Dubai: With 2016 pronounced as the Year of Reading by the country’s leaders, the eighth edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is putting a special emphasis on the habit, along with local traditions and William Shakespeare, in honour of the famous bard’s 400th anniversary.
More than 150, poets, illustrators and thinkers are featured in this year’s festival, which is scheduled to run for an unprecedented 12-day period, from March 1 to 12.
“Each year the Festival evolves to embrace new ideas, appreciate perspectives on literature and celebrate the traditional forms we hold so dear,” Isobel Abulhoul, CEO and trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation and director of the Festival, said in a press conference at Intercontinental Hotel in Festival City on Monday.
Abulhoul said the huge array of talent and topics that is being covered this year has prompted them to extend the length of the Festival “and do justice to the most diverse programme yet”.
The festival is the first international literary event of the Year of Reading, an initiative declared by UAE President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and supported by the Festival’s patron, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
To highlight the initiative, the festival has commissioned a survey to capture and track the reading habits of Dubai’s schoolchildren. One of the initial findings from the first phase of the survey shows that more than half of the children taking part said that they wished they had more time in the day to read.
“Today’s children have a bewildering range of activities to choose from in their leisure time so it is heartening to see that reading for pleasure is still high on the agenda,” Abulhoul said. “Parents should be mindful that many children would like more time to indulge their love of reading, but find it hard to do so as their days are so packed. More than anything we need parents to be involved in their children’s reading habits.
“Surveys show that more than half of the children who are read to by their parents or see their parents read, prefer the habit more than watching television or surfing the net,” Abulhoul said, “which goes to show that to make our children read we have to make parents pick up the habit too.”
Saeed Al Nabouda, acting director-general of the Dubai Culture, said: “The festival marks the beginning of the Dubai Art Season, which celebrates the artistic, cultural and literary diversity of our city, and the strong intercultural dialogue that we promote through various initiatives. Dubai Culture has been extending its support to the festival over the past seven years, and we are delighted that it has now evolved as one of the most anticipated and widely attended literary events in the region.”
Special Events
Spotlight on the Emirates is a brand new segment from March 1-3, focusing on the UAE and its history and culture, with a number of renowned Emirati literary stars along with sessions paying tribute to the literary culture of the UAE.
New for 2016 is the first ever Literary Cruise, an evening to remember with philosopher A.C. Grayling who will discuss the importance of literature, while sailing along the Dubai Creek, against the extraordinary backdrop of the historic buildings lining the banks.
Shakespeare
This year is Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary and Steven Berkoff, renowned screen and theatre personality, will be bringing his critically acclaimed play, Shakespeare’s Villains, to the UAE for the first time, and thespians Meera Syal and Robert Lindsay, known for their versatile TV roles and their work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, will be paying tribute to the Bard.
The Sonnet Exchange is an international project celebrating Shakespeare’s poetry and the festival will feature award-winning contemporary poets Imtiaz Dharker and Khalid Albudoor who will be performing their poetic responses inspired by the bard’s sonnets. In addition to these, students can also enjoy Shakespeare screenings and talks by thespian Fiona Lindsay, brought to the festival by Digital Theatre.
