The 2022 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature opens its doors on February
The 2022 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, one of the world’s best literary festivals and the Middle East’s biggest celebration of history, will take viewers behind the screen and into the heart of some of the most compelling stories of recent times. Netflix sensations Bridgerton by Julia Quinn and Chernobyl 1986 by Sergei Plokhia, Sarah Gay Forden’s hit “House of Gucci”, Mona Al Shammari’s TV show “No Music in Al Ahmadi”, and superstar animators Mohammed Saeed Harib, creator of Freej, and Ken Artaud, animator of Demon Slayer, will be at the festival from 3-12 February.
The full line-up at the immersive event at Expo 2020, with a heartfelt performance by Emirati singer Arkam, reflects the spirit of this year’s festival theme, ‘The Sun Is Coming’. Most of the events will take place at the new canal-side home of 2022 Habtoor City Hotels.
The festival will open on February 3, 2022 and will focus on Emirati Day and will feature writers from the region throughout the ten days.
Dr Saeed Mubarak bin Harbash, director general of the arts and literature sector at Dubai Culture, expressed the Authority’s commitment to enrich this edition of the festival with a range of activities aimed at celebrating culture and spreading the joy of reading and learning among members of society, especially the younger generation, as well as supporting local and international talent, saying: “We are proud to continue our partnership with the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature on the international stage, which strengthens Dubai’s position as a place for sharing culture and knowledge between people, and as a model for spreading the values of tolerance and peace between different races and cultures. Through this innovative festival, we offer a valuable platform to encourage participation and make literature and culture accessible to all, as well as encourage the younger generation to make reading a daily habit, inspire them and instil creativity in their souls and minds, and empower them to follow the Emirate’s all-round development process.”
Each festival culminates in the announcement of the winner of the Emirates LitFest Writer’s Award. This year there will also be a new event – the announcement of the first batch of writers selected for the First Chapter – The Elf Seddiqi Writers Fellowship, which will put ten talented individuals on the path to success through an international-level mentoring programme.
As always, the festival includes workshops for young and old, creative writing, translation and publishing classes, as well as popular quick pitching and masterclasses with literary agents Luigi and Alison Bonomy and Sheila Crowley.
The festival wraps up the student writing competitions with special ceremonies announcing the winners of the Chevron Readers’ Cup, Emirates NBD Poetry For All, Guildford Royal Grammar School Dubai Children’s Writing Competition and the Story Writing Competition.
As part of the ‘Voices of Future Generations’ competition, the festival will launch a special book featuring the second round winners’ stories on the theme of sustainability.
The long-awaited announcement of the School Librarian of the Year Award will also take place at the festival.
The festival will be held in accordance with all applicable covid regulations, and visitor safety is a top priority.
The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.
For information and updates on the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, please visit: www.emirateslitfest.com.
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