. We believe our responsibility as a Foundation and as a Festival of Literature goes further.

We are a meeting point for new thoughts and ideas. Our audiences come to our events to discover something new, and when they leave, they are changed from the experience.

Through our programme of events and our initiatives, we take an active role in giving people the opportunity to think deeply about their impact on our communities and our planet. We are proud to have welcomed some of the world’s greatest conservationists, environmentalists, and advocates for sustainability. We believe hearing speakers like Jane Goodall, David Attenborough, Lucy Siegle, Majid Al Qassimi and many more is a powerful part of the education process which will ultimately help change the way we think and live.

What we do Our Green Procurement Strategy aims to actively stimulate market demand for ecofriendly products and services. This includes: Staged implementation of environmentally friendly practices, including energy-efficient lighting and office equipment, as well as extensive recycling initiatives for paper, plastic, metal, and glass.

A ban on single-use plastic, in our offices and at the Festival.

A water fountain offering free refills installed on site at the 2019 Festival, saving more than 168,000kg of CO2 and 11,000 disposable bottles of water.

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Stay informed to get a step ahead.

Gain global perspective.

Discover cutting-edge analysis.

Be the first to see international trends that directly affect your business.

Empower your team with a group subscription to The New York Times. nytcorporate@nytimes.com nytimes.com/groupsubs

Saturday 1 February 149 Jane Goodall: Reasons for Hope 14:00 - 15:00 All ages | English | AED 59 Celebrated ethologist and the world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees Dr Jane Goodall will speak about her life’s work studying the chimpanzees of Gombe, and her educational project in the UAE: Roots & Shoots.

Dr Goodall will share her extraordinary scientific breakthroughs in animal behaviour and her journey to becoming one of the world’s most prominent and active conservationists, as well as her on-going efforts to inspire every individual to protect the environment we share.

Join us to learn more about her unique experiences and hear her candid thoughts on the future of conservation.

Visit our website for venue and further details.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

15

Tuesday 4 February AL KHAYMA

AL RIMAL

DESERT CAMP

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10:30 Emirates NBD Poetry for All Arabic Finals: 8-13

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Emirates NBD Poetry for All English Finals: 8-13

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13:30 Emirates NBD Poetry for All Arabic Finals: 14-18

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Emirates NBD Poetry for All English Finals: 14-18

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Desert Stanzas 2020

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Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

Tuesday 4 February 001 Desert Stanzas 2020 19:00 - 21:30 Special event | Arabic/English | AED 249 Desert Stanzas, one of our signature events, will return in 2020 to open the Festival.

Featuring: Afra Atiq, Arundhathi Subramaniam, Carlos Andrés Gómez , Chris Read, Eleanor Hooker, Farah Chamma, Hamed Al-Yahyai, Harry Baker, Hassan Al matrooshi, Ibrahim Ahmed Alshami, Rui Cóias

724 & 725 Emirates NBD Poetry for All Finals: 8-13 10:00 - 12:00 Prize Giving | Arabic/English | FREE

726 & 727 Emirates NBD Poetry for All Finals: 14-18 13:00 - 15:00 Prize Giving | Arabic/English | FREE The Emirates NBD Poetry for All poetry performance competition is here. Come to the final round for the opportunity to hear students give an emotional response to the poem of their choice through the recital.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

A night of cultural entertainment unique to Dubai, Desert Stanzas celebrates international and homegrown poetic talent in a desert camp on the edge of the city.

In a beautiful venue that is accessible to all, Desert Stanzas 2020 brings together talented poets from across the globe for an evening of enthralling poetry under the stars, alongside music and traditional Emirati food.

Check our website for the full evening’s programme and directions to the desert camp.

All ages

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Innovations that put you first Proud Premier Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai

EmiratesNBD.com/YouFirst

For over 50 years, our passion for innovation has provided our customers with products and services that have made a difference in their lives. Whether in Retail Banking, Wealth Management or Wholesale Banking, this has been at the heart of everything that we do.

Today we are proud to partner with Expo 2020 Dubai to help bring opportunity, mobility and sustainability to the world.

Connect with us

Wednesday 6 February AL RAS 3

AL BARAHA 1

AL BARAHA 2

AL KHAYMA

AL RIMAL 814

9:00 091

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AL AMWAJ 1

AL AMWAJ 2

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Innovative Leadership: Workshop with Khalid Al Hosani

Investing in the Future: HE Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri & Coach Kardan

10:00

AL WAHA Ar

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Emotional Intelligence: Workshop with Khalifa Almherzi

12:30

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Ar 808 Conducting Difficult Conversations: Workshop with Amel Alali

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Creative Writing Course with Greg Mosse

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Body Language: Workshop with Mohammed Eisa Al Hammadi & Mohammad Sulaiman Al Dhawyani

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Is it Time for Change?: Ar/En 003 Ar/En 050 Khalid Al Hosani & En 805 Maryam Al Balooshi Arab Writers – Going Global: Hoda Barakat, Ar 812 En 811 Costa Debate: Jokha Alharthi & Seven Drafts: Comedy v Tragedy & Marilyn Booth Self-Edit Like a Pro Speaking Skills Prize Giving En from Blank Page to 146 Short Story Writing: for Influencers & Book Workshop with Workshop with Entrepreneurs: Ask an Emirati: Allison K Williams Tareq Imam Workshop with En 097 Ar/En Ali Al Saloom Coach Kardan Arabian Nights – A & Roudha Al Marri

Murder Mystery Dinner: Killing Villanelle with Luke Jennings

18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30

Collector’s Perspective: Mohammed Al Murr, Jonathan Phillips & Justin Marozzi

20:00 20:30

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Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

Wednesday 5 February 801 Creative Writing Course with Greg Mosse 09:30 - 16:00 Adult | English | AED 799 The popular writing workshop returns to the UAE! Following the success of last year’s creative writing course, acclaimed author and writing teacher Greg Mosse is returning to Dubai. If you have ever wanted to write a novel, or already have one underway and want to polish your skills, this is the perfect chance to get started.

The course will cover aspects of planning a novel and building up characters, location and dialogue.

This ticket also includes access to an exclusive masterclass with literary agent Luigi Bonomi, who will offer honest advice and guidance about the process of presenting your work to the publishing world and the particularly important art of making your first page sell your book for you.

Children’s sessions

The tutor: Greg Mosse is a highly regarded creative writing teacher, writer and editor with more than 20 years of professional experience. He was previously programme leader for creative writing at West Dean College where he taught his own MA degree, validated

by University of Sussex, and a wide range of short courses. He works in story development and consultancy for stage and screen and is founder and leader of the Criterion New Writing programme in London’s West End. Lunch and coffee breaks are included.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

091 Investing in the Future: HE Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri & Coach Kardan 09:30 - 10:30 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation FREE How do we begin to build a sustainable future?

This session will shed light on how a nation can create a sustainable society, and attract and retain talented individuals to partake in building a prosperous future for generations to come.

HE Major General Mohammed Ahmed Al Marri, Director General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, will share his insights into the “Golden Card” for residency in the UAE, and how it is contributing to promoting the values of cultural and social pluralism.

Acclaimed presentation coach, international speaker, bestselling author and CEO of Step Up Corporation Japan & Step Up International UAE, Coach Kardan understands the key skills and talents that every nation needs to instil and develop in its current and future workforce.

All ages

21

Leadership workshops in Arabic 814 Innovative Leadership: Workshop with Khalid Al Hosani

816 Emotional Intelligence: Workshop with Khalifa Almherzi

09:00 - 11:00 Adult | Arabic | AED 249

11:30 - 13:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 249

The people who survive in a highly competitive, fast-paced and changing work environment are not those with muscles or brains, but those who can lead, inspire and encourage innovation, and manage change swiftly and effectively.

This workshop is designed for those who wish to learn more about the key concepts of leadership and explore the principles of innovative thinking and its application. It will also tackle leadership as an attitude, and the qualities of leaders and their influencing tools.

The tutor: Khalid Al Hosani is an Emirati writer and, since 2006, a certified trainer in creativity, innovation and change management with a Master’s degree in creativity and change management. He is the author of Innovative Leadership and Performance Management.

Whether you are a university student or have years of experience in the workplace, Khalifa Almherzi can help you to improve your emotional intelligence to effectively analyse your emotions and direct them towards making the right decisions. He will also focus on how to develop your communication and people skills, and adopt the behaviours required to build successful strategies in work and life.

The tutor: Khalifa Almherzi is an Emirati writer and expert in family relations and management skills, and consultant to several family centres and institutions. He has delivered many training programmes in the areas of human development and self-development.

Wednesday 6 February

817 Body Language: Workshop with Mohammed Eisa Al Hammadi & Mohammad Sulaiman Al Dhawyani 14:30 - 16:30 Adult | Arabic | AED249 Your body language accounts for 55% of your impact on other people. How can you make sure you use it to build successful relationships with the people around you?

Two body language experts share their experience to help you identify common language in global gestures and body movements, as well as the impact of time, space, feelings and life on body language. They will also address the importance of taking cultural dimensions and involuntary movements into consideration when evaluating other people’s emotions in your interactions.

The tutors: Expert Psychologist Mohammed Eisa Al Hammadi from the General Department of Forensic Science & Criminology, who has conducted several workshops on analysing body language and personality, in the UAE and the region, and Assistant Expert Mohammad Sulaiman Al Dhawyani, the Head of Forensic Psychology in Dubai Police.

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808 Conducting Difficult Conversations: Workshop with Amel Alali

078 Is It Time for a Change?: Khalid Al Hosani & Maryam Al Balooshi

050 Arab Writers – Going Global: Hoda Barakat, Jokha Alharthi & Marilyn Booth

17:30 – 18:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 59

18:00 - 19:00 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation AED 59

Do you feel stuck in a role you don’t like? Do you think it’s time for a career shift or to seek a promotion? Most importantly, do you have what it takes to step out of your professional comfort zone and aim for your dream job?

Whether you are considering a career change and looking for a roadmap to follow, or are just interested in exploring different career options that best suit your skills and passion, join this engaging session with Emirati writer and certified trainer in creativity, innovation and change management Khalid Al Hosani and author of But I Can and professional development series I Did Not Fail 1 & 2, Maryam Al Balooshi.

12:30 - 13:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 149 Do you want to discover “diplomatic” methods to help make difficult conversations less difficult? Are you one of the many who consistently postpone or simply avoid challenging dialogues, and the conflict that comes with them?

In this workshop, Amel Alali will familiarise participants with how to tactfully prepare and plan for the hard conversations that require negotiation and persuasion skills.

The tutor: Amel Alali is an Emirati writer and journalist and an international body language trainer. She holds a Master of Arts in diplomacy from the American University in the Emirates.

Wednesday 5 February

Publishing sessions

What does tomorrow hold for Arab writers?

As Arabic writing begins to enjoy greater international recognition, two authors at the top of their game join their translator to discuss prizes, translation and the meaning of success.

Hoda Barakat won the 2001 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature for The Tiller of Waters and the 2019 IPAF for her most recent novel The Night Mail. She has published six novels, two plays, a book of short stories and a book of memoirs.

Jokha Alharthi is the author of Celestial Bodies, which won the 2019 Man Booker International Prize. She has also written three collections of short stories and two more novels, most recently Narinjah.

Marilyn Booth is one of the foremost translators of Arabic. In addition to translating Hoda and Jokha, she has translated books by Elias Khoury, Alia Mamdouh, Nawal El Saadawi and many others.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

805 Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book Workshop with Allison K Williams 18:00 - 20:00 Adult | English | AED 249 How many drafts does your novel or memoir really need? What common mistakes do agents see that you can fix before sending out your work? How can you improve without spending big bucks on an editor?

From big-picture to line-editing, we’ll cover the Seven Drafts, and what to do in each draft to write – and finish! – a submission-ready manuscript. Allison will also project pages from some courageous volunteers, and show the professional editing process in action.

The tutor: Allison K Williams has edited and coached authors to deals with Big Five publishers and inspired thousands of writers with her Brevity blogs. She leads Rebirth Your Book, a series of finish-your-book writing retreats around the world.

Please bring preferred writing equipment and a recent draft. Volunteers for live on-screen editing by Allison should bring their work as a Microsoft Word document only on a USB drive.

Age: 18+

Children’s sessions

003 Costa Debate: Comedy v Tragedy 18:00 - 19:30 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation | FREE Comedy or Tragedy? Which of these ancient genres best helps us understand the world?

Before we reveal the winner of the 2020 Costa Debate, we challenge four Festival authors to present their arguments and convince us whether we should laugh or cry when we think of tomorrow.

Team COMEDY comprises Maria Dadouch, a novelist and screenwriter with more than 40 books for children and adults to her name, and Graeme Simsion, whose Rosie Project series plays on the absurdities of relationships and academic life.

On Team TRAGEDY we have Khalid Al Naserallah, acclaimed Kuwaiti author of The Final Small Recommendations and The Highest Low, and Costa First Novel Award winner Stuart Turton, author of the twisty, genre-defying mystery The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

This session is free to attend but requires a ticket.

The winners of the Costa Debate competition will be announced immediately after the session.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

25

812 Speaking Skills for Influencers & Entrepreneurs: Workshop with Coach Kardan 18:30 - 20:00 Adult | English | AED 199 Everything you do is a presentation! How can you make sure your skills and knowledge are showcased effectively whenever you speak in public, whether on stage, in meetings or even one-to-one with clients and colleagues? Acclaimed motivational speaker Coach Kardan’s workshop will give you the practical speaking skills to grow as a leader and influencer, and reach your maximum potential.

The tutor: Coach Kardan is a presentation coach, international speaker, bestselling author and CEO of Step Up Corporation Japan & Step Up International UAE. As a corporate trainer he works with top executives of billion-dollar companies and their teams to increase their leadership skills, sales, productivity and teamwork.

002 Murder Mystery Dinner: Killing Villanelle with Luke Jennings 19:30 - 21:30 Special Event | English | AED 249 A three-course meal, revelations about an enigmatic assassin, and the chance to solve a murder – it’s all in a night’s work at this year’s Murder Mystery Dinner.

Luke Jennings is the London-based author and journalist whose Codename Villanelle series was adapted to the Emmy-nominated TV series Killing Eve, starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer. After discovering the inspirations for his characters and their depiction on page and screen, you will be plunged headfirst into a thrilling Dubai-based mystery scenario inspired by the dark world of international assassins and espionage that Luke has created.

Wednesday 5 February

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

097 Arabian Nights – A Collector’s Perspective: Mohammed Al Murr, Jonathan Phillips & Justin Marozzi 19:30 - 20:30 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation | AED 59 Why do physical pieces of the past have such a hold on our imaginations?

Distinguished Emirati author Mohammed Al Murr is a collector of fascinating historical artefacts and manuscripts, in particular relating to the Arabian Nights and the region’s history. Professor of Crusading History Jonathan Phillips researches the legacy of the Crusades in East and West, and historian Justin Marozzi has spent most of his professional life studying and writing about Islamic empires.

In this literary conversation they discuss the significance of preserving tangible pieces of history, and more generally the role artefacts play in forming stories pertaining to cultural identity and historical memory.

811 Short Story Writing: Workshop with Tareq Imam

19:00 - 20:00 Adult | English | AED 59

18:30 - 20:00 Adult | Arabic | AED 199 Our lives and social relationships are made of intertwined stories which we narrate from the beginning to the end, in our own words.

However, the background of these stories may change according to their circumstances, from happiness to sadness, from success to failure, and from good to evil. How can you use a personal experience skilfully and effectively to turn it into a short story? What should you focus on? What are the common mistakes in short story writing? How can you rewrite your story? How do you end the story? Tareq Imam will answer all these questions in his short story writing workshop.

The tutor: Tareq Imam is an Egyptian writer and critic, and author of many books including My Father’s Grave and The City with No Walls.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

146 Ask an Emirati: Ali Al Saloom & Roudha Al Marri

Adult sessions

What have you always wanted to know about the UAE and our region? Whether you’re new to the country or about to embark on an Arabian adventure and want to discover more about the locals, come and hear from the experts. Emirati authors Ali Al Saloom and Roudha Al Marri will challenge your stereotypes and dispel your misconceptions to reveal the truth about Arabian culture.

Ali Al Saloom is a Cultural Consultant, columnist, TV host and Environmental Awareness Ambassador who has made it his life’s mission to open a dialogue between Gulf nationals and the rest of the world.

Roudha Al Marri is an Emirati author and founder of House 101 for publishing. Her next book 101 Misconceptions about the UAE, Explained! launches on February 2020.

All ages

27

For a limited time only LitFest Latte Available from 12th January across all stores

Pistachio Spanish Latte

...

Available at the Montegrappa Boutique, Dubai Mall or visit us online at www.montegrappa.me use code LITFEST2020 for special offer

Thursday 6 February AL RAS 1

AL RAS 2

AL RAS 3

AL BARAHA 1

AL BARAHA 2

AL KHAYMA

AL RIMAL

AL WAHA 800

9:00

AL AMWAJ

9:00 837

9:30 813

10:00

En

Feng Shui Your Business: Masterclass with Grace E Salem

10:30

ZAYTOUN

Ar

Ar/En

9:30

Translate the World, Not Just the Page: Masterclass with Marilyn Booth

10:00 10:30 11:00

11:00 711

11:30

Ar/En

Chevron Readers’ Cup Prize Giving – Primary

819

12:00

En

110

Creative Writing Course with Inaam Kachachi

The Sheikh CEO – Lessons in Leadership: Masterclass with Dr Yasar Jarrar

12:30

Ar/En

11:30

Bodour Al Qasimi Keynote & Book Tracking – the Next Big Step for Arab Publishing: Iman Ben Chaibah, Isobel Abulhoul & Jamal Al Shehhi

12:00 12:30 13:00

13:00 823

13:30 714

14:00

En

13:30

Boost Your Confidence: Masterclass with Jonathan Yabut

Ar/En

Chevron Readers’ Cup Prize Giving – Secondary

111

Ar/En Finding Yourself in a Book? Why it Matters: Fatima Sharafeddine, Rania Zaghir & Zanib Mian

14:30

14:00 14:30 15:00

15:00 112

15:30

15:30

Publicising Publishing – How and Why to Highlight an Industry: Mohamad Alattar, Porter Anderson & Yasmina Jraissati

16:00 008

16:30

864

En

Santa Montefiore and Kate Hindley: The Royal Rabbits of London

17:00

009

18:00

010

En

18:30

006

19:00 116

Mn/En 013 Mai Jia: Decoding the Message

20:00

En

Jeetendr Sehdev: The Kim Kardashian Principle

16:30 17:00 17:30 818

Ar

Hoda Barakat: The Night Mail

The 2020 Montegrappa Prize

16:00

En

Let’s Do Drama: Workshop with Julia Johnson

17:30

19:30

Ar/En

815 Illustrate Your Children’s Book: Workshop with Raouf Karray

En

Dispatches from the Wilderness: Ali Al Saloom, Gavin Thurston, Kate Humble 096 & Miriam Lancewood

120

Ar

En

World of Tomorrow – Sci-fi v Reality: Christina Dalcher & Yasser M Bahjatt

037

En

En

18:00

Nujeen Mustafa in Conversation

18:30

Boost Your Work Productivity: Masterclass with Jonathan Yabut

19:00 147

Ar

Laila Abdullah: Farho’s Diaries

Fatima Bhutto: The Runaways

20:30

En

19:30 007

En

LitFest Poetry Night

20:00 20:30

21:00

21:00

21:30

21:30 30

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

Thursday 6 February 800 Creative Writing Course with Inaam Kachachi

813 Feng Shui Your Business: Masterclass with Grace E Salem

09:00 - 14:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 799

10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 149

As an inseparable member of their community, writers can’t live outside its bubble or isolate themselves from its influences.

