Author Atwood's withdrawal from literature festival 'disappointing'

Dubai: Canadian author Margaret Atwood's decision to withdraw from UAE's first international literature festival starting later this month was 'regrettable', said a senior executive of the festival on Thursday.

"We have tried to contact Atwood asking her to reconsider as we would like to speak directly with her to share the full picture," said Isobel Abulhoul, Director of the Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature (EAIFL), in a statement.

She said the invitation to Atwood was issued in good faith and in tribute to her stature in the literary world. "We very much hope that she may attend a festival in the future as we continue to have great respect for her work," she added.

Atwood has been nominated for the prestigious Booker Prize five times, winning once. She was also the finalist for the Governor General's Award seven times, winning twice. She is the vice president of PEN, a world-wide association of writers, and has been described as a 'scintillating wordsmith'.

Atwood's decision to withdraw from the Festival, which runs between February 26 to March 1, was because of EAIFL's move not to launch British author Geraldine Bedells' book, The Gulf Between Us, at the festival because it could offend local cultural sensitivities. Bedell had described her book as a romantic comedy. It is set in fictional Gulf state and includes a character who is gay.

"In organising any literary festival... one has to take decisions regarding the target audience. Dubai has not changed its social norms, culture or laws," said Abulhoul.

"We are very disappointed and not a little surprised that it has taken so long for anyone to reconsider their position - particularly if this reconsideration is linked to Geraldine Bedell's position which, while communicated to her last September, has come to the public's attention only now and around the publication of her novel," Abulhoul said in a statement about Atwood's decision to withdraw.

More than 65 star authors from 20 countries are expected to take part in the Festival, which hopes to help bridge the gap between the East and West.

"The ambition behind setting up the festival is fuelled by our heartfelt belief in actively engaging and helping to bridge the gap between East and West," said Abulhoul.

"I would hope that anyone informed and interested in the differing cultures around the world would both understand and respect the path we tread in setting up the first festival of this nature in the Middle East," she added.