Message from the Festival Director

Excitement is building for the 3rd annual Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. In our last newsletter of 2010, we’re introducing you to an exciting event coming in January and revealing a couple of changes to the festival’s format that will allow a greater variety of literary experiences.

First of all, I’m very pleased to say that we were recently offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get involved in what is sure to be one of 2011’s major publishing events – the mysterious Project X! Find out more below...

The 2011 festival will kick off with two gala evenings, with some of our biggest names taking over our new theatre venue for two nights of serious literary entertainment. We have also introduced a new format for more interactive, intimate sessions, which we have dubbed “Focus On”.

Finally, I would like to say a thank-you to the generous sponsors who have invested in Dubai’s literary festival during tough economic times.

Happy holidays, and happy reading,

Isobel Abulhoul

Festival Director

James Bond is coming to Dubai!

James Bond fans can rejoice as critically acclaimed and international bestselling thriller writer Jeffery Deaver, chosen by the Fleming Estate to write the next James Bond novel, will be returning to Dubai on Tuesday 18th January 2011 for a Bond-inspired Emirates Lit Fest event.

Jeffery Deaver is the author of the new, eagerly-anticipated James Bond novel, which is due to be published on May 28, 2011.  The book is currently known simply as Project X and its plot is a closely guarded secret.  January’s Emirates Litfest event will be Jeff’s first public appearance to discuss Project X. He will be revealing new pieces of information about the book to the audience and sharing his love of all things Bond.

Following the event, fans will have the opportunity to meet the author at a signing session.  And since the new James Bond novel will not be available until May, Jeff has agreed to sign special book plates which can be inserted into the novel when it is released.

Jeffery Deaver’s Bond evening will take place at the stunning 900 seat theatre at Al Mamzar, known as the Dubai Cultural and Scientific Association.  Tickets cost 70dhs for the stalls and 30dhs for the balcony and can be purchased online from www.emirateslitfest.com from 3rd January 2011.

So mark your calendar: January 18th 2011 for this once in a life time event!

New for 2011 - Gala Evenings at DCSA, Al Mamzar

For the third instalment of the festival, we have introduced two new “Gala Evenings” that will take place on the 8th and 9th of March. Some of the world’s best-known writers will appear onstage at the Dubai Cultural and Scientific Association, a new venue boasting a 900 seat theatre complex, which is located  approximately 10 kilometres north of central Dubai on the Al Mamzar Corniche.

The programme for each evening will consist of two headline festival events (one in Arabic and one in English) together with musical performances by the Dubai Sinfonia orchestra. Simultaneous translation will ensure that audience members of all nationalities can enjoy the experience fully.

The first of the two Gala Evenings will take place on 8th March and will be headlined by Michael Palin and Adonis. Michael Palin’s illustrious career has taken him from long-running Monty Python fame, via Hollywood to becoming the world's best loved maker of travel documentaries.  For one night only, Michael will share the stories of his life and times, from Monty Python to his travel documentaries, in a one man show entitled Forty Years Without a Proper Job.  The legendary Syrian poet Adonis needs no introduction.  As a poet, literary critic, translator, and editor, he is a highly influential figure in Arabic poetry and literature today.  He will be reading from his incredible body of work, accompanied by music.

The second Gala Evening on 9th March will open with a rare opportunity to hear from one of the most respected writers of our time, poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist Margaret Atwood. The event will combine readings - in both English and Arabic - with conversation and music.  The second element of the evening will bring together in performance four leading international poets - Simon Armitage, Nathalie Handal, Dha'en Shaheen and Benjamin Zephaniah – celebrating the vibrancy, variety and richness of contemporary poetry around the world.

Tickets for each Gala Evening cost 195 dhs for stalls and 125 for balcony, and and will be available online from 18th January 2011 at www.emirateslitfest.com.

New for 2011 - "Focus On"

We are also proud to announce another new type of session, in a strand we are dubbing “focus on”. These more interactive, intimate sessions will allow festival goers to get closer to their favourite authors - a selection of sessions can be seen below.

Emirati poets Nujoom Al Ghanem and Wael Al Sayegh will discuss the “poetry of the unexpected” and Ali Al Shaali and Khaled Al Budoor look at the place of poetry in the modern Arab world; Amna Al Mansoori and Mariam Al Ghafli look to the future of Emirati fiction writing while Kamal Abdel Malek, Matt Beynon Rees and Jamal Al Shehhi consider the Arabic crime novel. Fatema Al Mazroui and Mohammed Al Murr look into the art of short story writing and Sion Scott-Wilson and Ali Kamal Senan will each introduce their unique approach to writing novels.

Wafa Tarnowska and Steven Butler will both be reading their stories to younger children while Gillian Cross and Jamal Al Shehhi will take a look at writing for young adults.

Outside of the realm of fiction, Pranay Gupte will take a look at Dubai’s journey while James Waterson and Mohammed AS Abdul-Haleem travel further into the past for Islam’s sacred swords. Graeme Gibson will meanwhile take us on a different sort of journey into the facts and mythology of birds and beasts. Literary agent Toby Eady will talk about bringing international publishing communities closer together to challenge “the frozen curiosity of the West”, and Hani Soubra will examine how dialogue can unravel the tangled problems of Lebanon and the wider Middle East.

A HUGE thank-you to our sponsors and supporters!

Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is an annual not-for-profit event and sponsorship is integral to the success of the festival. We believe that we have managed to achieve so much in so little time because of the generous contributions and valuable support from our sponsors.

We gratefully thank our title sponsor, Emirates Airline and our patrons, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) for their continued support. 

We would also like to announce the following sponsors and partners for 2011:

Official bookshop: Magrudy’s; author programme venue: InterContinental  Hotel; Day Sponsor: Dubai Duty Free; and sponsor of our students' writing competition: Montegrappa.

Gold Sponsors: Gmasco Al Futtaim, Hadef & Partners and Motivate Publishing; and Silver Sponsors: American Hospital, The British Council and Transguard.  Our Media partners for 2011 are confirmed as Gulf News, ITP Publishing and Dubai Eye 103.8. 

We would also like to thank our design partner, The Tribe, our legal partner, Norton Rose, our PR partner, Ketchum RAAD Middle East, our academic partner, Zayed University, and our festival supporters Gaggenau and The Big Bus Company.

There are still sponsorship opportunities available!

For further information on sponsorship opportunities at Emirates Lit Fest, please contact:

Caroline Searle Popham

Head of Sponsorship

caroline.searle@emirateslitfest.com

T:  050 640 0934