Inaam Kachachi will tackle this reality as well as our inner and outer human worlds during a one-day workshop focusing on realism in fiction, and how to reduce extraneous rhetoric and poetic conceit in novel writing.

The workshop will discuss the role of language and vocabulary in portraying the reality of things and in bringing the reader closer to the novel’s characters, and introduce participants to successful techniques to avoid repetition in their writing. Creative writing exercises will also help them explore the Arabic language in depth, develop a personal new fictional language, and acquire the skills they need to write a realistic novel.

The tutor: Inaam Kachachi is an Iraqi journalist and novelist whose second novel, The American Granddaughter, was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction

International feng shui consultant Grace E Salem leads a masterclass on bringing balance to your work and workplace. Taking a holistic approach to the importance of improving timing, interactions with other people and the work environment, Grace will explore how the secrets of feng shui can be harnessed to achieve success.

The tutor: Grace E Salem is a feng shui expert who has advised hundreds of clients – individuals and businesses – throughout the Arab world on improving their living and work spaces in order to reach their full potential.

Children’s sessions

(IPAF) in 2009 and was published in English, French and Chinese. Tashari was also shortlisted for the 2014 IPAF, and published in French. Her latest novel, The Outcast, was shortlisted for the 2019 IPAF. Lunch and coffee breaks are included.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

31

711 Chevron Readers’ Cup Prize Giving – Primary 11:30 - 12:00 Prize Giving | Arabic/English | FREE

714 Chevron Readers’ Cup Prize Giving – Secondary 14:00 - 14:30 Prize Giving | Arabic/English | FREE Hundreds of teams from the region have joined in this year’s Chevron Readers’ Cup. Join us for the nail-biting final, which will have you on the edge of your seats, and the presentation of awards by top international authors to the winners.

Thursday 6 February

819 The Sheikh CEO – Lessons in Leadership: Masterclass with Dr Yasar Jarrar 12:00 – 13:00 Adult | English | AED 149 Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has transformed Dubai into a global business hub and is one of the region’s the most admired leaders.

Join an interactive masterclass outlining Sheikh Mohammed’s leadership style, offering an insider’s view on lessons from the “Sheikh CEO” – a unique blend of a government leader and a corporate CEO for those who want to learn how to shape their future, deliver on their strategies, and stay one step ahead of the others.

The tutor: Dr Yasar Jarrar, is a strategy advisor with more than 30 years’ experience in the region and author of The Sheikh CEO: Lessons in Leadership from Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Publishing sessions

823 Boost Your Confidence: Masterclass with Jonathan Yabut 13:30 - 14:30 Adult | English | AED 149 Boost your confidence in the workplace and beyond!

Motivational expert and bestselling business author Jonathan Yabut presents his masterclass on the skills needed to speak effectively. Whether you are presenting at a conference, pitching your novel or simply hoping to tune up your social skills, this class will help your increase your impact.

The tutor: Jonathan Yabut is the author of the bestselling motivational book From Grit to Great. Finding fame as the first winner of The Apprentice Asia, he has gone on to inspire thousands of young Asians to pursue their dreams.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

864 Let’s Do Drama: Workshop with Julia Johnson 16:30 - 18:00 Age: 8-11 | English | AED 149 Is tomorrow beyond your imagination?

Who knows what it might bring? Perhaps something totally unexpected and surprising will happen, perhaps you’ll make a discovery which could change the world.

Tomorrow could be the most important day of your life, so come and join in the drama and be part of tomorrow’s adventure . . .

The tutor: Julia Johnson worked in Theatre-in-Education for many years, devising and acting in shows which toured primary schools in the UK and the UAE. She also ran drama workshops for young people.

008 Santa Montefiore and Kate Hindley: The Royal Rabbits of London

18:00 - 19:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation FREE

16:30 - 17:30 Age: 6+ | English | AED 39

In 2014, Nujeen Mustafa began a journey as a refugee that would lead to her addressing the United Nations Security Council.

Nujeen grew up in Kobani, Syria where a lack of facilities for disabled children meant that she could not attend school. She taught herself English watching American soap opera Days of Our Lives. At the age of 16 she and her sister Nasrine began the 3,500-mile journey to Germany, where she was granted asylum.

In this session Nujeen discusses experiences as both a student adjusting to life in a foreign country and as a tireless advocate for disabled refugees and those who remain in Syria.

Even the smallest rabbit can be a hero with luck, a moist carrot, a wet nose and a slice of mad courage! Join bestselling author Santa Montefiore as she introduces her adventurepacked series The Royal Rabbits of London.

With the help of illustrator Kate Hindley, you’re invited to hop along to this interactive event for the whole family and discover just how to spot a royal rabbit. Remember – you are always braver than you know!

Children’s sessions

120 Nujeen Mustafa in Conversation

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

33

818 Illustrate Your Children’s Book: Workshop with Raouf Karray 18:00 - 20:00 Adult | Arabic | AED 249 To what extent do drawings affect the experience of reading a book? And what attracts children to certain drawings and not others?

In this workshop, illustrator Raouf Karray will teach you how to interpret written texts into drawings that are truly appealing to children by honing some basic techniques, and designing 3D drawings.

The tutor: Raouf Karray is a Tunisian illustrator for children and young adults. He designs, illustrates and produces children’s books in Tunisia, Europe and the Arab world.

009 The 2020 Montegrappa Prize

010 Hoda Barakat: The Night Mail

18:00 - 19:00 Adult | English | AED 59

18:00 - 19:00 Adult | Arabic with sim. English translation | AED 59

Could you be the winner of the Montegrappa Prize?

Literary agent Luigi Bonomi is ready to reveal the winners of the prize that has so far led to nine book deals.

Before the big announcement, Luigi will discuss with past winners Lucy Strange and Tamsin Winter what they have learnt from writing powerful, critically acclaimed children’s fiction – and what lessons all writers should take away from the current boom in high-quality, socially engaged children’s books.

Lucy Strange’s debut The Secret of Nightingale Wood was chosen as the Waterstones Book of the Month and listed by Amazon and Kirkus as one of 2017’s best children’s books. Her latest book Our Castle by the Sea was selected as the first Independent Booksellers’ Children’s Book of the Month.

Tamsin Winter’s YA novel Being Miss Nobody won the 2019 Brilliant Book Award, the 2018 Calderdale Book of the Year and more. Her new book is Jemima Small Versus the Universe.

The night has always been associated with secrets, and with awakening emotions of longing, love, repentance and even confessions that could be painful.

What if you find a letter from someone unknown declaring his love to someone who will never receive it? Or repenting a mistake he made in impossible circumstances? What would you do?

Through five different letters, Hoda Barakat introduces her celebrated novel’s characters and the immense change they endure overnight.

Hoda Barakat is the winner of several prestigious literary awards, the most recent of which was the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2019 for The Night Mail.

Competition entrants can attend the session for free. The winners will be announced during the session so if you have entered, please make sure to attend!

Thursday 6 February

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

006 Dispatches from the Wilderness: Ali Al Saloom, Gavin Thurston, Kate Humble & Miriam Lancewood 19:00 - 20:00 Adult | English | AED 59

815 Boost Your Work Productivity: Masterclass with Jonathan Yabut 18:30 - 19:30 Adult | English | AED 149 Learn how to succeed without getting overwhelmed in this masterclass from motivational business expert Jonathan Yabut.

Yabut will teach key skills in time and energy management, strategies and frameworks for how to achieve more and ways to achieve work-life balance in whatever role you currently hold.

The tutor: Jonathan Yabut is the author of the bestselling motivational book From Grit to Great. Finding fame as the first winner of The Apprentice Asia, he has gone on to inspire thousands of young Asians to pursue their dreams.

Children’s sessions

What can we learn from time spent in tune with nature?

Our panel of writers who have lived in the wild under very different circumstances discuss what their travels have taught them.

Ali Al Saloom is best known for his Ask Ali TV show, column and books, with more than 1 million copies sold worldwide, but his ongoing exploration of Emirati identity has led him to look at the relationship between the UAE’s natural environment and its culture.

Winner of five Emmys and two BAFTAs, Gavin Thurston’s work as a wildlife cameraman has taken him to every continent, both poles and deep under the sea in search of our planet’s most captivating creatures.

Author and presenter Kate Humble’s most recent book is Thinking on My Feet, a record of her walks and runs across the globe throughout a single year, and an exploration of the reasons we walk.

Miriam Lancewood left her old life behind to live in a tent in the wilderness. Her book Woman in the Wilderness tells the story of her adjustment to a new life in the wild and what she learnt.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

35

013 Jeetendr Sehdev: The Kim Kardashian Principle 19:30 - 20:30 Adult | English | AED 59 What do Harry Potter, Banksy, Steve Jobs and Kim Kardashian have in common? Jeetendr Sehdev reveals the six new rules for success in today’s social media reality.

Named “the most relevant voice of the social media era” by Harper’s Bazaar, Jeetendr Sehdev is a global media personality, a New York Times bestselling author and the world’s leading celebrity expert. Sehdev will discuss why the old marketing strategies are no longer working, and how the route to Kim Kardashian-sized success is through exposing your flaws, vulnerability and personal authenticity.

096 World of Tomorrow – Sci-fi v Reality: Christina Dalcher & Yasser M Bahjatt 19:30 - 20:30 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 Science Fiction is famous for reimagining the concerns of today as the world of tomorrow – but it is also rooted in the fantastical stories of the past, from the 1001 Nights to The Handmaid’s Tale. Our panel will discuss what these intersections of reality and fiction mean for our future.

Christina Dalcher is the author of VOX, a nightmarish vision of a future where women are forbidden from speaking more than 100 words a day – a book that draws on both a longstanding science-fictional theme and Dalcher’s background as a linguist.

Yasser M Bahjatt is a bestselling Saudi Arabian author of science fiction and alternate history who has spotted a correlation between fictional innovation and real-world progress – and sees in that a new path for the Arab World.

Thursday 6 February

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

147 Fatima Bhutto: The Runaways

037 Laila Abdullah: Farho’s Diaries

19:30 - 20:30 Adult | English | AED 59

19:30 - 20:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 59 Farho, Abdul Samad and Qasim were brought up together through the triangle of terror: war, homelessness and displacement.

Farho’s Diaries is one of the three friends’ tales, offering a comprehensive portrait of these children of war, exile and tragedy as they attempt to preserve their identity without losing themselves in their new community.

Omani writer, poet and children’s literature critic Laila Abdullah tells the story of Farho and his family, school, neighbourhood, and the uncle who threatens his friendship with his close friend Saif. She also shares her first experience of novel writing, after writing short stories and poetry.

116 Mai Jia: Decoding the Message

How far would you run to escape your life?

Born into a political dynasty, Fatima Bhutto’s new novel The Runaways poses provocative questions on what attracts young people to extremism. What drives her characters to leave behind their ordinary lives and what vulnerability makes them believe they will find redemption in religious violence?

Taking us into the imagined consciousness of each of her runaways, Bhutto’s novel is not just about radicalisation, but about the people drawn to it, and the experiences of poverty, disaffection and alienation that bring them to crisis.

19:30 - 20:30 Adult | Mandarin with sim. English translation | AED 59 Mai Jia is possibly the most successful writer in China today – with six bestselling spy and thriller novels, he’s sold more than six million copies in 33 languages with both TV and film adaptations. His debut Decoded, a page-turning story about an orphaned math genius devoted to cryptography, was acclaimed for its originality and complexity.

The Message, featuring five codebreakers locked in a secret room until a traitor is revealed, launches in English in 2020.

Join Mai Jia as he discusses his extraordinary award-winning career, from achieving consistent bestseller status and receiving the prestigious Mao Dun award to inventing a new type of chess while researching mathematics for Decoded.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

37

Publishing Programme 837 Translate the World, Not Just the Page: Masterclass with Marilyn Booth 09:30 - 11:00 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation | AED 149 Join one of today’s leading English translators of prize-winning Arabic fiction to learn about creating vibrant and authentic literary translations. Marilyn Booth, 2019 Man International Booker Prize co-winner with Jokha Alharthi for Celestial Bodies, will reflect on her own translation practice in this interactive session focusing on keeping the source language “inside” the translation – retaining Arabic usage, metaphors and so on within the English text. Relevant to publishers managing a translated list as well as translators keen to discover more about literary translation.

The tutor: Author, translator and editor Marilyn Booth is the Khalid bin Abdallah Al Saud Professor for the Study of the Contemporary Arab World, Oriental Institute and Magdalen College, Oxford. Her numerous translations include works by Hoda Barakat, Hasan Daoud, Elias Khoury and Jokha Alharthi.

110 Publishing Programme Keynote from Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, Vice President of the International Publishers Association (IPA), Founder and CEO of Kalimat Group Followed by: Book Tracking – the Next Big Step for Arab Publishing: Iman Ben Chaibah, Isobel Abulhoul & Jamal Al Shehhi 11:30 - 12:30 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation | AED 59 Without an effective, shared means of knowing where and when their books are bought, can publishers fully understand the regional market and plan for the future? It’s time to talk about why a cross-border book tracking system would be a crucial commercial tool to raise the game for publishers, book sellers and writers. Led by the Emirates Publishers Association, professionals from across the industry examine the case for action.m across the industry examine the case for action.

Publishers’ Networking Lunch for Publishing Day Ticket Holders 12:30 - 14:00 Complimentary with pre-registration

Thursday 6 February

The Festival’s popular Publishing Programme presents interactive sessions aimed at publishing professionals, writers and all those with an interest in the industry, and includes the Publishers’ Networking Lunch, complimentary with pre-registration for all Publishing Programme ticket holders. A day pass for the four sessions is available at AED 249.

111 Finding Yourself in a Book? Why it Matters: Fatima Sharafeddine, Rania Zaghir & Zanib Mian 14:00 - 15:00 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation | AED 59 Is children’s publishing failing children by only depicting dominant cultures? How can we satisfy our children’s curiosity about their own experiences through reading? Our panel of publishers and authors debates why representing children of different backgrounds and portraying their individual experiences is so important, and how the industry, both in specific regions and globally, could collaborate to speed up.

Fatima Sharafeddine is an award-winning writer and translator for children and young adults who has written and published more than 120 books.

Rania Zaghir is a Lebanese writer and publisher of children’s books, whose books have been translated into 20 different languages. In 2013, she established the national book charity Libraries of Hope.

Zanib Mian’s books have featured on the BBC’s CBeebies Bedtime Stories and in the Guardian for their contribution to diversity in children’s literature. Zanib launched Sweet Apple Publishers in 2014 with a clear commitment to publishing inclusive books.

112 Publicising Publishing – How and Why to Highlight an Industry: Mohamad Alattar, Porter Anderson & Yasmina Jraissati 15:30 - 16:30 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation | AED 59 Why do we need to publicise the publishing industry? Don’t the books speak for themselves?

Our panel believes this is far from the case and digs into the market forces – from the annual deluge of new books to the dominance of the big multinational houses to the rise of streaming TV – that are challenging industry reporters’ ability to cover the news and analyse trends.

How do publishers and journalists alike need to adapt to give publishing its due? Find out here!

Mohamad Alattar is the Manager of Nasher News, the first platform for publishing news in the Arab world.

Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives and co-founder of The Hot Sheet, was named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair’s 2019 International Excellence Awards.

Yasmina Jraissati is the Founder of Raya Literary Agency, the first literary agency focusing on Arabic translation rights.

Since 2006 she has been developing Mubtada wa Khabar, a collaborative platform for Arabic books.

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Sharing the region’s stories with the world for over 40 years

/ m o t i va t e b o o k s

/ m o t i va t e _ b o o k s

/ m o t i va t e b o o k s

007 LitFest Poetry Night 20:00 - 21:30 Adult | English | AED 59 The Festival is proud to present an evening of readings from some of Dubai’s finest local talent plus special international guests, performed against the backdrop of Dubai Creek.

Featuring: Arundhathi Subramaniam Carlos Andrés Gómez Danabelle Gutierrez Farah Ali Frank Dullaghan Hind Shoufani Marie Dullaghan Mark Fiddes Omar Khalifa Rasha Al-Duwaisan Rui Cóias Shamma Al Bastaki Zeina Hashem Beck Join us on the terrace at Zaytoun Restaurant, Crowne Plaza Hotel, for this unique event.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

41

Friday 7 February AL RAS 1

AL RAS 2

AL RAS 3

AL BARAHA 1

AL BARAHA 3

AL BARAHA 2

AL KHAYMA

AL RIMAL

9:00

9:00

9:30

9:30 10:00 10:30

011

En 012

Tony Juniper: What Has Nature Ever Done for Us?

En 015

En 014 Nadiya Hussain: My Monster & Me

Santa Montefiore: The Secret Hours

En 027 Linwood Barclay: Elevator Pitch

016

En

Jonathan Yabut: From Grit to Great

En 827

Jeremy Hunter: North Korea Exposed

12:30

11:00

School Performances

11:30 017

En 049

Ranulph Fiennes: Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know

En 019

En 020

Oliver Jeffers: Drawing Christopher Lloyd: Humanimal – Incredible Ways Pictures and Telling Stories Animals are Just Like Us

En 021

11:30 022

En

Kate Humble: Thinking on My Feet

Roma Agrawal: BUILT

En 820

Esi Edugyan: Washington Black

En

Writing Romance: Workshop with April Hardy

School Performances

13:30

14:30

117

En 030

Fatima Bhutto: New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi, and K-Pop

15:00

En 062

Five Fun Ways to Save the World! With Martin Kiszko, BOSH!, Jeannie Baker & Harry and Chris

Zanib Mian: Planet Omar

16:30

053

En 024

Tayari Jones: An American Marriage

En 031

En 079

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock: Dr Maggie’s Grand Tour of the Solar System

Nadiya Hussain: Finding My Voice

Ar 082 Jokha Alharthi: Celestial Bodies

Ziauddin Yousafzai & Toor Pekai Yousafzai: Let Her Fly

038

En

Sir Chris Bonington & Sir Ranulph Fiennes in Conversation

Ar 039

Bringing Death to Life: Khalid Al Naserallah & Tareq Imam

Christina Dalcher: VOX

En 142

106 En

Modesty: A Fashion Paradox: Hafsa Lodi

Ar

Fatima Sharafeddine: Mila’s Pear

17:30 100

045

Ar Rania Zaghir: Fikriya

Ar

En

044

En 086

20:00

19:00 075

En

Justin Marozzi: Islamic Empires: Fifteen Cities that Define a Civilization

Gelong Thubten: A Monk’s Guide to Happiness

Ar

Dr Mohamed Qasem: Things You Cannot Imagine

BOSH! Vegan Supper Club

20:30

18:00 18:30

Writing Across Continents: Jan Dost & Omaima Alkhamis

085

16:30 17:00

Joshua Raven: The Thrilling World of 5fingers

En

19:00 19:30

15:30 16:00

En

The Big LitFest Question: Books!

What Are They Good For?

