Dubai: Getting children into the habit of reading for pleasure is a mission for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, which officially launched its seventh edition on Monday.
Another year of celebrating the written and spoken word and bringing together acclaimed authors from around the globe, the five-day festival will take place in Dubai from March 3 to March 7, 2015 under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The festival, part of the Emirates Literature Foundation, is being held in partnership with Emirates airline and the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.
In an event on Monday, organisers of the festival revealed the author line-up for the seventh year and said that there will be more than 120 best-selling and celebrity authors and other literary figures visiting the festival, giving residents and visitors an opportunity to interact with them and attend workshops, literary sessions and debates led by them.
Isobel Abulhoul, the festival’s director, who is expecting large crowds of people from around the region to visit the festival “due to its ability to appeal across nationalities, languages and across genres”, said that the theme chosen this time will be ‘Wonder Land’ for a reason.
“We live in a wonderland, this amazing city of Dubai which is home to the tallest buildings in the world, where newly created islands can be viewed from space and where dreams become real. In terms of literature, wonderland is a place you go to when you read...”
She said that through the festival, which has made an impact internationally and has been voted for two consecutive years as the best festival in the Middle East, children are being encouraged to start reading for pleasure.
“We have a particular emphasis on children because if we succeed at getting them to read for pleasure, they will read for life. We are trying to capture them and we have organised a strong children’s programme at the festival for this reason.”
It was also announced that there will be special events and sessions which include staged shows and illustrations. Also, aspiring writers will have a chance to have their work reviewed by renowned authors.
Doctor Salah Al Qasim, Adviser to the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, said the festival has achieved great success in such a small period of time and as a world-class event it has “enhanced the reading culture in the city and facilitated greater appreciation for literature and the written word”.
He also said that, most importantly, it has encouraged people to pursue their passion for reading and writing.
Among the award-winning and best-selling authors visiting the festival are Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Egyptian writer Nawal Al Saadawi, genre-defying author Jasper Fforde, Mohsin Hamid, who won critical acclaim for How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, and David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas, which was adapted into a star-studded film.
Other authors include children’s writer and author of WarHouse Michael Morpurgo, Graeme Simsion, whose first novel, The Rosie Project, became an instand worldwide success leading to an equally successful sequel and award-winning author of The book Thief, Markus Zusak.
Tickets for the festival will go on sale on January 15, 2015. Festival ‘friends’ who took membership in the festival, will have exclusice access to tickets on January 8.
