Emirates LitFest 2026 spotlights top travel writers

Dubai: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature will mark the 25th anniversary of the Ibn Battuta Prize for Travel Literature in its 2026 edition. Named after the legendary medieval explorer, the award champions travel writing that deepens understanding of people, places and cultures through storytelling.

Today’s travel writers aren’t just collecting stamps or reviewing luxury hotels. Their work is about curiosity, perspective and the pursuit of meaning — and it invites readers to experience the world through someone else’s eyes. Like all great books, travel writing offers a kind of escape: step into a story and you can be anywhere, at any time, in any life.

That spirit runs through the Emirates LitFest 2026 programme, taking place from 21 to 27 January. Here are five standout speakers and adventurers appearing at the Festival:

Thor Pedersen

Some 'firsts' feel out of reach in the modern age — but Thor Pedersen proved otherwise. Ten years ago, he set out to visit every country in the world without flying, completing an extraordinary journey across 203 countries.

Pedersen will discuss his memoir 'The Impossible Journey'.

• Friday, January 23, 4.00–5.00pm

• Tickets: Dh50

Tim Mackintosh-Smith

Arabist, historian, translator and novelist Tim Mackintosh-Smith is one of the leading voices in contemporary travel literature. His writing blends history, culture and lived experience, shaped by four decades spent in the Arab world — much of it in Yemen’s Old City of Sana’a.

He will appear in a session marking the Ibn Battuta Prize, with Nouri Al-Jarrah, Dr Naima Al-Housani and Dr Ahmed Barqawi, exploring what travel means today.

• Saturday, January 24, 2.00–3.00pm

• Tickets: Dh50

Bettany Hughes

Historian, broadcaster and bestselling author Bettany Hughes brings the ancient world to life by tracing history back to the places where it unfolded, from Ancient Greece to the Ottoman Empire.

At Emirates LitFest, she will join Peter Frankopan for A Historian’s Guide to Surviving the 21st Century.

• Saturday, 24 January, 3.00–4.00pm

• Tickets: Dh50

Ibrahim Altehli

Emirati media professional and tourism expert Ibrahim Altehli founded the UAE’s first specialised travel and tourism magazine in 2000. He has travelled to nearly 200 countries, delivered lectures on tourism culture, and received recognition for both photography and contributions to Arab travel media.

In his session Wanderer, he reflects on the moments that make travel meaningful — whether in unfamiliar cities, fleeting encounters or long journeys.

The Arabic conversation with Abdulwahab Alhammadi, moderated by Aloush Alswait, takes place on:

• Sunday, January 25, 1.00–2.00pm

• Tickets: Dh50

Neil Shubin

Palaeontologist and author Neil Shubin has travelled to some of the world’s harshest environments, from Arctic ice to Antarctic storms, in pursuit of discoveries that reshape how we understand life on Earth.

His latest book 'Ends of the Earth', blends science, memoir and travel writing, capturing the risks and rewards of exploration.

• Sunday, January 25, 1.00–2.00pm

• Tickets: Dh50

Dr. Kelly Weinersmith

Science communicator Dr. Kelly Weinersmith looks beyond Earth — combining a love of science fiction with serious research to explore what the future of space travel could hold.

Her session 'Life on Mars' will consider our place in the universe and what comes next for human exploration.

• Sunday, January 25, 5.00–6.00pm

• Tickets: Dh50