En 036

15:00

En

En Rachel Hamilton: The Falcon who Found his Wings

041

14:00 14:30

143

040

035

En

Maryam Al Serkal: Mira’s Curly Hair

En

Parag Khanna: The Future is Asian

17:30

18:30

034

School Performances

17:00

18:00

12:30

13:30

En 835 En 026 Ar/En 103 Ar/En 063 1001 Nights and the Power Transforming Lives – Women in History: Abdelillah 028 En of Story: Alwyn Hamilton, Pioneers of Change: Benarafa, Bettany Hughes, Writing Together: Greg Dubai Abulhoul, Edna Adan Ismail, Travel Writing: Dr Rafia Ghubash & Mosse & Luigi Bonomi Kevin Crossley-Holland Onjali Q. Raúf & Sanduk Ruit Workshop with Reem Al Kamali & Tareq Imam Stuart Turton

15:30 16:00

12:00

13:00

13:00

14:00

10:00 10:30

Biographical Writing: Workshop with Wendy Holden

11:00

12:00

En

19:30 20:00 20:30

21:00

21:00

21:30

21:30 42

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

AL WAHA

AL AMWAJ 1

AL AMWAJ 2

ZAYTOUN

HERITAGE MAJLIS

CREATIVE SPACE 1 CREATIVE SPACE 2 En 803 En 867

9:00 866

9:30 10:00

093

En Designing Historical Fiction: Workshop with Rehan Khan

Brandy Scott: Writing Success

10:30

En 821

Let’s Write a Story: Workshop with Zanib Mian

123

Writing to the Next Level: Individual Coaching with Allison K Williams 1

Ar

En 124

The Quick Pitch 1 with Luigi Bonomi

10:00 10:30

En

11:00

Recipes for Life: Building a Fantasy World: Delna Prakashan & Rachael Lynn Workshop with Alwyn Hamilton

11:30 094

En 824

12:30

11:30

En

12:00

Creating Headlines: Journalism Workshop with Joshua Raven

Karen Osman: The Perfect Lie

868

En

12:30 13:00

13:00 862

13:30 14:00

098

En 869

Writing to the Next Level: Individual Coaching with Allison K Williams 2

Ar

13:30

En Adapting Works for the Screen: Workshop with Daniela Tully

Tamsin Winter: Jemima Small Versus The Universe

14:30

14:00

Quick Pitch with Yasmina Jraissati

14:30 15:00

15:00 15:30

099

Ar 856 Maria Dadouch: Do You Like Stripes with Spots?

16:00

17:30

En

088

En

Alexander McNabb: The Extraordinary History of the Seven Sands

101

125 834 A Different Text: Creative Writing Workshop with Amal Farah

En

16:00

En

16:30

Publishing 101: From Idea to Novel Workshop with Annabel Kantaria & Jessica Jarlvi

Ar

17:00 17:30

113

En

18:00

Carlos Andrés Gómez: Hijito

Ar

18:30 19:00

080

19:30

20:30

861

Salha Obied: It Might be a Joke

19:00

20:00

15:30

Cooking up a Story Stew: Workshop with Maz Evans

Author Readings

18:00 18:30

En 830

Orphans of Silence: Poetry Workshop with Eleanor Hooker

16:30 17:00

9:00 9:30

Khalifa Almherzi: She Consumed Me

833

11:00

12:00

En

084

En

19:30

Harry and Chris: The UK’s Favourite Comedy-Rap-Jazz Duo

En

20:00

Mohammed Hanif: Red Birds

20:30

21:00

21:00

21:30

21:30 Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

43

Friday 7 February 803 The Quick Pitch 1 with Luigi Bonomi 09:00 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 149 Are you ready to pitch your novel? You have five minutes to present your one-page synopsis, 50-word back cover blurb and the first five pages of your manuscript.

Literary agent Luigi Bonomi will use his vast experience in the publishing industry – representing authors including top ten Sunday Times bestsellers Amy Lloyd, Susan Lewis, Fern Britton, Simon Scarrow as well as seven Montegrappa Writing Prize Winners, all of whom ended up with book contracts from major publishers – to tell you if your book has a chance and what it takes to get that coveted publishing deal.

This year Luigi is particularly interested in crime/thriller novels and children’s fiction, so if you are writing in these genres make sure to make an appointment with him.

Come prepared with your best pitch!

The Festival will contact you by the end of January with the exact time of your slot.

Friday 7 February

867 Writing to the Next Level: Individual Coaching with Allison K Williams 1

821 Let’s Write a Story: Workshop with Zanib Mian 09:30 - 10:30 Age: 9-11 | English | AED 99

09:00 - 11:30 Adult | English | AED 349 Do you need some professional help with your writing journey? Editor Allison K Williams will read and edit the first ten pages of your writing ahead of a 30-minute one-to-one coaching session. If you’re preparing to submit your work to agents and publishers, she will also review your query letter, or talk you through the process and the dos and don’ts of making your pitch stand out.

The tutor: Allison K Williams has edited and coached authors to deals with Big Five publishers and inspired thousands of writers with her Brevity blogs. She leads Rebirth Your Book, a series of finish-your-book writing retreats around the world.

How do you start to write a story? And even more importantly, how do you give it a great ending?

Zanib Mian is the creator of lovable Omar (who himself has a huge imagination) and his wonderful family. She has tremendous expertise in crafting a plot and creating a superb story, so book soon to discover her top tips!

The tutor: Prize-winning Zanib Mian has written many books for very young children, as well as the entertaining Planet Omar series.

All materials provided.

Participants will be asked to submit their work by 28 January, and answer the following: What are your current writing challenges, and what do you most want to learn in this meeting?

The Festival will contact you by the end of January with the exact time of your slot.

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

866 Designing Historical Fiction: Workshop with Rehan Khan

011 Tony Juniper: What Has Nature Ever Done for Us?

09:30 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 199

10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59

What do you need to consider when you write historical fiction? What period are you setting your novel in and how much of your research should you include? How do you develop your characters and what plot structure works best for your novel?

Rehan Khan, author of A Tudor Turk and A King’s Armour, shares his knowledge on these questions and more in this workshop on creating striking settings, colourful characters and plots packed with intrigue.

The tutor: Rehan Khan has always been fascinated by the way in which legends and chronicles from all over the world have the power to cross time and space to delight and unite us centuries later – whoever and wherever we may be. His acclaimed historical novels have been described as Mission Impossible in the sixteenth century.

Do you believe we have to make a choice between nature and economic development? Or is this a dangerous misconception of modern society?

Internationally recognised campaigner and sustainability advisor Tony Juniper CBE argues that 100% of our economic development and well-being is based upon the services nature provides for us. Yet we take most of nature’s services for granted, imagining them free and limitless until they suddenly switch off.

Get ready to have Tony change the way you think about life, the planet and the economy.

012 Santa Montefiore: The Secret Hours 10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 59 When Faye’s mother passes away, she leaves unexpected instructions – her ashes must be scattered in a remote corner of Ireland far from their home in America.

With Arethusa gone, how can Faye discover why her mother insisted on being laid to rest in this faraway land?

Unanswered questions and deep secrets unravel in million-copy bestseller Santa Montefiore’s spell-binding new novel The Secret Hours.

In the words of Jojo Moyes, “No one does epic romance like Santa Montefiore”.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

45

027 Jonathan Yabut: From Grit to Great 10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 From being the poorest kid in school to becoming Asia’s first Apprentice, Jonathan Yabut’s is a story of hard work and perseverance.

Since emerging as one of the best motivational speakers of Asia for Fortune 500 companies, Jonathan has made it his goal to inspire Asia one talk at a time.

Having worked under Malaysian business mogul Tony Fernandes, he believes all you need is grit.

Jonathan Yabut shares his story to the top of the boardroom teaching you how grit can fuel your success.

014 Linwood Barclay: Elevator Pitch 10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59

015 Nadiya Hussain: My Monster & Me 10:00 - 10:45 Age: 4+ | English | AED 39 All of us have our fears, but young children may find it very hard to express their anxieties.

Join TV presenter, cook and bestselling author Nadiya Hussain for an event featuring her latest picture book My Monster and Me – we promise that as well as being great fun it gives parents the tools they need to talk about anxiety and to ensure that no one suffers in silence.

“It's often the case that innocents are lost in pursuit of a greater good."

What happens when one of the most vertical cities in the world plummets into a series of elevator “accidents” terrorising the city?

As Linwood Barclay brings some of our greatest fears to life in his trademark high-concept new thriller, find how he does it – and why.

Linwood Barclay’s internationally bestselling novels have gathered fans amongst Stephen King, Peter James and Shari Lapena – this is your chance to hear from a master!

Friday 7 February

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

016 Jeremy Hunter: North Korea Exposed 10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 59 North Korea is one of the world’s most secretive nations, yet propaganda pervades every facet of life in this state “without Parallel”.

Investigative photo-journalist and broadcaster Jeremy Hunter entered the country just before the death of Kim Jong-Il, the Dear Leader, to photograph “ARIRANG” – an extraordinary, epic, propagandist spectacle. His record shines a light into this corner of the world and gives an extraordinary account of daily life in one of the least-known states on Earth. It’s an astonishing tale, not to be missed!

827 Biographical Writing: Workshop with Wendy Holden 093 Brandy Scott: Writing Success

10:00 - 11:30 Adult | English | AED 199 How do you capture the essence of a person in writing? Biographer, ghost writer and novelist Wendy Holden has built her career on perfecting this art, whether writing biographies of heroes from history or helping celebrities and public figures get their story into print.

In this workshop, Wendy will teach how to bring together the disparate strands of an eventful life into a coherent, compelling narrative.

The tutor: Wendy Holden is the author of more than 30 non-fiction titles, many of which are international bestsellers and most of which feature strong, inspirational women, from mothers surviving under Nazi rule to the only woman in the French Foreign Legion to modern-day pioneers. She teaches creative writing for the prestigious Ways with Words Festival.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Brandy Scott, author of Not Bad People and presenter of Dubai Eye 103.8’s The Business Breakfast, discusses the lessons she learnt on the way to publishing success. Not Bad People, her compelling debut about three women whose seemingly harmless actions have terrible consequences, garnered comparisons to books by Liane Moriarty, Marian Keyes and Celeste Ng and has now been optioned for New Zealand TV. Currently writing her second novel, Brandy will share the realities of the road from manuscript to published book, and answer all your questions in this interactive session.

All ages

47

123 Khalifa Almherzi: She Consumed Me

019 Oliver Jeffers: Drawing Pictures and Telling Stories

10:15 - 10:45 Adult | Arabic | FREE

12:00 - 12:45 Age: 3+ | English | AED 39

We most often find ourselves stuck; between the bitter and the sweet, the simple and the complex. We live life bearing contradictions we can’t always to deal with. How do we prepare ourselves to face the “poisons” of everyday life? Khalifa Almherzi will answer this question and many more in She Consumed Me. Join us to celebrate his debut novel about a man’s journey through life and his take on living.

Khalifa Almherzi is an Emirati writer and expert in family relations and management skills, and consultant to several family centres and institutions.

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet awardwinning Oliver Jeffers, one of the world’s most-loved authors and illustrators! He will be here to entertain his many fans of all ages with stories and live drawing. From his new book The Fate of Fausto, through the giggleinducing Stuck to the thought-provoking Here We Are, Oliver Jeffers has something for everyone. Book your tickets now – definitely an event for the whole family to enjoy.

124 Recipes for Life: Delna Prakashan & Rachael Lynn

833 Building a Fantasy World: Workshop with Alwyn Hamilton

11:00 - 11:45 Adult | English | FREE

11:00 - 12:00 Age: 12-14 | English | AED 99

Two debut authors from UAE publishing house The Dreamwork Collective discuss how their very different books tackle the emotional upheaval of living and working in a new country. They share their approaches to staying happy and healthy as well as their experiences as first-time authors.

Delna Prakashan is the author of Whip It!, a guide to cooking and self-care from a Dubaiborn Indian author who is concerned that the young migrant population of the UAE is working too hard and enjoying the kitchen too little.

Rachael Lynn is an American-born author and community organiser who runs the hugely popular Women Connect Abroad community. Her book At Home Anywhere is a guide to handling the emotional pressures of relocation and thriving in your new home.

Have you been inspired by the books you read to create your own fantasy land, peopled with characters from your imagination? Would you like to find out how a top writer builds a whole world and makes it credible to the reader? Please join Alwyn Hamilton and learn how she achieves this, and take note of her tips and tricks to create your own story worlds. Limited numbers, so please book soon!

The tutor: Alwyn Hamilton found success with her Rebel of the Sands series for young adults, and is currently working on a new series of books.

All materials provided.

Friday 7 February

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

017 Ranulph Fiennes: Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know 12:00 - 13:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 How many people can say they’ve walked unaided to the North Pole, discovered a lost city in Oman and became the first person to travel overland to both Poles?

Sir Ranulph Fiennes has travelled to the most dangerous and inaccessible places on Earth, almost died countless times and lost nearly half his fingers to frostbite. An elite soldier, an athlete, a mountaineer, an explorer and a bestselling author, he also almost replaced Sean Connery as James Bond.

Take a walk on the wild side with the world’s greatest living explorer according to the Guinness Book of Records.

Children’s sessions

020 Kate Humble: Thinking on My Feet

021 Roma Agrawal: BUILT

12:00 - 13:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59

12:00 - 13:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59

“Humans have always been migrants, the physiological urge to be nomadic is deeprooted in all of us.”

Popular broadcaster and environmentalist Kate Humble is the perfect advocate for the simple act of walking, and Thinking on My Feet explores a year-long journey, recording her impressions and perspective achieved through travelling on foot. It’s a heartfelt call for enhancing health and happiness, one step at a time.

Hear a fascinating discussion of Kate’s book and her life working with wildlife and the inspirational places and people from her travels.

In Built, award-winning Roma Agrawal reveals the extraordinary secret lives of structures through the lens of an engineer.

The buildings surrounding us stand strong against – or even with – nature, but how does it work? The core job of a structural engineer is to understand and anticipate the forces that constantly attack and test their designs, from gravity to gales, fire and explosions.

Hear about these challenges and the science – from our ancestors’ methods to today’s cutting-edge techniques – employed to resist them and keep our cities safe.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

49

820 Writing Romance: Workshop with April Hardy 12:00 - 13:30 Adult | English | AED 199

049 Christopher Lloyd: Humanimal – Incredible Ways Animals are Just Like Us 022 Esi Edugyan: Washington Black 12:00 - 13:00 Adult | English | AED 59 An eleven-year-old slave finds himself pursuing a promise of freedom, from the scorching cane fields of 19th-century Barbados to lands he could never have dreamt of. Inspired by a true story, Washington Black – a Man Booker finalist – is the extraordinary tale of a world destroyed and made whole again.

Prize-winner Esi Edugyan’s previous novels include The Second Life of Samuel Tyne and Half Blood Blues, alongside non-fiction Dreaming of Elsewhere, an exploration of the notions of “home”. Hear her take on creating unforgettable historical fiction.

Friday 7 February

12:00 - 13:00 Age: 6+ | English | AED 39

The ever-popular romance genre entertains millions of readers every year, but how do you break into such a busy field? Novelist April Hardy shares her advice for writing the kind of romantic comedy that will ensnare readers with clever plots and win them over with charming characters.

The tutor: April Hardy writes romantic comedies set around the New Forest. She won the inaugural Literary Idol Contest at the 2014 Emirates LitFest with Hazard at the 19th. Kind Hearts & Coriander was a runner up for the 2014 Exeter Novel Prize, and her debut novel Sitting Pretty was shortlisted for the 2017 Joan Hessayon Award. She is currently working on her fourth novel.

So you think you’re special because you’re a human? Time to think again! So much you thought was unique to us has actually happened in the animal world for millions of years. Join author and storyteller Christopher Lloyd on an entertaining journey to discover the interconnections of the human and animal worlds in ways you never imagined . . . how slime moulds can help navigate a maze, how rats tickle and laugh out loud, how bees vote in elections to decide where to put their nests, and lots more!

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

824 Creating Headlines: Journalism Workshop with Joshua Raven 12:00 - 13:00 Age: 14+ | English | AED 99 Learn the art of journalism in this workshop from experienced journalist and author Joshua Raven. Using his 5fingers novels as a starting point, Joshua will lead interactive exercises and teach some of the techniques that separate the great reporters from the rest of the press pack.

Whether you plan a career in journalism or want to improve your writing by learning how journalists work, this is the workshop for you!

The tutor: Joshua Raven has enjoyed 25 years as an international journalist, editor and copywriter, interviewing leading figures including Bill Gates. He is the author of the 5fingers quintet of novels.

868 Writing to the Next Level: Individual Coaching with Allison K Williams 2 12:30 - 14:30 Adult | English | AED 349

094 Karen Osman: The Perfect Lie 12:00 - 13:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Karen Osman, winner of the 2016 Montegrappa Writing prize and author of the bestselling The Good Mother is back with a heart-racing new psychological thriller.

Claire Carmichael leads a charmed life.

Even at school, she had it all. Claire may have moved on from her school days, but for one person whom she hurt irreparably, the memories are as fresh as blood. And all it takes to reap their revenge is one perfect lie.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

Do you need some professional help with your writing journey? Editor Allison K Williams will read and edit the first ten pages of your writing ahead of a 30-minute one-to-one coaching session. If you’re preparing to submit your work to agents and publishers, she will also review your query letter, or talk you through the process and the dos and don’ts of making your pitch stand out.

The tutor: Allison K Williams has edited and coached authors to deals with Big Five publishers and inspired thousands of writers with her Brevity blogs. She leads Rebirth Your Book, a series of finish-your-book writing retreats around the world.

Participants will be asked to submit their work by 28 January, and answer the following: What are your current writing challenges, and what do you most want to learn in this meeting?

The Festival will contact you by the end of January with the exact time of your slot.

All ages

51

862 Adapting Works for the Screen: Workshop with Daniela Tully

869 Quick Pitch with Yasmina Jraissati

13:30 - 15:00 Adult | English | AED 199

13:30 - 15:00 Adult | Arabic | AED 99

Adapting a novel for film is not a simple task, but help is here – novelist, producer and script-writer Daniela Tully will show you how to handle the particular challenges and opportunities of screen adaptations, giving an overview of the different steps and skills required to succeed.

The tutor: Daniela Tully is the author of Hotel on Shadow Lake, soon to be adapted for screen by director Uli Edel. She has worked on numerous films and TV series, including The Help and Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Are you ready to pitch your novel? You have ten minutes to present your 50-word blurb, followed by your 400-word synopsis, and the first five pages of your manuscript.

Literary agent Yasmina Jraissati, from RAYA, is here to listen. She will use her extensive experience in selling translation and adaptation rights of Arabic literature to give you feedback on your work. Yasmina represents established and award-winning authors (including Elias Khoury, Hoda Barakat, Samar Yazbek, Khaled Khalifa and Sinan Antoon) as well as emerging voices, and has placed them in major international houses.

Yasmina is open to any good story, and this year she is particularly interested in crime/ thriller, narrative non-fiction, and children’s fiction.

Participants will be asked to submit their work by 28 January.

The Festival will contact you by the end of January with the exact time of your slot.

Friday 7 February

Publishing sessions

098 Tamsin Winter: Jemima Small Versus The Universe 14:00 - 15:00 Age: 11+ | English | AED 39 Have you ever felt that you don’t belong?

Have you ever been bullied? How did you cope? Join Tamsin Winter to find out how her characters deal with these issues, and discover just how brilliant a writer she is!

Tamsin’s latest book, Jemima Small Versus the Universe, is as funny, moving and heartwarming as her first novel, Being Miss Nobody.

Tamsin Winter was one of the winners in the Montegrappa Prize with Being Miss Nobody, which went on to win multiple prizes.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

030 Five Fun Ways to Save the World!

With Martin Kiszko, BOSH!, Jeannie Baker & Harry and Chris 14:00 - 15:15 All ages | English | AED 39 How are we going to protect the environment for future generations?

