The 2022 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, one of the top literary festivals in the world and the biggest celebration of stories in the Middle East, will take audiences behind the screen and into the heart of some of the most compelling stories of recent time. Authors of Netflix sensations Bridgerton by Julia Quinn and Chernobyl 1986 by Serhii Plokhy; silver screen smash hit House of Gucci by Sara Gay Forden; the tv show No Music at Al Ahmadi by Mona Al Shammari; and superstar animators Mohammed Saeed Harib, creator of Freej, and Ken Arto, animator of Demon Slayer, are all coming to the Festival, 3-12 February.
The full line-up, which was revealed at an immersive event at Expo 2020 featuring a soulful performance by Emirati singer Arqam, captures the spirit of this year’s Festival theme, ‘Here Comes the Sun’. The majority of sessions will be taking place at its brand new canal-side home for 2022, the Habtoor City Hotels. Other big names in the packed programme include Gary Vaynerchuck, Nadiya Hussain, David Walliams, Iman Mersal, Indra Nooyi, Mark Billingham, Shahad Al Rawi and Omar Saif Ghobash; actor Ben Miller, who starred as Lord Archibald Featherington in Bridgerton, with his latest children’s book; YouTuber Ahmed El Ghandour, aka Al Da7ee7; while master thriller writer David Baldacci will be joining the Festival virtually.
Ahlam Bolooki, director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature said: “It’s exciting to be at the dawn of a new era – one where we are more aware of our connections to each other and the world around us, as is reflected in many of the sessions. We are thrilled to be able to welcome international authors back in person, and brimming with excitement about our new venue, our phenomenal programme, and as always, the unforgettable stories the Festival will give rise to. We have some very special sessions planned for the coming edition, and I am telling everyone to book early because if you blink, you will miss your chance.”
Special events
Audiences can feel the fear at the special ‘Fright Night’, an evening of thrills and chills with sessions paying homage to horror, crime and all things dark. The Fear Factor panel brings together Hanna Alkaf, David Eagleman, Polly Philips and Waleed Owdah, who will be spiralling into the deep dark pits of terror.
Celebrating Charles Dickens’ birthday on 7 February, the Festival invites audiences to Miss Havisham’s Wedding, starring special guest Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, the great-great-great granddaughter of the man himself and author of many books about women in history.
Not to be missed is the magical evening at Expo 2020 Dubai with stars of spoken word, the incomparable Carlos Andrés Gómez and Dubai’s Dr Afra Atiq, accompanied musically by Nashville-based singer/songwriter Brent Shuttleworth.
Performance poetry is always a hugely popular element of the Festival and this year is no exception, with a stellar international cast featuring Nikita Gill, Noor Naga, Queena Bergen and Sascha A Akhtar, joining UAE talents Danabelle Gutierrez, Farah Ali, Zainab Arrefai and Amal Al Sahlawi. The Festival’s signature event, Desert Stanzas, returns with captivating spoken word performances from top artists, set against the atmospheric starlit backdrop.
Fiction
Novelists flying in from across the globe include the hottest new talent Brit Bennet (The Vanishing Half), C Pam Zhang (How Much of These Hills Is Gold), Lucy Foley (The Guest List) and Felicia Yap (Yesterday). There is also crime writing star Mark Billingham, Alka Joshi (The Henna Artist) and renowned author David Grossman, who won the International Booker with A Horse Walks Into a Bar.
Toshikazu Kawaguchi has life-affirming tales of café-based time travel in Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Pakistani actress and model Mira Sethi will be talking about her first book of short stories, Are You Enjoying? and the former Emirates Writing Prize winner Polly Phillips will be here with her debut novel, My Best Friend’s Murder.
The Festival will also host the much anticipated launch of HE Omar Saif Ghobash’s first novel.
Boutros Boutros, Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand at Emirates said: “This year’s theme for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is incredibly fitting with the wonderful opportunities that the event will bring, helping encourage storytelling and in-person conversation, which are at the heart of what makes us human. We’re proud to support an event that gives literature lovers the chance to meet and engage with inspirational authors, and we look forward to helping welcome the star-studded line-up to Dubai. As the title sponsor of the festival, Emirates is committed to supporting the growing cultural, arts and creative industries in Dubai, and we are delighted to bringing people together to discuss some of the biggest issues of our time, and help spread joy and optimism to imagine the world anew.”
The Festival opens on 3 February 2022 with a dedicated Emirati day, and a strong presence throughout the whole of the ten days from writers based in the region.