In this lively family-friendly event, international authors share their ideas for long-term solutions that will make the world of tomorrow one we want to live in.

Martin Kiszko is the “UK’s Green poet”, whose books Green Poems for a Blue Planet and Verse for the Earth explore what it means to be green and how to save the planet through the power of poetry!

Henry Firth and Ian Theasby, aka BOSH!, are vegan YouTube sensations whose new book teaches how to “save the planet and feel amazing”.

Jeannie Baker, the superstar of Australian children’s literature, discusses the environmental themes of her beloved books and presents her short film Where the Forest Meets the Sea. Poet Harry Baker and musician Chris Read, aka Harry and Chris, will bring their optimistic comedy-rap-jazz take on conservation, with songs of hope for the planet.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

062 Zanib Mian: Planet Omar 14:00 - 15:00 Age: 7+ | English | AED 39 Zanib Mian is the creator of Omar (who has a huge imagination) and his wonderful family: three-year old Esa who is not as innocent as he looks; big sister Maryam who loves fondant fancies; mum who can’t say no; and dad who will never eat beetroot. Join Zanib as she brings her characters to life and discover just why Omar is an Accidental Trouble Magnet, and why being different is a very positive thing!

All ages

53

835 Travel Writing: Workshop with Stuart Turton 14:00 - 15:30 Adult | English | AED 199 What does it mean to be a travel writer in the age of cheap travel and Instagram? In this masterclass, journalist and award-winning novelist Stuart Turton teaches his approach to writing memorable and meaningful travel articles.

The tutor: Stuart Turton is a novelist and freelance journalist. Currently based in the UK, he has lived all over the world, including time spent in Dubai writing travel articles.

His first novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, won the Best First Novel prize in the 2018 Costa Book Awards. His second book is due to be published in summer 2020.

Friday 7 February

026 1001 Nights and the Power of Story: Alwyn Hamilton, Dubai Abulhoul, Kevin Crossley-Holland & Tareq Imam 14:00 - 15:00 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation | AED 59 Where do stories come from, and who do we write them for?

Our panel explores the myriad ways different cultures and generations retell old stories and find in them new meanings, taking the Arabian Nights as their starting point.

Alwyn Hamilton is the author of Rebel of the Sands, which blends the mythologies of the Arabian Nights and the American West to create a surprising new story.

Dubai Abulhoul’s Galagolia was the first Emirati fantasy novel in English, and she has recently published a series of five children’s books on Emirati folklore.

Kevin Crossley-Holland is an English author, poet and translator who has drawn on Arthurian, Viking and Norse mythology and, most recently, British and Irish folktales in Between Worlds.

Tareq Imam is an award-winning Egyptian author and critic whose novel The City of Endless Walls has been called “the new 1001 Nights”.

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

063 Transforming Lives - Pioneers of Change: Edna Adan Ismail, Onjali Q. Raúf & Sanduk Ruit 14:00 - 15:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Defending people’s rights to healthcare and self-determination is an ongoing fight.

Our panellists, all pioneers in their fields, are some of the tireless fighters whose efforts are improving lives worldwide.

They will discuss their work to make the world a safer place, and how their experiences inspired their books.

Edna Adan Ismail was Foreign Minister of Somaliland from 2003 to 2006. She is the director and founder of the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in Hargeisa and an activist and pioneer in the struggle for the abolition of female genital mutilation. Her autobiography is A Woman of Firsts.

Onjali Q. Raúf is Founder and CEO of Making Herstory, a human rights organisation working to end trafficking and enslavement of women. She is the author of The Boy at the Back of the Class, which won the 2019 Blue Peter Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.

Sanduk Ruit is a doctor on a mission to restore sight to anyone who needs it, regardless of their ability to pay. A pioneer in cataract surgery, he has restored the sight of more than 120,000 people, often travelling to remote parts of Nepal and neighbouring countries to help those who can’t afford to travel – experiences recorded in his biography The Barefoot Surgeon.

Children’s sessions

103 Women in History: Abdelillah Benarafa, Bettany Hughes, Dr Rafia Ghubash & Reem Al Kamali 14:00 - 15:00 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation | AED 59 She is the poet, the writer, the queen and the ruler. She is also the warrior and the sage.

With their ambition and intelligence, women have been able to break free, lead battles, make truces and change history. Our panel of writers and historians will discuss the great roles women have played through the ages.

Abdelillah Benarafa is a Moroccan writer and researcher, and the author of many books published in French and Spanish.

British historian Bettany Hughes’ bestselling books and TV series cover historical topics including Helen of Troy and ancient Egypt. Her new book is Venus & Aphrodite.

Dr Rafia Ghubash, the founder of Dubai’s Women’s Museum, the first Emirati psychiatrist, first Emirati woman to receive a professorship in psychiatry and the first female president of a regional university, has published books documenting UAE heritage and history.

Reem Al Kamali is an Emirati writer and journalist, and the author of Sultanate of Hurmoz and The Dalma Statue.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

55

028 Writing Together: Greg Mosse & Luigi Bonomi 14:15 - 14:45 Adult | English | FREE

117 Fatima Bhutto: New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi, and K-Pop

What makes an original plot? Get creative in this interactive brainstorming session with Luigi Bonomi and Greg Mosse! Learn to think on your feet and run with an idea as Greg and Luigi lead you through a series of possible story beginnings, middles and ends that will test your spontaneity and creativity.

Luigi Bonomi is a literary agent known for his eye for a bestseller. He has launched the careers of many bestselling authors – including numerous winners of the UAE’s own Montegrappa Writing Prize.

Greg Mosse is a “writer and encourager of writers”, who has delivered successful writing workshops for Guardian Masterclasses, Edinburgh and Cheltenham Book Festivals, Chichester Festival Theatre and many others.

15:30 - 16:30 Age: 8-11 | English | AED 99 Story Stew® is a delicious recipe from Maz Evans that will help you to write any story about anything.

Everyone can write stories! Creative writing isn’t a mystical art – it is a science with a bit of magic thrown in. With the right tools, anyone can write a good story. Join the talented Maz Evans and discover how to use a basic story structure along with your imagination to celebrate the joy of telling a tale.

The tutor: Maz Evans has now written four books in the Who Let the Gods out series for children, and her successful events on creative writing for children have taken place at many literary festivals.

14:00 - 15:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 A vast cultural movement is emerging from outside the Western world and challenging America’s soft power dominance.

Author and journalist Fatima Bhutto takes a vivid look at this new global pop culture, profiling Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan, by many measures the world’s most popular movie star; going behind the scenes of Magnificent Century, Turkey’s biggest TV show, watched by upwards of 200 million across 43 countries; and travelling to South Korea, where K-Pop started it all and “Gangnam Style” became the first billionviewed YouTube video.

Friday 7 February

830 Cooking up a Story Stew: Workshop with Maz Evans

All materials provided.

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

034 Maryam Al Serkal: Mira’s Curly Hair 15:30 - 16:15 Age: 3+ | English | AED 39 Do you have curly hair or straight hair? Mira wishes her curly hair was straight like her mama’s, until one day, when the weather is damp, she discovers that maybe she isn’t quite so different from her mother as she thought.

Join Dubai’s very own Maryam Al Serkal to hear the tale of Mira and her curls, and find out why it doesn’t really matter whether our hair is dark or light, curly or straight!

099 Maria Dadouch: Do You Like Stripes with Spots?

15:30 - 16:30 Age: 5-7 | Arabic | AED 39 Abu Malkat can’t bear seeing stripes and spots together. His friend wants to help him see the bigger picture. Will he succeed in changing Abu Malkat’s mind and encouraging him to accept the different things around him?

Join award-winning author Maria Dadouch as she reads her story Do You Like Stripes with Spots? and encourages the audience to explores their preferences, and their willingness to embark on new adventures.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

031 Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock: Dr Maggie’s Grand Tour of the Solar System 16:00 - 17:00 Age: 7+ | English | AED 39 Visit the magnificent sights and spectacles that outer space has to offer with space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, discovering the planets that surround us, and the moons, asteroids, comets, space stations and satellites that hover beyond the stratosphere. This epic event will leave no space question unanswered and no meteorite unturned!

All ages

57

856 Orphans of Silence: Poetry Workshop with Eleanor Hooker 15:30 - 17:00 Adult | English | AED 199

024 Nadiya Hussain: Finding My Voice

079 Jokha Alharthi: Celestial Bodies

“Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them.” – Charles Simic Learn how to make every word count in your own poems in this workshop from awardwinning poet Eleanor Hooker. Eleanor will show how rigorous editing leaves nothing superfluous in the language of a poem.

Participants are invited to bring a poem they are working on (no more than 40 lines) to discuss and work on in writing and editing exercises.

The tutor: Prize-winning poet Eleanor Hooker has published two poetry collections, A Tug of Blue and The Shadow Owner’s Companion.

Her third will be published in 2020 and she is working on a novel. Her prize-winning poetry and flash fiction have been published and broadcast internationally.

16:00 - 17:00 Adult | English | AED 59

16:00 - 17:00 Adult | Arabic with sim. English translation | AED 59

Friday 7 February

“I was everything – a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother – but I still was nowhere near finding me.”

Join the TV presenter, cook and bestselling author Nadiya Hussain as she considers her roles as mother, Muslim, working woman and celebrity, and questions the barriers which many women must cross to be accepted or heard.

In her own warm, honest and humorous way, Nadiya highlights how, at the core of it all, we are essentially tackling the same issues despite our cultural, social and religious differences.

Publishing sessions

In Celestial Bodies, the 2019 International Man Booker Prize winner, Jokha Alharthi brings to life the intertwined tales of three sisters and the secrets and conflicts – both internal and external – of their small Omani society.

Alharthi weaves past and present into a narrative that reveals broad strokes of history alongside the personal interplay of characters striving to tell their own stories.

Join the acclaimed author to hear more about her extraordinary novel, and her approach to writing powerful fiction.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

143 Rachel Hamilton: The Falcon who Found his Wings 16:15 - 16:45 Age: 5-8 | English | FREE

053 Tayari Jones: An American Marriage 16:00 - 17:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 Discover the celebrated new novel from an author deemed “one of the most important writers of her generation”.

An official Oprah’s Book Club selection and winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, Tayari Jones’ An American Marriage traces the lives of a young couple – Roy, a man wrongly convicted of a crime, and his wife Celestial. Set in modern-day America, this intimate tale explores whether their relationship can endure such an assault by the justice system, and asks profound questions about love, racial injustice and a marriage interrupted.

Children’s sessions

082 Parag Khanna: The Future is Asian

What do you want to be when you grow up? Little Shaheen wants to become the Champion Falcon…but it’s not an easy journey.

Will Shaheen let bullies and his injured wing stop him, or will the other desert animals help him reach the finish line? Race your way like a falcon to this fun event with children’s author Rachel Hamilton to find out.

16:00 - 17:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 With 4.5 billion people, Asia is the most populous continent, making the world 60 percent Asian. The Asian system now taking shape spans from Saudi Arabia to Japan, Russia to Australia, and Turkey to Indonesia, linked through trade, finance, infrastructure and diplomatic networks that together represent 40 percent of global GDP. We’ve entered a new epoch, into what Global Strategy Advisor Parag Khanna describes as the “Asian Century”. Hear Khanna discuss how the collective resurgence of Asia means new values around business, politics and society, and why the Future is Asian.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

59

861 Publishing 101: From Idea to Novel Workshop with Annabel Kantaria & Jessica Jarlvi 16:00 - 18:00 Adult | English | AED 249 Covering writing technique and editing tips to help you produce a polished manuscript, as well as the practical side of finding an agent and what to expect when you get published, this workshop from authors Annabel Kantaria and Jessica Jarlvi aims to propel you further up the path to publication. Do I need a literary consultant? How do I approach an agent?

Who edits my manuscript? Come along and find out!

The tutors: Annabel Kantaria won the 2013 Montegrappa Writing Prize with her book Coming Home, which was followed by The Disappearance, The One That Got Away and, most recently, I Know You, which was described by Judy Finnigan as “gripping, chilling and twisted”.

Jessica Jarlvi is the author of the breath-taking dark thriller When I Wake Up, published after she won the Montegrappa Prize. Her latest book, What Did I Do?, tackles questions of mental health and human trafficking.

Friday 7 February

106 Fatima Sharafeddine: Mila’s Pear

125 Author Readings

16:30 - 17:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 59

16:30 - 17:00 Adult | English | FREE

Jamila – or Mila, as she likes to be called – is a sixteen-year-old girl who takes a fateful decision after a painful incident with her classmates.

Join this valuable discussion with writer Fatima Sharafeddine on writing for young people, the subjects that interest them, the difficulties they face in society and at home, the appropriate language to address them and the challenges faced when writing about breaking social taboos.

Fatima Sharafeddine is a writer and translator for children and young adults. She has won a number of awards, the most recent of which was in the Young Adult category at the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature in 2017. She has written and published more than 120 books.

Enjoy the chance to catch some of the world’s best authors reading their own work on stage.

See your favourite writer read their work or discover someone new.

Publishing sessions

Featuring: Clare Mackintosh Omar Sabbagh Full line-up to be announced.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

The Three Protectors 834 A Different Text: Creative Writing Workshop with Amal Farah

041 Joshua Raven: The Thrilling World of 5fingers

17:00 - 18:30 As in initiation, vortex and trinity, Angel Hunters and Warrior Angels battle it out in the Mezzanine world where anything can happen.

Adult | Arabic | isAED Nowhere safe: from149 Britain to China, Tanzania to Nepal and Bolivia

17:00 - 18:00 Age: 10+ | English | AED 39

The ultimate David and Goliath story - on a global scale.

In 5fingers: rescue, hideous beings turn the Earth into their playground: creating havoc wherever their shadow falls. The world has changed forever. Samyaza is on the loose.

Scarred by her encounter with the Malkin, Rachel Race sets out to turn back the tide of darkness. By her side: fearless Caleb; level-headed Daniel; and reporter Lake Emerson, back from his betrayal with Kumiko.

to Poland.

ABOUT 5FINGERS

An explosive, cinematic, plot-driven series of five dystopian thrillers, What can we truly write about a a lonely teen finds packed with adventure, action and mystery.in In 5fingers, herself out of her depth in a supernatural world. The ebb and flow of its intensity will carry you through the pages to its dramatic conclusion. children’s book?

“Edge of the seat stuff.”

Children’s authors and publishers often “This is the next Hunger Games.”

“Mysterious and exciting.” face restrictive expectations that make “creativity” in writing more challenging. In this workshop, participants will learn how U.K. £8.99 to set their text free from stereotypes, and discover more innovative ways to write a gripping story that could really motivate children to read.

The tutor: Amal Farah is an author, poet, literary consultant, journalist and editor.

She is the founder of Shagara Publishing House for children’s books, and has received several awards for her writing, including the UNESCO International Prize for children’s literature.

The Three Protectors

available

4

Joshua Raven has created a series of thrillers with adventure, action, mystery and more than a hint of the supernatural! Come and explore the world of 5fingers in the company of its creator, and decide whether you would have as much courage as the characters who fight for freedom against an enemy with a multitude of faces.

JOSHUA RAVEN

Adult/Teen Fiction

088 Alexander McNabb: The Extraordinary History of the Seven Sands 17:00 - 18:00 Adult | English | AED 59 The United Arab Emirates is lauded for becoming the world’s thirtieth largest economy under fifty years from its foundation as a country. Yet its human history stretches back so much further – to the emergence of anatomically modern humans from Africa, who went on to populate the earth from one of the world’s harshest environments.

Author and journalist Alexander McNabb worked in the Middle East for over 32 years and has been living in the United Arab Emirates since the country was 22 years old. Join Alex as he reveals the vast and fascinating human history of the UAE in his new book, Children of the Seven Sands.

040 The Big LitFest Question: Books!

What Are They Good For? 17:15 - 17:45 Adult | English | FREE What is a book for?

Every year, hundreds of thousands of books are published – an overwhelming number of titles to choose from. But who benefits? Does the rise of streaming services like Netflix mean people want different ways to consume stories, and where does it leave writers, publishers and readers? And where can the money be made?

Join the big debate on whether it’s time to cut back on the books and switch on to streaming, fight back with the written word or find a middle way.

Featuring: Daniela Tully Porter Anderson Lucy Strange Full line-up to be announced.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

61

035 Ziauddin Yousafzai & Toor Pekai Yousafzai: Let Her Fly 18:00 - 19:00 Adult | English/Pashto with sim. translation | AED 59 Ziauddin Yousafzai is best known as the father of the youngest Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Malala. But he is also the father who refused to clip his daughter’s wings.

Ziauddin fought for equality long before he learnt the word feminism. Battling the norms of a patriarchal society he founded a school for his daughter to attend, granting her a privilege only boys enjoyed – education.

Toor Pekai Yousafzai rarely speaks publicly about the experiences that brought her and her family to the world’s attention. But this is her story too.

Let Her Fly tells Ziauddin’s journey from a young stammering boy in Pakistan to the activist and exemplary father he is today, a journey taken side by side with Toor Pekai.

038 Bringing Death to Life: Khalid Al Naserallah & Tareq Imam 18:00 - 19:00 Adult | Arabic with sim. English translation AED 59 If thinking about death can be daunting, how do we find the courage to write about it?

Does the topic of death serve as a motive for writing, or a source of inspiration?

Tareq Imam is an Egyptian writer and critic, and author of many books including My Father’s Grave and The City with No Walls.

Khalid Al Naserallah is a Kuwaiti writer, whose novel The Highest Low reached the shortlist for the 2017 Sheikh Zayed Book Award.

Friday 7 February

Publishing sessions

036 Sir Chris Bonington & Sir Ranulph Fiennes in Conversation 18:00 - 19:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Two of the world’s most celebrated explorers take to the stage to share their extraordinary experiences of adventure at the furthest points of the earth. With many once wild and isolated places becoming popular destinations, is there a balance between respecting nature and making the world accessible? And what frontiers are left for tomorrow’s explorers?

Sir Chris Bonington started climbing in 1951 at age 16, and has continued to this day.

His many achievements include the first successful climb of Everest’s South West Face and of the South Face of Annapurna.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes has been described as “the world’s greatest living explorer” according to the Guinness Book of Records, and is the only man to have travelled around the Earth’s circumpolar surface.

He is currently pursuing the Global Reach Challenge to raise money for Marie Curie.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

113 Carlos Andrés Gómez: Hijito 18:00 - 19:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Two-time International Poetry Slam Champion Carlos Andrés Gómez takes us through a whirlwind of emotions with his performances, exploring modern themes – masculinity, displacement, race, gender and violence – with an almost painful tenderness.

His is a voice that demands to be heard.

Whether in his new poetry collection Hijito or his memoir Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood, Carlos expresses himself with a sense of urgency for the most pressing issues of our time, insisting that language can spur hope and courage.

142 Modesty: A Fashion Paradox: Hafsa Lodi

18:00 - 19:00 Age: 5-7 | Arabic | AED 39

18:00 - 18:45 Adult | English | FREE Modest fashion has grown into a multi-billiondollar retail sector, upending the status quo of the fashion world. Modesty: A Fashion Paradox tells the extraordinary story of how this came to be as author Hafsa Lodi explores the people and brands shaping the trends and the controversies at the heart of the movement.

In this special launch event in honour of the book’s publication, Hafsa and our panel will discuss the paradox at the heart of modest fashion and the latest developments in the industry, and will answer audience questions.

Full line-up to follow.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

100 Rania Zaghir: Fikriya

Adult sessions

Fikriya wants to write her best story ever, but she can’t think of the perfect idea. As she searches everywhere for inspiration, and discovers so many new possibilities, will she be able to find it?

Join Fikriya on her journey of exploration, and hear how she learns what she’s looking for.

Rania Zaghir is a Lebanese writer and publisher of children’s books, which have been translated into 20 different languages.

All ages

63

045 Writing Across Continents: Jan Dost & Omaima Alkhamis 18:30 - 19:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 59 As we cross distant lands and follow different paths, our understanding of the world expands and brings new hope for dialogue.

Jan Dost and Omaima Alkhamis discuss how their protagonists’ journeys open up these channels of tolerance and allow us to explore exciting new experiences.

Join this thrilling session on travel literature with Saudi writer Omaima Alkhamis, winner of the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature 2019 for her novel Voyage of the Cranes in the Cities of Agate, and Syrian novelist and poet Jan Dost, author of Asheeq the Translator and The Bells of Rome.

101 Salha Obied: It Might be a Joke

039 Christina Dalcher: VOX

18:30 - 19:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 59

18:00 - 19:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation AED 59

Writer Salha Obied takes us on a historic journey from the mid-nineteenth century to the third millennium, delving into memories and events of the past and then bringing us into contemporary times, all through the stories of Musallam, Mira and Matar.

Discover why Obied’s tales focus on the transformation of Emirati society, the fragility of memory and the “other”, and how these elements can impact on and change an individual’s personality.

Salha Obied is the Emirati author of several short story collections, the most recent of which was The Hidden White Thread, winner of the 2015 Al Owais Creativity Award for best fiction. She published her historical fiction novel It Might Be a Joke in 2018.

What if you awoke to find yourself restricted to 100 words a day, your rights stripped away by the body of power sworn to protect them?

VOX is the shocking story of women’s voices silenced, yet again, and their struggle to fight back.

In her acclaimed debut novel, theoretical linguist and author Christina Dalcher takes us into a world where the antithesis of equality becomes law. Discover how the concept of a foreboding potential future inspires her work and serves as a warning to us all.

Friday 7 February

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

044 BOSH! Vegan Supper Club

075 Dr Mohamed Qasem: Things You Cannot Imagine

19:30 - 21:30 Special Event | English | AED 299

19:30 - 20:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 59 The world is full of exciting ideas to discover, but how do we ensure this knowledge is shared and has a positive effect on the lives of others?

Acclaimed science communicator Dr Mohamed Qasem will discuss the latest developments in space, physics, music, artificial Intelligence and science fiction among other topics. He will also offer his experience in how to write about science for both specialised and non-specialised readers, and share his skill in explaining sophisticated ideas in an engaging and enjoyable way.

Dr Mohamed Qasem is the author of Who Am I? and Things You Cannot Imagine, which was chosen by the UAE Ministry of Education to be included in the 12th Grade curriculum.

080 Harry and Chris: The UK’s Favourite Comedy-Rap-Jazz Duo

Are you curious about vegan cuisine? Do you find the concept difficult to embrace or are you already a convert? Do you need a healthy and entertaining night out with friends? YouTube sensations Henry Firth and Ian Theasby, aka BOSH!, are here for you.

Inspired by the climate crisis, animal welfare and health concerns, the demand for exciting and satisfying vegan food keeps growing. See BOSH! in action as they demonstrate how to prepare their favourite dishes, hear them speak frankly about the ideas in their latest books, How to Live Vegan and Healthy Vegan, and enjoy a delicious three-course vegan meal yourself.

19:30 - 20:30 Adult | English | AED 59 Having played together in various forms for more than ten years, World Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker teams up with BFF/ Jazz Musician Chris Read as the imaginatively titled “Harry and Chris”. After sell-out runs of their 2016-2018 Edinburgh Fringe shows, Harry and Chris have been featured on The Russell Howard Hour (Sky) and tour regularly around the UK. They are excited to be making their Emirates Debut together!

Making comedy-jazz-rap a thing, their songs range from panda repopulation to coming of age to Robot Wars, and they bring love and laughter to a world that needs both more than ever.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

65

085 Gelong Thubten: A Monk’s Guide to Happiness 19:30 - 20:30 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 From sand dunes to the world’s tallest building in a few decades; how do we stay afloat in a city that runs at a million miles per hour?

Chasing fleeting moments of happiness through material possessions only drains us further. So how do we find the right balance?

Gelong Thubten – who traded his life as an actor at 21 and ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk – has a deep understanding of how to cope with the stresses of modern life and can guide our search for happiness within an urban jungle, and show us the meaning of mindfulness.

Friday 7 February

086 Justin Marozzi: Islamic Empires: Fifteen Cities that Define a Civilization

20:00 - 21:00 Adult | English | AED 59

19:30 - 20:30 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 Islamic civilisation was once the envy of the world – its cities unrivalled powerhouses of artistic grandeur, commercial power, spiritual sanctity and forward-looking thinking.

As with his acclaimed Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood, historian and journalist Justin Marozzi – after having spent most of his professional life in the Middle East – captivatingly combines history with reportage, bringing storytelling to the fore.

Islamic Empires is a history of this rich civilisation told through its greatest cities over the fifteen centuries of Islam.

Publishing sessions

084 Mohammed Hanif: Red Birds

“We used to have art for art’s sake; now we have war for the sake of war.”

Against a backdrop of religious strife and post-colonial conflict, former Air Force pilot and award-winning author Mohammed Hanif returns with Red Birds. As an American pilot shelters in the very same refugee camp he was supposed to bomb, a teenage “entrepreneur” and a dog take centre stage.

Hanif flaunts the mastery of satire honed in A Case of Exploding Mangoes as he lays bare the absurdities and monstrosities of war.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

Saturday 8 February AL RAS 1

9:00

046

9:30 10:00

AL RAS 2

AL RAS 3

AL BARAHA 1

AL BARAHA 2

AL BARAHA 3

Ar/En

081

En 048 Martin Kiszko: Green Poems for a Blue Planet

10:30

9:00

Ar/En Magic Phil: Magic Phil’s Colourful World of Books

Taaleem Prize Giving

047

AL KHAYMA

En 055 Graeme Simsion: The Rosie Result

En 032

Ar/En 051

Relationships Under Strain: Clare Mackintosh, Esi Edugyan, & Tayari Jones

Maz Evans: The Who Let the Gods Out Show

En

132

Miriam Lancewood: Woman in the Wilderness

9:30 En

052

En

Dr Sanduk Ruit: The Barefoot Surgeon

Foodprints: A Collective Memoir

10:30 11:00

11:00 11:30 12:00

054

102

En

Faith in the Modern World: Gelong Thubten, Lesley Hazleton, Mitch Albom & Omar Saif Ghobash

061

En

14:00

060

056

Onjali Q. Raúf: The Star Outside my Window

144

En 025

En 029

15:00

13:00

064 057

En

The Modern History of the UAE: Alamira Reem Bani Hashim, David Heard & Nick Cochrane-Dyet

066

En 092 Cities of Tomorrow: Roma Agrawal, Saeed Al Gergawi & Tony Juniper

En 005

Adam Rutherford: How to Argue with a Racist

En 069 Geronimo Stilton’s World of Adventure

076 141

Possibilities – A Young Person’s Guide to Career Success: Anna Roberts, Aby Sam Thomas, Mashal Waqar & Dawn Metcalfe

071 145

En

En

The Panel – A Ten-Minute Comedy! Stuart Turton: The Seven Deaths

of Evelyn Hardcastle

En

En 073

Mitch Albom: Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family

En 074

Gavin Thurston: Journeys in the Wild: The Secret Life of a Cameraman

067

19:30 068

En

065

Ar

18:30

Gained in Translation: Hassan Al matrooshi, Khalid Al Naserallah & Jan Dost

083 043

087

Markus Zusak: Bridge of Clay

16:30

18:00

En Luke Jennings: Killing Eve

16:00

17:30

En The Working Mind and Drawing Hand of Oliver Jeffers

14:30

17:00

Ali Al Saloom: The Answers

023

14:00

15:30

En

Identity Poetics: Afra Atiq, Carlos Andrés Gómez & Farah Chamma

131

19:00

20:30

En

15:00

17:30

20:00

En

Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist: Two Steps Forward

17:00

18:30

13:30

Ar/En

Twisting Fiction from Life: Inaam Kachachi, Mohammed Hanif & Omaima Alkhamis

Ar 070 Building Tomorrow: Jamal Bin Huwaireb

12:00 12:30

School Performances

16:30

18:00

Hussain Al Mutawaa: I Dream of Being a Concrete Mixer

School Performances

15:30 16:00

Ar

Ar/En

En

Edna Adan Ismail: A Woman of Firsts, in Conversation with Wendy Holden

Ross Collins: Animal Antics!

En LitFest Quiz

The UAE Astronauts Return: Hazzaa AlMansoori, Sultan AlNeyadi & Salem AlMarri

Roald Dahl’s Rotsome and Repulsant Words: Fiona Ross & Sara-Jane Arbury

11:30 058

En Jeannie Baker: See the World Through New Eyes

Ar/En

13:30

School Performances

En Science for Humans: Adam Rutherford & Dr Mohamed Qasem

115 059

Oxford University Press Story Writing Prize Giving

14:30

En 018 Chris Bonington: Ascent

12:30 13:00

10:00

Ar

Ar/En

089

En

Legends in their Own Time: Bettany Hughes & Jonathan Phillips

19:00

The Poetryhood Presents

Ar

Where Does Literary Criticism Stand Today?: Ali AlShaali, Reem Al Kamali & Hussain Al Mutawaa

Green Sheikh: Earth’s Enrichment

19:30 20:00 20:30

21:00

21:00

21:30

21:30 Saturday 8 February

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

AL RIMAL

AL WAHA

AL AMWAJ 1

AL AMWAJ 2

HERITAGE MAJLIS

CREATIVE SPACE 804

9:00 9:30 10:00

822

En

Writing for Young Teens: Workshop with Tamsin Winter

Ar 842

Ar 841 Rania Zaghir: Drawing with Proverbs

Crime Writing: Masterclass with Linwood Barclay

Drawing Story Characters: Workshop with Simar Halwany

The Quick Pitch 2 with Luigi Bonomi

En

114

11:00 En 105

090

13:00

851

Poetry Workshop with Harry Baker

107

15:00

En

En

12:30

En

13:00 13:30 136

Ar 865

En

Ar 825 Crafting a Successful Mystery: Workshop with Fatima Sharafeddine

17:00

852

En

072

En

En

Ar

17:00

Ar

17:30 18:00

Sci-fi Writing: Workshop with Yasser M Bahjatt

Clare Mackintosh: After the End

16:00 16:30

The Art of Journalism: Workshop with Joshua Raven

Listen and Draw: Workshop with Raouf Karray

857

15:00 15:30

829

How to Find an Agent: Masterclass with Sheila Crowley

17:30

En

14:00 14:30

Cryptic Crosswords for Beginners: Workshop with Peter Dale

Blog to Book: Masterclass with Sara Sadik

Writing Funny: Workshop with Maria Dadouch

16:00 859

Ar 863

11:30 12:00

Writing Lyrics: Workshop with Chris Read

Bev James: Do It or Ditch It!

En

En 853 Lucy Strange: Our Castle by the Sea

15:30

18:30

127

Have Fun with Drawing: Workshop with Kate Hindley

En

860

Exploring Expression – A Poetry Puzzle: Presented by SAIL Publishing

108 850

11:00

Ali AlShaali: The Living

14:30

18:00

Jonathan Yabut: The Art of Ikigai

En

Alwyn Hamilton & Rehan Khan: A Fantastical Writing Conversation

13:30

16:30

10:30

En

En

Bringing Historical Characters to Life: Workshop with Abdelillah Benarafa

Flash Fiction: Workshop with Christina Dalcher

12:30

Ar 148

En 845 Julia Johnson: Stories of Lizard and Toad

12:00

14:00

10:00

The Author-Agent Game: Santa Montefiore & Sheila Crowley

848

9:00 9:30

104

10:30

11:30

En

18:30

19:00

19:00

19:30

19:30

20:00

20:00

20:30

20:30

21:00

21:00

21:30

21:30 Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

69

Saturday 8 February 804 The Quick Pitch 2 with Luigi Bonomi 09:00 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 149 Are you ready to pitch your novel? You have five minutes to present your one-page synopsis, 50-word back cover blurb and the first five pages of your manuscript.

Literary agent Luigi Bonomi will use his vast experience in the publishing industry – representing authors including top ten Sunday Times bestsellers Amy Lloyd, Susan Lewis, Fern Britton, Simon Scarrow as well as seven Montegrappa Writing Prize Winners, all of whom ended up with book contracts from major publishers – to tell you if your book has a chance and what it takes to get that coveted publishing deal.

This year Luigi is particularly interested in crime/thriller novels and children’s fiction, so if you are writing in these genres make sure to make an appointment with him.

Come prepared with your best pitch!

The Festival will contact you by the end of January with the exact time of your slot.

Saturday 8 February

822 Writing for Young Teens: Workshop with Tamsin Winter

046 Taaleem Prize Giving 09:15 - 10:00 Prize Giving | Arabic/English with sim. translation | FREE Join us to celebrate the winners of this year’s Taaleem Award as they receive their prizes from some of our top authors.

Open to all.

081 Magic Phil: Magic Phil’s Colourful World of Books 09:15 - 10:00 Age: 3+ | English | FREE Prepare yourselves for an interactive session as Magic Phil conjures not only some amazing magical marvels but also some super colourful storytelling . . . Just why does the camel love red while the dog prefers blue? Here is an event to get your LitFest day off to an amazingly lively start!

Magic Phil is one of Dubai’s best-known entertainers and a hit with all his young fans.

Publishing sessions

09:30 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 199 Tamsin Winter is the award-winning author of novels for young teenagers. In this interactive workshop, she will give advice on channelling your inner “tweenager”, as well as offering practical tips and guidance on themes, pacing, world-building, narrative voice and navigating the potential plot-holes (and dilemmas!) thrown up by the internet and social media.

This workshop will give you a unique insight into writing for a twenty-first-century audience from an author fast becoming a favourite amongst young teens.

The tutor: Tamsin Winter is a UAE success story, a winner of the Montegrappa Writing Prize for her first novel Being Miss Nobody, which went on to win multiple prizes. Her second novel, Jemima Small Versus the Universe, has been met with acclaim by reviewers and readers alike.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

132 Foodprints: A Collective Memoir 10:10 – 10:50 Adult | English | FREE Foodprints is a new memoir/cookbook written by members of the Readers’ Majlis, a book club whose readers meet to share and discuss the books and culture of their home countries. These exchanges, as most gatherings do, soon turned to food, and the ten friends decided to go a step further: to collect their stories and dishes of home in a book they could share beyond the Readers’ Majlis.

Come and join this group of friends in celebrating the making of Foodprints and the memories and recipes that brought them together.

842 Crime Writing: Masterclass with Linwood Barclay 10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 149 Get a grounding in writing gripping crime fiction in this masterclass from top author Linwood Barclay. Known for his mastery of characterisation, plot and the killer twist, Linwood will share his advice for aspiring writers looking to make a killing in the crime genre.

The tutor: International bestselling crime and thriller author Linwood Barclay has more than twenty critically acclaimed novels to his name, including the phenomenal no. 1 bestseller No Time For Goodbye.

032 Relationships Under Strain: Clare Mackintosh, Esi Edugyan & Tayari Jones 10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 How do the stresses on our personal lives affect our interactions with others? Three major authors examine the pressure of culture and distance on their characters’ relationships and discuss how fiction can shed new light on this.

Clare Mackintosh’s new bestseller, After the End, explores the consequences of an impossible choice on a couple facing the most painful decision of their lives.

Children’s sessions

Esi Edugyan is the author of the Giller Prize-winning Washington Black, as well as Dreaming of Elsewhere, a collection of essays with insights on home, nationality, and belonging.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

Tayari Jones is the author of An American Marriage, the award-winning novel about a young couple who are suddenly ripped apart by circumstances beyond their control.

All ages

71

‘A true insight into my remarkable friend.’

Gabi Hollows

‘He reminds me of Don Bradman. They both have a God-given talent and skill ...’

Ray Martin

The Barefoot

SURGEON The inspirational story of Dr Sanduk Ruit, the eye surgeon giving sight and hope to the world’s poor

ALI GRIPPER 051 Miriam Lancewood: Woman in the Wilderness 10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 Living in the wild is a dream many of us share.

Miriam Lancewood made it her reality when she abandoned society’s norms to take survival into her own hands.

After journeying for years through the world’s vast terrain, Lancewood and her husband Peter Raine gave up their worldly belongings in 2010 to live alone in the midst of New Zealand’s stunning mountainous landscape.

She learnt how to hunt, forage for food and adapt to the changing seasons, but most of all she learnt what it means to feel truly alive.

Saturday 8 February

048 Graeme Simsion: The Rosie Result 10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Author of the bestselling Rosie trilogy Graeme Simsion tries to answer the question, “What happens when your happy ever after isn’t the one you wanted?” in the final instalment, The Rosie Result.

In the typical Graeme Simsion fashion we have come to know and love, Don and Rosie return, managing the twists and turns of everyday life. But this time the problem to solve is how to help their eleven-year-old son, Hudson, make his way in the world.

Join Graeme Simsion for a talk full of Rosierelated insight and laughter.

Publishing sessions

052 Dr Sanduk Ruit: The Barefoot Surgeon 10:00 - 11:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Born into the lowest tiers of a rigid caste system in a remote Himalayan village in Nepal, Sanduk Ruit faced dangerous treks just to get to school. After losing loved ones to treatable diseases spurred him to study medicine, he met the visionary ophthalmologist Fred Hollows, whose mentorship inspired Dr Ruit’s lifelong mission: to restore vision to hundreds of thousands of the world’s poorest and most isolated people.

Known as the “Nepalese God of Sight”, Dr Ruit chose to defy the world’s medical establishment and the lure of riches to make the world a better place.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

047 Martin Kiszko: Green Poems for a Blue Planet

055 Maz Evans: The Who Let the Gods Out Show 10:00 - 11:00 Age: 10+ | English | AED 39 Maz Evans presents a fun-filled family fiasco as she introduces Greek Mythology – as you’ve never seen it before. Based around the world of Maz’s Who Let the Gods Out series and packed with giggles and games, this interactive theatre presentation is both entertaining and educational, so look no further for an epic dose of mythological mayhem!

10:00 - 11:00 Age: 8+ | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 39 Poetry is a great way to get people talking and thinking! From disappearing tigers to lost whales and from football to “poo power”, this performance has it all, and Martin Kiszko, the UK’s Green Poet says, “I hope this show will provoke a thought, raise a smile, start a conversation, spark an idea, turn on a few ‘green lights’ and spur us into action.”

Come and be inspired by Martin’s verse for the earth!

841 Drawing Story Characters: Workshop with Simar Halwany 10:00 - 11:00 Age: 6+ | Arabic | AED 59 Lina and Boo decide to go on an adventure, but where will it take them and what will they discover?

Join Simar Halwany in an adventure with her friends Lina and Boo and experience a magical world of beautiful creatures, shapes and colours. Set your imagination and creativity free while turning simple geometric shapes into friendly characters like Lina’s friend Boo, with his cheerful colours and laughter.

The tutor: Simar Halwany is a Lebanese visual artist whose work includes the silent book The Story of a Thread in 2019 and Boo, which was published in 2017.

All materials provided.

Ticket admits one child and one accompanying adult.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

73

114 The Author-Agent Game: Santa Montefiore & Sheila Crowley

102 Science for Humans: Adam Rutherford & Dr Mohamed Qasem

10:45 - 11:30 Adult | English | FREE

11:30 - 12:30 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59

What makes the relationship between author and agent so special, not just in terms of sales but also in collaborating to craft a bespoke writing career that evolves with each new book? Bestselling author Santa Montefiore and leading literary agent Sheila Crowley share their experiences of 16 years working together through an ever-changing publishing world.

104 Rania Zaghir: Drawing with Proverbs 10:00 - 11:00 Age: 7-9 | Arabic | AED 39 As a small girl takes us through a day in her life, she needs a big imagination to understand the Emirati proverbs her mother uses to describe her adventures!

We invite our little ones to join Rania Zaghir in an interactive session where she will make the ideas and proverbs in her book come to life, and find ways to turn them into drawings in a fun and dynamic setting.

Rania Zaghir is a Lebanese writer and publisher of children’s books. Her books have been translated into 20 different languages.

In 2013, she established the national book charity Libraries of Hope.

Saturday 8 February

105 Julia Johnson: Stories of Lizard and Toad 11:30 - 12:15 Age: 4+ | English | AED 39 Dubai-based Festival favourite Julia Johnson is back! Come along and meet Lizard and Toad and hear about their adventures – they both live in a wadi in the mountains of Arabia; Toad loves to swim in his pool while Lizard prefers to sunbathe, but they both like to eat juicy bugs! Join in and find out all about wadis and the creatures that live there.

Publishing sessions

What are the most serious scientific questions facing us today, and how do we confront them?

Two authors and broadcasters who have made science communication their business discuss how scientific literacy can improve society and deepen our understanding of our common humanity.

Adam Rutherford is the author of How to Argue with a Racist, The Book of Humans and A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived.

He presents BBC Radio 4’s flagship science programme, Inside Science.

Dr Mohamed Qasem was named one of the top science communicators in the Arab world

by Nature Middle East for his Arabic science podcast Sciware. He is the author of Things You Cannot Imagine, selected by the UAE Ministry of Education for use in schools.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

845 Bringing Historical Characters to Life: Workshop with Abdelillah Benarafa 11:30 - 13:00 Adult | Arabic | AED 199

054 Faith in the Modern World: Gelong Thubten, Lesley Hazleton, Mitch Albom & Omar Saif Ghobash 11:30 - 12:30 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 Are we losing faith?

Our panel of high-profile writers investigate what we gain from understanding the spiritual side of life.

Religion is and always has been an emotive and provocative aspect of human life – what answers can we find in it as we look to tomorrow?

Gelong Thubten is a Buddhist monk and bestselling author of A Monk’s Guide to Happiness, who teaches meditation and specialises in providing non-religious mindfulness training.

Lesley Hazleton is an award-winning journalist, historian, blogger and author of The First Muslim.

Mitch Albom is an internationally bestselling author, screenwriter, playwright and award-winning journalist, whose books include Have a Little Faith.

Omar Saif Ghobash is the Assistant Minister for Cultural Affairs, and author of the acclaimed Letters to a Young Muslim.

Children’s sessions

How do you create an unforgettable historical character who feels real? All it takes is a little bit of moulding and sculpting until your character fits perfectly within your work!

Join this creative writing workshop with Abdelillah Benarafa, aimed at both new and experienced writers. Benarafa will look at the different character types and explore ways to connect them, in the right frame of time and space, using pitch-perfect dialogue and carefully honed narration.

The tutor: Abdelillah Benarafa is a Moroccan writer and researcher, and author of many books published in French and Spanish.

148 The Art of Ikigai: Jonathan Yabut 11:30 - 12:30 Adult | English | AED 59 What is your reason for being?

In this masterclass, Apprentice Asia winner Jonathan Yabut introduces the idea of ikigai, the Japanese concept referring to “the thing that you live for”, and discusses how matching your life purpose with your career can lead to a life that is both more fulfilling and more rewarding. Drawing on his own experiences, he will help participants find their way towards their own ikigai.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

860 Writing Lyrics: Workshop with Chris Read 11:30 - 13:00 Age: 16+ | English | AED 149 Do you want to start writing lyrics but don’t know where to start? Or are you trying to take your song-writing craft to the next level?

Join this interactive workshop from awardwinning jazz musician and songwriter Chris Read to learn about lyric and music writing in different genres, how to collaborate successfully with other artists, and to discuss how to improve in general as a songwriter.

The tutor: Chris Read has written and performed original music from Montreux Jazz Festival to the Edinburgh Fringe. He formed the comedy-rap-jazz duo Harry and Chris, with poet Harry Baker, and they have performed together on TV and at two TEDx talks. Chris has since released his debut jazz album, has a musical TV show in development and debuted his first solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

All ages

75

848 Flash Fiction: Workshop with Christina Dalcher 11:30 - 13:30 Adult | English | AED 249 Short stories can be extremely powerful when told well – and the really short stories known as flash fiction are flourishing in journals and online.

In this workshop, Christina Dalcher, author of award-winning short fiction as well as the novel VOX, will teach the basics of creating a potent story in as few words as possible.

The tutor: Christina Dalcher is the author of the acclaimed dystopian novel VOX, in which women are denied rights and kept from saying more than 100 words a day. A self-described “flash fiction addict”, she has written numerous ultra-short stories including the Bath Flash Fiction Award-winning “Candy Girls”.

Saturday 8 February

018 Onjali Q. Raúf: The Star Outside my Window

056 Jeannie Baker: See the World Through New Eyes

12:00 - 13:00 Age: 9+ | English | AED 39

12:00 - 13:00 Age: 7+ | English | AED 39

“I’ve always wanted to be a Star Hunter.”

So begins Onjali Q. Raúf’s latest novel, introducing a touch of mystery as well as the warmth and humour that shine through her writing as she explores topics that are dear to her heart. Join us to hear how she found her inspiration for The Star Outside my Window and her award-winning first novel The Boy at the Back of the Class; these are ultimately stories about friendship, hope and dealing with adversity.

Artist, author and film maker Jeannie Baker takes a look at the world around us, using collage to explore the environment and see it through new eyes. From the desert to the sea through cityscapes and urban streets, the detail in her work is entrancing. How does she create these images? Join Jeannie to discover not only her artistic techniques but also her desire to make us look at our world afresh.

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

058 Hussain Al Mutawaa: I Dream of Being a Concrete Mixer 12:00 - 13:00 Age: 9+ | Arabic | AED 39 Young dreamer Haddam refuses to listen to the advice of others, and is determined to go ahead with his ambition to become a concrete mixer! Will he succeed? What challenges will he face? And what will he find out about himself?

Hussain Al Mutawaa will bring Haddam’s story to life and inspire you to discover the distinctive qualities of your own character.

A writer and photographer from Kuwait, Hussain won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2019 with his children’s novel, I Dream of Being a Concrete Mixer.

061 Chris Bonington: Ascent 12:00 - 13:00 Adult | English | AED 59

12:15 - 12:45 Adult | English | FREE

Sir Chris Bonington’s life could almost be measured in peaks.

If 16 marked the start of his love affair with climbing, 80 did not mark its end as he repeated his very first ascent of the Old Man Hoy. Indeed, there aren’t many mountains he hasn’t conquered.

Ascent tells the extraordinary, personal story of Sir Chris Bonington’s near-death adventures and struggle to make a living climbing while raising a family.

Hear what it takes to lead major climbing expeditions to success, and the expert’s opinion on world mountaineering.

Put your literary know-how to the test in the Festival quiz and win prizes!

Quizmaster Tyler Davis-Smith will be challenging your knowledge of Festival authors and their work – be sure to read the programme closely to give yourself an edge…

090 Alwyn Hamilton & Rehan Khan: A Fantastical Writing Conversation 13:00 - 14:00 Age: 12+ | English | AED 39

127 Exploring Expression – A Poetry Puzzle: Presented by SAIL Publishing

With her Young Adult series Rebel of the Sands, Alwyn Hamilton has created an epic story of swirling desert sands, where campfire stories inspire adventure but danger is always close at hand. Rehan Khan’s latest book is the second in his series featuring Will Ryde and Awa Maryam Al-Jameel, who face mystery and conspiracy in sixteenth-century Istanbul on a quest to locate a fabled suit of armour.

Join these two authors to discover how they build their worlds of adventure and derring-do!

12:00 - 12:45 Adult | English | FREE Exploring English poetry books written by Arab authors, our panel discusses how they navigate their emotions in a language that may not be their mother tongue but is where they find their creative voice. What are the themes these authors like to write about, and how challenging can it be to do so in a society like ours?

Children’s sessions

144 LitFest Quiz

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

77

108 Bev James: Do It or Ditch It! 13:00 - 14:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Bev James is a highly sought-after Literary & Talent Agent in addition to being a bestselling author in her own right. Bev has a passion for helping people hone their unique message, monetise their passion and maximise their business opportunities.

Join this dynamic and interactive discussion where Bev will put her mentorship skills into action, giving you the chance to learn the key strategies of how to build the seed of an idea into a successful venture. Be prepared for onthe-spot coaching and lots of Q&A with the “Millionaire’s Mentor” whose clients include Joe Wicks – The Body Coach and vegan superstars BOSH!

115 The UAE Astronauts Return: Hazzaa AlMansoori, Sultan AlNeyadi & Salem AlMarri 13:00 - 14:00 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation | FREE In September 2019 Hazzaa AlMansoori became the first Emirati to travel to space.

On board the International Space Station (ISS) he conducted scientific experiments and introduced his fellow astronauts to Emirati culture and food.

Our panel discusses the significance of the mission, the importance of space to science and international relations alike, and future developments for the UAE’s growing space programme.

Hazzaa AlMansoori spent eight days on the ISS. He was previously a UAE Air Force pilot and has flown many aircraft, including F16s.

Sultan AlNeyadi is an Emirati astronaut and was the backup candidate for the mission to the ISS. He has a PhD in Information Technology and served in the UAE Armed Forces as a communications engineer.

Salem AlMarri is the Assistant Director General for Scientific and Technical Affairs, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre. He received the UAE Pioneers Award in 2014 for being project manager of the UAE satellites Dubaisat-1 and Dubaisat-2.

Saturday 8 February

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

059 Oxford University Press Story Writing Prize Giving 13:15 - 14:00 Prize Giving | Arabic/English with sim. translation | FREE Join us to celebrate the winners of this year’s Oxford University Press Story Writing Competition as they receive their prizes from some of our top authors.

Open to all.

850 Have Fun with Drawing: Workshop with Kate Hindley 13:30 - 14:30 Age: 5-7 | English | AED 99 Do you love to draw? So does Kate Hindley!

Come along and have fun with the illustrator of The Royal Rabbits of London series and many fantastic picture books, including the wonderful Treacle Street. Creative fun is guaranteed – numbers are limited for this interactive workshop, so book soon!

The tutor: Kate Hindley has illustrated over 40 children’s books and been published in more than ten languages. Her picture book with Simon Philip, You Must Bring A Hat, won Sainsbury’s Children’s Book of the Year.

060 Roald Dahl’s Rotsome and Repulsant Words: Fiona Ross & Sara-Jane Arbury 14:00 - 15:00 Age: 7+ | English | AED 39 Calling all human beans! Join word wizards Sara-Jane Arbury and Fiona Ross and get ready to be goose-gruggled and fluckgungled with gobblefunk as you discover Roald Dahl’s redunculously rude and rotsome words!

Oodles of foulsome fun with wacky word games, mouth manglers, shouting matches and whizzpopping poppyrot as well as some frobscottling facts.

Sara-Jane Arbury is a writer, performer and practitioner who works with schools and is an outreach poet for Ledbury Poetry Festival.

Fiona Ross is an actress, director and choreographer and an associate artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company, directing and leading projects including teacher training and young people’s initiatives.

All materials provided.

Ticket admits one child and one accompanying adult.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

029 Edna Adan Ismail: A Woman of Firsts, in Conversation with Wendy Holden 14:00 - 15:00 Adult | English | AED 59 A Woman of Firsts reveals the astonishing life of the indomitable Edna Adan Ismail.

Surviving imprisonment, persecution, and civil war, she was Somaliland’s first midwife, campaigning tirelessly for better healthcare for women, and fought for equality on a global stage as the first female Foreign Minister of her country.

At 82 years old, she still runs what is hailed as the Horn of Africa’s finest university hospital and has been dubbed “The Muslim Mother Teresa”. In conversation with her co-author Wendy Holden, Edna tells the story of – as she puts it – “simply a midwife”.

All ages

79

064 Twisting Fiction from Life: Inaam Kachachi, Mohammed Hanif & Omaima Alkhamis 14:00 - 15:00 Adult | Arabic/English with sim. translation | AED 59 What role do literary authors play in making sense of other people’s experiences?

Our panel of acclaimed and award-winning authors discusses how they came to write about historical and modern-day issues and their choices of characters through whose eyes we see the world.

Inaam Kachachi is an Iraqi author living in Paris. Her 2019 novel The Outcast, based on a true story, spans the history of modern Iraq as seen through the eyes of journalist and magazine publisher Taj al-Muluk Abdelmagid.

Mohammed Hanif’s debut, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Novel. His latest, Red Birds, satirises the American military’s disastrous interventions, depositing an air force pilot in a refugee camp.

Omaima Alkhamis is a Saudi Arabian writer who won the 2018 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature for her novel Voyage of the Cranes in the Cities of Agate. Following an itinerant bookseller across the eleventh-century Islamic world, the novel examines the great cultural and religious diversity of the era.

025 Ross Collins: Animal Antics!

14:00 - 15:00 Age: 4-8 | English | AED 39 Award-winning author and illustrator Ross Collins is here to talk about Bears, Chairs, Tigers, Dogs and all sorts of nonsense.

Draw along with Ross as he tries to remember what an anteater eats. Warning: this event may get very silly.

Saturday 8 February

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

076 Possibilities – A Young Person’s Guide to Career Success: Anna Roberts, Aby Sam Thomas, Mashal Waqar & Dawn Metcalfe

865 Cryptic Crosswords for Beginners: Workshop with Peter Dale 14:00 - 15:30 Adult | English | AED 199

14:00 - 15:00 All ages | English | AED 59 It’s almost impossible to imagine what roles and skills will be expected of us in the workplace of the future, so how can we make good career decisions? It can be overwhelming – but it doesn’t have to be. The Possibilities Project is the ultimate handbook for your journey of self-discovery, independence and success. Drawing on the experiences of some of the brightest minds in the UAE, and beyond, this is your one-stop-shop for career-readiness and well-being.

Join the discussion with our panel featuring three of the project’s exciting contributors, communication educator and awardwinning radio/TV presenter and speaker Anna Roberts, journalist, writer and Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Middle East Aby Sam Thomas and entrepreneur, CTO and Forbes 30 Under 30 Mashal Waqar, chaired by workplace culture expert, author and speaker and founder of HardTalk™ Dawn Metcalfe.

All attending students will receive a free copy of The Possibilities Project and a chance to meet many of the contributing authors.

Children’s sessions

851 Poetry Workshop with Harry Baker 14:00 - 15:30 Adult | English | AED 199 Slam poetry champion Harry Baker returns to Dubai to teach a workshop on writing and performing poems that will make an impact on the audience. This workshop covers both the process of making wordplay work for the topics that are important for you, and the techniques you can use while performing to connect with the audience and help drive your message home even while you entertain them.

The tutor: Harry Baker is a world champion slam poet, occasional rap-battler and author of The Sunshine Kid, his debut collection. His performances have delighted audiences in acclaimed TED talks and sold-out Edinburgh Fringe shows.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

Cryptic crosswords are a great way to sharpen your mind and widen your vocabulary, but getting started can be more than a little intimidating. The clues discussed will include some from the crossword in the 2020 Festival Programme – created by none other than Peter himself!

The tutor: Peter Dale spent 42 years teaching secondary school mathematics, the last 25 of them at Dubai College. His love of words together with an insatiable appetite for problem solving led him, quite naturally, to the world of cryptic crossword puzzles. He describes himself as an enthusiastic amateur rather than an expert in the field and his workshop is designed to help beginners learn some of the tricks and skills that lie behind this dark art.

All ages

81

057 The Modern History of the UAE: Alamira Reem Bani Hashim, David Heard & Nick Cochrane-Dyet 14:30 - 15:30 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59

136 Ali AlShaali: The Living 14:00 - 14:45 Adult | Arabic | FREE Emirati poet, novelist and publisher Ali AlShaali, takes us on a journey down memory lane from the Jumeirah shore in his debut novel, The Living. He explores a society moving from poverty into riches through Said’s family, who used to live by the sea, and Yahya, who is loved by his family, but struggles with nightmares and feelings of guilt, and who has a special connection with Churchill and butterflies.

Join Ali to celebrate his first novel, the Emirati family and the sea.

Saturday 8 February

141 Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist: Two Steps Forward 14:15 - 14:45 Adult | English | FREE Husband-and-wife writers Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist take to the Festival Fringe Stage with their first co-authored novel Two Steps Forward – soon to be followed by its sequel, Two Steps Back.

Inspired in part by the authors’ own walk along the historic pilgrimage route to Camino de Santiago de Compostela, Two Steps Forward introduces Zoe and Martin, who are each taking the journey for their own reasons.

Find out more about what goes into collaborative writing in this fast-moving and entertaining discussion.

Graeme Simsion is best known for international bestseller The Rosie Project and its sequels.

Anne Buist is the author of the Natalie King crime fiction series beginning with Medea’s Curse.

Publishing sessions

The authors of new books about the history of the UAE meet to discuss the convergence of factors that led to the UAE’s sudden rise to global prominence. Focusing on the capital, Abu Dhabi, in the period since the discovery of oil in the 1960s, the panel discusses the intertwined arts of city- and nation-building.

Alamira Reem Bani Hashim is the author of Planning Abu Dhabi: An Urban History - the first urban history book to be published by an Emirati in the English language.

David Heard CBE is the author of Oil Men, Territorial Ambitions and Political Agents, a heavily researched account of the negotiations over oil that shaped the transformation of the Trucial States into the UAE. Nick Cochrane-Dyet is the author of Early Days in the Emirates, a recollection of his times in the UAE during the 60s and 70s and the influence Sheikh Zayed had on his upbringing.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

863 Blog to Book: Masterclass with Sara Sadik 15:00 - 16:00 Adult | English | AED 149

853 Writing Funny: Workshop with Maria Dadouch

Turning your blog into a book might seem straightforward at first, but what is really involved in making the transition seamless and effective? Sara Sadik will help in this masterclass inspired by her own experiences.

The tutor: Sara Sadik is the author of Finding the Magic in Mommyhood: How to Create the Illusion of Sanity amid Raging Hormones, Sleep Deprivation, and Diaper Rash, as well as a series of children’s books forthcoming in 2020. She runs a popular blog and Instagram account where she does her best to reassure exasperated mothers that they are not alone.

15:00 - 16:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 199

107 Lucy Strange: Our Castle by the Sea

Do you need a sense of humour to write funny stories? With writer Maria Dadouch you will discover that making your writing witty is not so hard!

In this workshop, the author will provide tips and activities that show you how to create comic situations to fit with your ideas and characters, and build a genuinely funny book.

The tutor: Maria Dadouch is a Syrian novelist, a scriptwriter and author of children’s books.

She has won many Arabic and English awards for her writing.

Children’s sessions

15:00 - 16:00 Age: 9+ | English | AED 39 Join Lucy Strange – the bestselling author of The Secret of Nightingale Wood and previously among the winners of the Montegrappa Award here in Dubai – as she talks about her latest gripping novel Our Castle by the Sea. We can promise an entertaining and enthralling event with Lucy as we discover the inspiration for her latest story, set in Second World War England, where fate, family, myth and adventure combine keep the reader turning the pages.

Not to be missed!

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

83

069 Building Tomorrow: Jamal Bin Huwaireb 16:00 - 17:00 Adult | Arabic with sim. English translation | AED 59 In this enlightening session, speakers will share stories from the life of the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, one of the world’s most forward-thinking and visionary leaders who left an inedible mark on the political, economic and social well-being of the UAE, and whose accomplishments place him among history’s greatest.

HE Jamal Bin Huwaireb serves as Cultural Advisor to the Government of Dubai. Since 2013, he has been managing the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF).

005 Geronimo Stilton’s World of Adventure 16:00 - 17:00 Age: 6+ | English | AED 39 Geronimo Stilton and his creator Elisabetta Dami will have your whiskers twitching as you discover their fabumouse world of cheesy fun and amazing adventures. Discover why friendship is so important, how Geronimo always manages to turn his problems into successes and why positivity and optimism will always win the day.

Saturday 8 February

071 Stuart Turton: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Full line-up to be announced.

16:00 - 17:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Calling The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, winner of the Costa First Novel Award, a mere murder mystery would be a huge disservice to Stuart Turton’s exhilaratingly original novel. In this internationally acclaimed Agatha-Christiemeets-Groundhog-Day-style crime thriller, Aiden finds himself reliving the day Evelyn Hardcastle is murdered. The only way to break the cycle is to identify the killer.

In an in-depth conversation, Turton discusses just how he brought this unique, high-concept idea to life after a decade in the making.

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

070 Identity Poetics: Afra Atiq, Carlos Andrés Gómez & Farah Chamma

066 Cities of Tomorrow: Roma Agrawal, Saeed Al Gergawi & Tony Juniper

16:00 - 17:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59

16:00 - 17:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59

What makes a poet? Mixing discussion with performance, three rising stars dig deep into the questions of modern poetry, from its use in understanding and expressing identity, to the challenges faced in becoming a poet, to the sometimes fraught debate over spoken versus page poetry.

Afra Atiq is an award-winning Emirati poet who has been featured at events around the world.

Carlos Andrés Gómez is a ColombianAmerican poet from New York City and winner of the Atlanta Review International Poetry Prize among others. His most recent book is Hijito.

Farah Chamma is a Palestinian poet who writes in Arabic, English and French and who has made a name for herself as one of very few slam poets performing in Arabic.

The cities of tomorrow will be shaped by several major trends, including urbanisation, globalisation and climate change. Three experts discuss what is being done now, and what could be done, to build sustainable and resilient cities.

Roma Agrawal is the author of Built: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Structures. She is an award-winning structural engineer and an advocate for inclusivity in engineering.

Saeed Al Gergawi is Director of Dubai Future Academy, an organisation dedicated to preparing industry pioneers in the UAE to create a better future.

Tony Juniper CBE is Chair of Natural England and fellow of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. His books include Rainforest and What Has Nature Ever Done for Us.

092 Adam Rutherford: How to Argue with a Racist 16:00 - 17:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Race is real because we perceive it. Racism is real because we enact it. But the appeal for science to strengthen racist ideologies is rising – and increasingly part of public discourse on politics, migration, sport and intelligence.

In his new book, writer and broadcaster Adam Rutherford explains how science and history can be powerful allies against racism, granting the clearest view of how people actually are, rather than how we judge them to be.

With a PhD in Genetics, Rutherford is here to teach us How to Argue with a Racist.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

85

829 The Art of Journalism: Workshop with Joshua Raven 16:00 - 17:30 Adult | English | AED 199 Learn the art of journalism in this workshop from experienced journalist and author Joshua Raven. Over the course of several interactive exercises, including a headline challenge and a news conference, Joshua will teach some of the techniques that separates the great reporters from the rest of the press pack. He will also read some journalismrelated passages from his 5fingers series of adventure thrillers.

Whether you plan a career in journalism or want to improve your writing by learning how journalists work, this is the workshop for you.

The tutor: Joshua Raven has enjoyed 25 years as an international journalist, editor and copywriter, interviewing leading figures including Bill Gates. He is the author of the 5fingers quintet of novels.

145 The Panel: A Ten-Minute Comedy A Play Time: 16:15 - 16:30 Adult | English | FREE An idealist, a cynic, an opportunist and a poet discuss women's issues. What could possibly go wrong?

Writer: Najwa Yassir Director: Najwa Yassir Cast: Ashleigh Adonis (Cherry), Khalid Bilal (Kareem K), Lamya Tawfik (Hala), Assyl Yacine (Abes), Hani Yakan (Sameer)

Saturday 8 February

825 How to Find an Agent: Masterclass with Sheila Crowley 16:30 - 17:30 Adult | English | AED 149

859 Crafting a Successful Mystery: Workshop with Fatima Sharafeddine 16:30 - 17:30 Age: 10+ | Arabic | AED 99 Are you into writing mystery and thrillers?

In this workshop, Fatima Sharafeddine will guide you through identifying the structure and timeline of your story, then show you how to create the characters, develop the plot, reveal the evidence and reach a thrilling conclusion. She will also offer practical advice to help you with your first story.

The tutor: Fatima Sharafeddine is a writer and translator for children and young adults.

She has won a number of awards, the most recent of which was in the Young Adult category at the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature in 2017. She has written and published more than 120 books.

What does a literary agent do, why do you need one – and how do you get one?

Sheila Crowley is an agent with Curtis Brown.

In this interactive masterclass she will draw on her broad knowledge of the international book industry to explain to UAE-based writers what they need to do when approaching agents with their pitches.

The tutor: Sheila Crowley began her publishing career in Dublin before moving to London to work for a number of leading publishers. In 2003 she joined “the other side” as a literary agent, and now represents bestselling authors including Clare Mackintosh, Santa Montefiore and Jojo Moyes.

All materials provided.

Publishing sessions

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

852 Listen and Draw: Workshop with Raouf Karray

857 Sci-fi Writing: Workshop with Yasser M Bahjatt

16:30 - 17:30 Age: 9+ | Arabic | AED 59

131 Ali Al Saloom: The Answers

17:30 - 19:00 Adult | Arabic | AED 199

Unleash your imagination in this art-filled workshop. Illustrator Raouf Karray will teach you how to draw by listening to a moving piece of music, and capturing your impressions of it spontaneously on paper.

The tutor: Raouf Karray is a Tunisian illustrator for children and young adults. He designs, illustrates and produces children’s books in Tunisia, Europe and the Arab world.

17:00 - 17:30 All ages I English I FREE

In this workshop, writer and publisher Yasser M Bahjatt will discuss Science Fiction, how it differs from Fantasia, and where it stands in the Arab world today. He will show participants how to develop the plot and events of their novel to engage readers and transport them smoothly into the future or the past, while ensuring all the necessary elements of a successful narrative are in place.

The tutor: Saudi publisher and novelist Yasser M Bahjatt is the CEO and co-founder of Yatakhayaloon Co. Ltd., specialising in Arabian Science Fiction and Fantasy books, and the author of Yaqteenya.

All materials provided.

Children’s sessions

Join Ali to celebrate the launch of his new book, The Answers, exclusively at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. Ali will satisfy your curiosity and answer all your questions as he reveals the secrets of Arabian Gulf culture.

Ali Al Saloom – Cultural Consultant, Public figure, columnist, TV host and Environmental Awareness Ambassador – has made it his life’s mission to open a dialogue between Gulf nationals and the rest of the world.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

87

PLC – DEMY 138mmx222mm SPECIALS

From award-winning Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II cameraman Gavin Thurston comes extraordinary true stories of what it takes to track down and film our planet’s most captivating creatures.

CMYK Matt Seal

STOCK Against a backdrop of civil wars, coups, plane crashes and kidnap attempts, Gavin has lurked in the shadows of some of the world’s remotest places in order to capture footage of the animal kingdom’s finest: prides of lions; silverback gorillas; capuchin monkeys; brown bears; grey whales; penguins; mosquitoes – you name it, he’s filmed it.

White Wiblin Uncoated Stock

From journeys to the deepest depths of the Antarctic Ocean and the wide expanse of the Saharan deserts, to the peaks of the Himalayas and the wild forests of the Congo, Gavin’s experiences describe much more than just the incredible array of animals he’s filmed.

He invites you to come inside the cameraman’s hidden world and discover the hours spent patiently waiting for the protagonists to appear, the inevitable dangers waiting in the wings and the heart-warming, life-affirming moments the cameras miss as well as capture.

GREEN STAGE Between Editors and Art. One run-out then PDF. ART COMPLETE: specials and papers 074 Correct are marked delete all others Make sure all files are CMYK The Working Mind and Drawing Credits Barcode Hand of Oliver Jeffers Price EDITOR CHECK:

023 Mitch Albom: Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family

www.orionbooks.co.uk

18:00 - 19:00 Logos Web addresses Adult | English | AED 59 Credit Price Barcode Format Spine

£16.99 US $26.99 CAN $34.99

Cover design & illustration by LJS/Orion Books

06 Journeys in the Wild PLC.indd 1

18:00 - 19:00 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 New York Times bestselling author Mitch Albom shares his extraordinary insights into life, and celebrates the orphan who forever changed his heart.

Chika Jeune was born three days before Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010.

Aged three, she arrived at the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage that the Alboms operate.

Diagnosed as terminally ill aged five, Chika became a permanent part of their lives as they embarked on a journey to find a cure.

Poignant and vulnerable, Finding Chika is the devastatingly beautiful portrait of what it means to be a family, regardless of how it is made.

Saturday 8 February

073 Gavin Thurston: Journeys in the Wild: The Secret Life of a Cameraman

17/06/2019 15:03

18:00 - 19:00 Adult | English | AED 59 Gavin Thurston is a BAFTA award-winning wildlife cameraman who has worked on seventeen of Sir David Attenborough’s series, including Blue Planet II, Planet Earth II and Our Planet. In Journeys in the Wild he reveals the extraordinary adventures and true stories of tracking down and filming the world’s most captivating creatures.

Come inside the cameraman’s hidden world and discover the astonishing sights; the hours spent patiently waiting; the inevitable dangers; and the life-affirming moments the cameras miss as well as capture.

Publishing sessions

Acclaimed visual artist and author Oliver Jeffers’ world is a unity of curiosity and humour. While investigating the ways the human mind understands its world, his work also functions as comic relief in the face of futility.

Join Oliver for his thoughts on storytelling, picture making, and navigating the world around us. He will guide us through a brief history of his fine art practice and picture books, his social commentary, and how each often cross-references and influences one another.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

072 Clare Mackintosh: After the End 18:00 - 19:00 Adult | English | AED 59 The bestselling author of I Let You Go returns with a powerful and emotional exploration of love, marriage, parenthood and the road not taken in After the End. Max and Pip are more than just a couple; they’re best friends. But then their son gets sick and the doctors put the question of his survival into their hands. For the first time, Max and Pip can’t agree. They each want a different future for Dylan.

Discussing her profoundly perceptive novel, Clare Mackintosh helps us see that sometimes the end is just another beginning.

Children’s sessions

065 Gained in Translation: Hassan Al matrooshi, Jan Dost & Khalid Al Naserallah 18:30 - 19:30 Adult | Arabic with sim. English translation | AED 59 Translated novels are gaining increasing attention as they offer the delight of discovering new cultures, draw people of the world closer and promote cultural diversity.

This session will discuss what we gain from translation, and whether the rising demand for books translated from English comes at the expense of other languages.

Kuwaiti author Khalid Al Naserallah is co-founder of Dar Nova for Publishing & Distribution and Dar Al-Khan for Publishing and Distribution and specialises in translating international literature into Arabic.

Jan Dost is a Syrian novelist and translator, and author of Asheeq the Translator and The Bells of Rome. Among his most famous translations is The Epic of Mem and Zin written by the famous Kurdish poet Ahmad Khani.

Hassan Al matrooshi is an award-winning Omani poet, translator and journalist who has translated a number of books on English.

Prize giving

Adult sessions

083 The Poetryhood Presents 19:00 - 20:30 Adult | English | FREE The Poetryhood brings you an evening of powerful and honest performances with a fun, laid-back vibe where Spoken Word artists share their creativity in a safe-haven of vulnerability and truth.

Featuring: Alysia Knowles Danabelle Gutierrez Farah Chamma Hakeem Kemet Jamil Adas Maher Gidwani Namal Siddiqui Osama Al Husseini Suhaib Alises Yazeed Makhlouf Come and experience the joy of this poetry community founded by Jamil Adas, and be reminded that poetry is indeed for everyone.

Full line-up to be announced.

All ages

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043 Legends in their Own Time: Bettany Hughes & Jonathan Phillips 19:30 - 20:30 Adult | English with sim. Arabic translation | AED 59 What did historical heroes and legends mean to the people of their time? When we invoke the name of Saladin or refer to the Roman pantheon, who are we really discussing? Our panel has been digging – sometimes literally – into the past to find out.

Bettany Hughes’ bestselling books and TV series cover historical topics including Socrates, Helen of Troy, Istanbul and ancient Egypt. Her new book Venus & Aphrodite examines the Roman & Greek deities’ complicated roots.

Jonathan Phillips’ latest title is The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin. As Professor of History of the Crusades at Royal Holloway University of London, he researches the legacy of the Crusades in East and West.

Saturday 8 February

089 Where Does Literary Criticism Stand Today?: Ali AlShaali, Reem Al Kamali & Hussain Al Mutawaa

067 Luke Jennings: Killing Eve 19:30 - 20:30 Adult | English | AED 59 The TV series Killing Eve and the novels which gave rise to it – Codename Villanelle and No Tomorrow – have taken the world by storm.

Author Luke Jennings shares how he created his psychopathic anti-heroine and elite female assassin, Villanelle, and her nemesis, Eve, the MI6 agent tasked with hunting her down.

Jennings digs deep into what it takes for a hero and villain to coexist as protagonists in a thrilling, obsessive duel, and reveals his thoughts on his novels’ adaptations from book to screen.

Publishing sessions

19:30 - 20:30 Adult | Arabic | AED 59 Does literature today focus on quantity over quality? Does an author’s success depend solely on book sales? What is the role of literary criticism in the cultural scene? Is there an inverse relationship between literary works and criticism?

Ali AlShaali is an Emirati author, poet and founding director of Al Hudhud Publishing and Distribution.

Hussain Al Mutawaa is a writer and photographer from Kuwait, whose children’s novel, I Dream of Being a Concrete Mixer, won a Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2019.

Reem Al Kamali is an Emirati writer and journalist, and the author of Sultanate of Hurmoz and The Dalma Statue.

Workshops and Masterclasses

Special events

Literary Crossword Answers

068 Markus Zusak: Bridge of Clay

Page. 111

20:00 - 21:00 Adult I English with sim. Arabic translation I AED 59 After a thirteen-year wait, Markus Zusak bring us his sweeping new masterpiece, Bridge of Clay. The storyteller who gave us the extraordinary bestseller The Book Thief is back to tell the tale of five brothers coming of age, and what it takes to build a family back together in a house with no rules.

At the centre is Clay, a boy who will build a bridge – for his family, for his past, for greatness, for his sins, for a miracle. But how far is he willing to go?

Lauded by the New York Times as “the kind of book that can be life-changing”, Zusak discusses honour, greatness and loss.

087 Green Sheikh: Earth’s Enrichment 20:00 - 21:00 Adult | Arabic with sim. English translation | AED 59 Do you feel helpless hearing about the environmental crises that threaten future generations, and guilty about our lack of action? Do these challenges seem unmanageable? Have you wondered about the role of individuals and communities in preserving our environment?

Don’t miss Green Sheikh’s session, which provides an in-depth discussion on how to adopt a lifestyle that respects and preserves the environment and contributes to building a sustainable future.

Across: 1. Greene, 4. Ursa, 8. Stared, 9.

Campbell, 10. Franken, 12. Alfreda, 14.

Charlotte, 15. Romeo, 18. Brown, 20.

Big Dipper, 23. Shelley, 25. Medleys, 27. Civilian, 28. Jackal, 29. Firm, 30. Herman.

Down: 1. Gardner, 2. End, 3. Nick, 4. Umberto, 5. Salad, 6. St Arthur, 7. Emily, 11. Eros, 13. Stein, 16. Everyman, 17. Adie, 19.

William, 21. Pelican, 22. Devil, 24.

Heidi, 26. Anne, 28. Jim. Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

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DUBAI OPERA

122

En

Festival Finale: Tomorrow

Sunday 9 February

Sunday 9 February 122 Festival Finale: Tomorrow 19:00 - 21:00 All ages | Arabic/English | From AED 99 Join the Festival for our charity finale event – an extravaganza of music, poetry and readings in support of Dubai Cares’ programmes for child refugees across the region.

From renowned poets and writers to a children’s choir performing Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo – the extraordinary story of refugee Nujeen Mustafa – enjoy an inspiring evening of exceptional performances and the best of the Festival.

Take a journey to a better Tomorrow through home, hope and harmony while raising funds for those most in need.

Featuring: Bettany Hughes Cecilia McDowall Chris Read Farah Chamma Harry Baker Kevin Crossley-Holland Markus Zusak Nujeen Mustafa Onjali Q. Raúf Ziauddin and Toor Pekai Yousafzai and more.

Full line-up to be announced soon.

All proceeds will go to Dubai Cares and tickets are priced from AED 99 to AED 799. If you are able to donate more, please select a higher ticket price to enable us to support more child refugees.

Children’s sessions

Prize giving

Adult sessions

All ages

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Authors & Speakers Abdelillah Benarafa

HH Sheikh Dr Abdulaziz Al Nuaimi

Aby Sam Thomas

Adam Rutherford

Afra Atiq

Dr Alamira Reem Bani Hashim

Alexander McNabb

Ali Al Saloom

Ali AlShaali

Allison K Williams

Alwyn Hamilton

Amal Farah

Amel Alali

Anna Roberts

Annabel Kantaria

Anne Buist

April Hardy

Arundhathi Subramaniam

Bettany Hughes

Bev James

Bodour Al Qasimi

Brandy Scott

Carlos Andrés Gómez

Cecilia McDowall

Sir Chris Bonington

Chris Read

Christina Dalcher

Christopher Lloyd

Clare Mackintosh

Coach Kardan

Danabelle Gutierrez

Daniela Tully 95

David Heard CBE

Dawn Metcalfe

Delna Prakashan

Dubai Abulhoul

Edna Adan Ismail

Eleanor Hooker

Elisabetta Dami

Esi Edugyan

Farah Ali

Farah Chamma

Fatima Bhutto

Fatima Sharafeddine

Fiona Ross

Frank Dullaghan

Gavin Thurston

Geronimo Stilton

Grace E Salem

Graeme Simsion

Greg Mosse

Hafsa Lodi

Hamad Al-Yahyai

Harry Baker

Hassan Al matrooshi

Hazzaa AlMansoori

Henry Firth

Hind Shoufani

Hoda Barakat

Hussain Al Mutawaa

Ian Theasby

Ibrahim Ahmed Alshami

Iman Ben Chaibah

Inaam Kachachi

Jamal Al Shehhi

Jamal Bin Huwaireb

Jamil Adas

Jan Dost

Jane Goodall

Jeannie Baker

Jeetendr Sehdev

Jeremy Hunter

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Jessica Jarlvi

Jokha Alharthi

Jonathan Phillips

Jonathan Yabut

Joshua Raven

Julia Johnson

Justin Marozzi

Karen Osman

Kate Hindley

Kate Humble

Kevin Crossley-Holland

Khalid Al Hosani

Khalid Al Naserallah

Khalifa Almherzi

Laila Abdullah

Lesley Hazelton

Linwood Barclay

Lucy Strange

Luigi Bonomi

Luke Jennings

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock

Magic Phil

Mai Jia

Maria Dadouch

Marie Dullaghan

Marilyn Booth

Mark Fiddes

Markus Zusak

Martin Kiszko

Eng Maryam Al Blooshi

Maryam Al Serkal

Mashal Waqar

Maz Evans

Miriam Lancewood

Mitch Albom

Mohamad Alattar

Assistant Expert HE Mohammed Dr Mohamed Mohammad Sulaiman Qasem Al Murr Al Dhawyani

Mohammed Hanif 97

HE Major General Expert Psychologist Mohammed Mohammed Eisa Ahmed Al Marri Al Hammadi

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Omar Khalifa

Omar Sabbagh

Rania Zaghir

Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Reem Al Kamali

Rehan Khan

Roudha Al Marri

Rui Cóias

Nadiya Hussain

Nick Cochrane-Dyet

Nujeen Mustafa

Oliver Jeffers

Omaima Alkhamis

HE Omar Saif Ghobash

Onjali Q. Raúf

Dr Parag Khanna

Peter Dale

Porter Anderson

Rachael Lynn

Professor Rafia Ghubash

Raouf Karray

Rasha Al-Duwaisan

Roma Agrawal

Ross Collins

Santa Montefiore

Sara Sadik

Name

The Readers’ Majlis Collective

Saeed Al Gergawi

Salem AlMarri

Salha Obied

Dr Sanduk Ruit

Sara-Jane Arbury

Shamma Al Bastaki

Sheila Crowley

Simar Halwany

Stuart Turton

Sultan AlNeyadi

Tamsin Winter

Tareq Imam

Tayari Jones

Gelong Thubten

Dr Tony Juniper CBE

Toor Pekai Yousafzai

Wendy Holden

Yasmina Jraissati

Dr Yasar Jarrar

Yasser M Bahjatt

Zanib Mian

Zeina Hashem Beck

Ziauddin Yousafzai

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Moderators & Hosts Adeeb Nami

Alex Broun

Allison K Williams

Amandeep Bhangu

Annabel Kantaria

Antonina GrunskaGokdeniz

Bilal Orfali

Brandy Scott

Charles Nahhas

Christopher Bradley

Ciarán Kelly

David Perry

Dawn Metcalfe

Ahmad Belhoul

Ehsan Parham Al Awadhi

Elham Alqasim

Eithne Treanor

Gamze Hakli Geray

Georgia Tolley

Hafsa Hariga

Hani Yakan

Hazem Ibrahim

Ibrahim Ustadi

Iman Ben Chaibah

Jamil Adas

Jenin Al Shalabi

Joan Scott-Minter

Jonathan Siklos

Julia Wheeler

Kevin Hasler

Khalifa Bin Sobeih Al Suwaidi

Kira Jean

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Lamya Tawfik

Maán Jalal

Manal Omar

Mark Lomas

Mashal Waqar

Mish’al Eskander

Mohammed Alhebsi

Mohammed N. Al Khan

Najwa Yassir

Naouel Chaoui

Peter Hellyer

Peyman Parham Al Awadhi

Porter Anderson

Rachel Hamilton

Rachel McArthur

Rehan Khan

Richard Dean

Riz Khan

Robert Mitchell

Safia Mohammad Al Shehi

Salha Obied

Sally Mousa

Sara Hamdan

Tamara Clarke

Turki Al Zaabi

Tyler Davis-Smith

Wendy Holden

Zeina Hashem Beck 101

Main Sponsors Title Sponsor - Emirates is the world’s largest international airline, connecting travellers to destinations across six continents.

For more information please visit www.emirates.com

In partnership with - Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated entity for culture, arts and heritage. The Authority’s efforts aim to celebrate the city’s rich identity for local audience and enhance its position globally.

Dubai Culture’s various initiatives and projects encourage, nurture, and build UAE talent across all disciplines of arts and culture including visual arts, performing arts, film, and literature. www.dubaiculture.gov.ae Sustainability Partner - Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) was formed on 1 January, 1992, by a decree issued by the late Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum to merge Dubai Electricity Company and Dubai Water Department, which had been operating independently before then. Both organisations were established by the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum in 1959. Dubai Government fully supported the Electricity Company and the Water Department to provide Dubai’s citizens and residents with a continuous and reliable supply of electricity and water. Since then, DEWA has made considerable achievements, to be ranked as one of the best utilities in the world. DEWA provides services today to more than 900,000 customers with a happiness rate that reached 95% in 2018.

Official Banking Partner - Emirates NBD is a leading banking Group in the region with a significant retail banking franchise in the UAE. It is a major player in the UAE corporate and retail banking arena and has strong Islamic Banking, Global Markets & Treasury, Investment Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management and Brokerage operations. The Group is an active participant and supporter of the UAE’s main development and community initiatives, and the official premier partner of EXPO 2020.

Day Sponsor - Founded on 20th December 1983, Dubai Duty Free has grown to become one of the leading airport retailers in the world.

Employing 6,100 people, the operation has consistently raised the benchmark for airport retailing and it continues to grow. Dubai Duty Free currently operates over 38,000sqm of retail space at Dubai International Airport and 2,500sqm Al Maktoum International Airport.

Dubai Duty Free is proud to be a long-standing supporter of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.

Communication Partner - Operating under the steadfast umbrella of Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), du is an integral driver of the UAE’s economic, social and digital transformation. Thriving on digitally innovating all facets of the contemporary telecom experience, we touch the lives of millions of customers everyday as a dedicated enabler of connectivity, continuity and growth across consumer and enterprise segments. Whether delivering state-of-theart Smart City infrastructure, bespoke enterprise ICT solutions, government communications, secure data solutions, or the very best in home entertainment and value, we are a reliable telco and ICT player shaping the future of communication for a more connected tomorrow.

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Sponsor - With the ultimate vision of positioning Dubai as the world’s leading tourism destination and commercial hub, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing’s (DTCM) mission is to increase the awareness of Dubai to global audiences and to attract tourists and inward investment into the Emirate.

Knowledge Partner - MBRF was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai in May 2007. MBRF aims to develop knowledge and human capabilities in the Arab world by focusing on three strategic sectors which are knowledge, education and entrepreneurship.

Business Days and Innovation Strand Sponsor - Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) is the principal investment arm of the Government of Dubai. ICD is mandated with the consolidation and management of the Government of Dubai’s portfolio of commercial companies and investments, including some of Dubai’s most recognized companies.

Sponsor - The U.S. Consulate aims to strengthen the US-UAE partnership through a variety of exchanges, educational initiatives, and cultural programming—including arts, literature, film, and music—to highlight our shared values.

Publishing Day Sponsor - Sharjah was named 2019 World Book Capital (SWBC) by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in recognition of the emirate’s continuous efforts in promoting books and literacy locally, regionally and globally. The SWBC celebrations began on World Book and Copyright Day, and includes a wide range of cultural events and initiatives based on six principles: Unifying Communities, Fostering Knowledge, Honouring Heritage, Empowering Children and Youth, Raising Awareness, and Developing Publishing Industries.

Session Sponsor - With a mission to advance health in the UAE and the region through an innovative and integrated academic health system, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees through its colleges, Hamdan Bin Mohammed College of Dental Medicine (HBMCDM), The College of Nursing and Midwifery, and the College of Medicine.

The College of Medicine offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs, the Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences. The Hamdan Bin Mohammed College of Dental Medicine (HBMCDM) offers a range of specialty postgraduate dentistry programs, in Endodontics, Orthodontics, Pediatric Dentistry, Prosthodontics and Periodontics. The College of Nursing and Midwifery offers two postgraduate programs, a Master of Science in Cardiovascular Nursing and a Master of Science in Pediatric Nursing.

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Poetry Award Sponsor - Taaleem, which means ‘education’ in Arabic, is committed to inspiring students and helping them to identify and develop their passions and talents. We are one of the largest premium education providers in the United Arab Emirates and our main activity is the development and management of early childhood, primary and secondary schools.

We offer top international curricula including British, American, the International Baccalaureate and our multi-lingual, custom early childhood programme. Taaleem is committed to providing world class education and raising standards for all in the region.

Readers’ Cup Sponsor - Chevron is delighted to continue its support of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. Our partnership with this great literary initiative is part of Chevron’s commitment to educational communities of interest all over the world. We hope all enjoy this wonderful celebration of literature in all its forms and for all ages.

Sponsor - The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We work with over 100 countries in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Last year we reached over 80 million people directly and 791 million people overall including online, broadcasts and publications. We make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive a 15 per cent core funding grant from the UK government. britishcouncil.org Session Sponsor - The International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) is one of the Arab world’s most prestigious literary prizes. Its aim is to reward excellence in contemporary Arabic writing and to encourage the readership of quality Arabic literature internationally through the translation and publication of winning and shortlisted novels in other major languages. The Prize, which is now in its 13th year, is sponsored by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) and is run with the support of the Booker Prize Foundation in London.

Story Corner Sponsor - As the largest global trade publishing house we work with a range of brilliant and dedicated writers producing books that are second to none. This includes 70 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely-read and best-loved authors and brands. From impossible to put down thrillers to children’s classics, our passion at Penguin Random House UK is to publish the best stories to help readers discover books they will love.

F&B Sponsor - Pursuing a vision to make Dubai the world’s leading destination for all major exhibitions, conferences and events, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has evolved from being the forerunner of the fast-growing exhibitions industry into a multi-dimensional business catalyst that has propelled Dubai’s meteoric rise to a leading global economic powerhouse.

Hosting more than 500 events annually, DWTC welcomes over 3.3 million international visitors to some of the most acclaimed trade fairs, blockbuster events and prestigious international conferences, offering over 1.3 million square feet (122,000 square metres) of covered and flexible event space.

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Debate and Children’s Reading Group Sponsor - Costa Coffee proudly sponsors The Costa Debate at the 12th Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2020.

Enjoy delicious handcrafted Coffee and food in 150 Costa Coffee locations throughout the UAE.

Writing Prize Sponsor - Montegrappa is Italy’s oldest manufacturer of luxury writing instruments. Operating since 1912 in the same historic building, Montegrappa produces hand crafted works of art that celebrate mankind’s mastery of the written word.

Story Writing Competition Sponsor - Oxford University Press is the world’s authority on the English language. As part of the University of Oxford we are committed to furthering education worldwide. We continuously bring together our experience, expertise and research to create resources, helping millions of learners of English to achieve their potential.

C: 64 M: 56 Y: 55 K: 31

Official Bookseller - Since 1975, Magrudy’s has become a central part of Dubai life. Although our flagship Jumeirah store remains the “spiritual home” of Magrudy’s and is still visited by the same customers who shopped with us as children – we have branched out in the UAE and currently operate in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. Being a family-run business with the needs of the local community always in mind, our books are complemented by a wide range of toys, stationery, greeting cards, arts & crafts materials, as well as school uniforms. Our stores are welcoming and interesting places to browse and explore and we pride ourselves on offering outstanding customer service.

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Partners

Media Partners

Government Partners

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Social and Cultural Programme Partners

Supporters

FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC

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Festival Fast Facts Cancellations Accessibility

Bookshop

The Festival aims to be accessible to all. The venue offers valet parking as well as accessible parking spaces, flat terrain from parking to entrance, and wheelchair access to all levels.

There are wheelchair accessible restrooms on both levels. Our volunteers will be happy to guide wheelchair users inside the venue and within the session rooms. If you require additional assistance, please contact us.

Our Festival bookseller for 2020 is Magrudy’s.

The Magrudy’s book shop will be set up in the InterContinental lobby throughout the Festival, offering you a chance to buy books by all the Festival authors on site.

If the unforeseeable happens and a session is cancelled, we will contact ticket holders as soon as possible by email and arrange for an exchange or ticket refund.

Contact If you have any questions you can contact the Festival team on tickets@emirateslitfest.com.

Booking information Accommodation There is no shortage of accommodation choices in Dubai. There is the Festival’s home, the InterContinental in Festival City, the adjacent Crowne Plaza, and a multitude of other options just a short taxi ride away.

Take a look at your favourite booking site or visitdubai.com for more information and inspiration.

Book signing The majority of sessions will be followed by a book signing. This is your chance to meet the author and have a book signed. Please note the authors will only sign books, and some authors will have a limit for the number of books they will sign per person.

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Online booking is available 24/7 on our website emirateslitfest.com/shop. Tickets will be emailed to you and can be scanned from a mobile device at the venue, so there is no need to print.

Other options include: Before the Festival You can buy tickets from your local Magrudy’s store.

You can also buy tickets in person from the Emirates Literature Foundation, Dar Al Adaab, Al Shindagha Historical Neighborhood, Dubai.

Please call +971 4 355 9844 to check office opening times.

Tickets on-site For the duration of the Festival you can buy tickets from the Festival Box Office in the venue lobby. Please bear in mind there can be long queues so do allow enough time to purchase your tickets before your session starts.

Food and drink With so much on offer, there is something to suit every appetite, taste and budget.

• The Festival Café serves salads, lights snacks, coffee and treats.

• The outdoor Creekside food retailers dish out international street food and childfriendly meals.

• InterContinental Dubai - Festival City and Crowne Plaza hotels are great for bistros, cafés and fine dining.

• The nearby Festival City Mall offers hundreds of fast-food outlets and restaurants with cuisine from around the world.

Foundation Friends lounge Become a Foundation Friend and gain access to the members-only Foundation Friends lounge at the Festival; the perfect place to relax and enjoy refreshments between sessions.

Gift vouchers Family information The Festival is the ultimate destination for the whole family! This is what you need to know to make the most of your visit.

Age limits Throughout our programme you will find age recommendation on all sessions for children.

These are intended as a guide only. You know your child and what they will enjoy. If you have any questions about suitability you can always ask our team.

Baby changing There are baby-changing facilities available at the venue.

Family spaces The Festival has fantastic dedicated areas for families with children. Don’t miss the Festival Fringe where you will find free sessions and performances, play areas and fun activations. The Penguin Random House Story Corner will host a number of free readings and craft activities, while the Creekside food trucks offer delicious options for all.

Tickets Any child over the age of two needs their own seat and their own ticket.

Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied at all times by a responsible adult. Adult companions need their own tickets to all paid sessions, including children’s events. The only exception is workshops for young children, to which the adult does not need a separate ticket which will be noted in the programme.

Gift vouchers for Festival tickets or for annual Foundation Friend memberships make the ideal birthday present or seasonal gift. The vouchers can be redeemed online or at the Box Office. Visit our website for more information emirateslitfest.com/offers/festival-offers/ gift-vouchers/.

Meeting point and daily updates Head to the Giant Bookmark at the lobby level to check the notice board for any schedule updates and room changes. It is also a great place to arrange to meet friends.

Programme updates The schedule is subject to change, and authors and sessions are sometimes added or removed after the main programme has gone to print.

Our website is the place for all the latest updates. These will be listed online, but follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to keep up-to-date with the latest additions.

Refunds and exchanges All sales are final. Tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable.

Please note that session speakers and the content of sessions are subject to change.

Refunds and exchanges are only offered if the session is cancelled.

Sessions Most sessions last an hour, followed by author book signings. We do our utmost to ensure sessions start on time and give access to the venues 10-30 minutes before the start time.

Latecomers may be admitted at a suitable break in the session.

Getting there The Festival is spread over a number of venues, with the main part of the programme taking place at the InterContinental, Dubai Festival City.

Public transport Festival City is accessible by public transport and only a five-minute bus journey from the Emirates Metro Station (Red Line), using the F08 or 064A buses.

You can also take the metro to Creek Metro Station, which is only a minute away from the new Al Jaddaf Marine Transport Station.

From here the air-conditioned Abra will take you to Dubai Festival City in six minutes for only AED 2.

Driving directions Festival City is a short drive from downtown Dubai. Take the E44 (Al Khail road) going north from Jebel Ali. Following signs for Business Bay Crossing / D71. Keep right on the bridge and follow signs for Festival City.

As you get closer you will see signs for the hotels.

Parking Parking is available at the InterContinental or at Dubai Festival City Mall.

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Literary Crossword Non-cryptic clues

Cryptic clues

Across.

Across.

1. Author of Our Man in Havana (6).

4. ____ Major, the Plough (4).

8. Looked intently at something (6).

9. Maker of condensed soup (8).

10, 13d. Eponymous character created by Mary 23a (one word) (12).

12. _______ Enwy, author of Love Deal and Breaking My Heart (7).

14, 7, 26. One of three Bronte sisters (9,5,4).

15. Juliet’s betrothed (5).

18. Author of The Da Vinci Code (5).

20. A scary fairground ride (alternative name for 4a) (3,6).

23. Percy Bysshe, _______, romantic poet (7).

25. Collections, usually of songs (7).

27. Someone not in the armed service or police (8).

28. The Day of the ______, by F. Forsyth (6).

29. The ______, legal-based novel by John Grisham (4).

30. First name of Moby Dick’s creator (6).

1. Signal to go east for Brighton rock manufacturer (6).

4.Major and minor stars light up the night (4).

8. Looked closely at goats possibly? (6).

9.Effeminate Bronte pseudonym found on soup tins (8).

10. Open font size in Alsace commune (7).

12. Miss Enwy named by Great king before first of August (7).

14. Bronte’s favourite dessert? (9).

15. Romantic figure is NATO’s rubbishy head (5).

18. Chesterton’s colourful father (5).

20. Seven star 4a major fairground attraction (3.6).

23. This Mary was responsible for 10, 13 (7).

25. In Leeds my change brings complications (7).

27. Polite Mr Rankin is out of service (8).

28. Forsyth’s Dog Day (6).

29. Steadfast company for John Grisham (4).

30. Cher manages to contain Mr Melville (6).

Down.

Down.

1. Erle Stanley ______, creator of Perry Mason (7) 2. The finish or conclusion of something or someone (3).

3. A small cut, or slang term for prison (4).

4. _______ Eco, Italian author (7).

5. Dish of mixed summer greens etc (5).

6. Martyred at Glastonbury in 1539 (2,6).

7. See 14 (5).

11. Greek God of love (4).

13. Cornish TV chef (5).

16. An ordinary, typical (male) human being (9).

17. Kate ______, journalist and Festival favourite (4).

19. Prince Harry’s elder brother (7).

21. Water bird with enormous bill (7).

22. Angel’s opposite (5).

24. ______ Klum, German model, TV personality, designer, etc (5).

26. See 14 (4) 28. ______ Hawkins, hero of Treasure Island (3).

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1. Authors Howard Earl and Erle Stanley both regard nerve centre as place to dwell. (7).

2. Howard’s demise (3).

3.Pinch Mr Hornby (4).

4.Ochre pigment leads to signor Eco (7).

5.Shakespeare’s youthful days make summer dish (5).

6.Sanctified Pendragon? (2,6).

7.Zola swaps direction for unknown Bronte (5).

11. Terribly sore god? (4).

13. Rick’s Teutonic drinking vessel (5).

16. Ordinary character from each island (8).

17. Bad idea for Kate? (4).

19. Just a naughty boy for Shakespeare (7).

21. _______ Brief crossing bird (7).

22. Five hundred live up to underworld boss (5).

24. Greeting includes Islamic celebration for Alpine girl (5).

26. Queen completes 7 and 14 sisterhood (4).

28. Lucky Lord exercises here, we hear (3).

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Answers on page 91

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