Emirates Airline Festival of Literature opens in Dubai

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is the region’s largest celebration of the written and spoken word. Along with homegrown talent taking centre stage, the fair offers visitors of all ages the chance to interact with their favourite authors, attend literary debates and participate in workshops.

In light of the global pandemic, this year – and for the first time ever – the Emirates Festival of Literature will run a mixture of virtual and in-person sessions with local and international authors.
The festival will be longer this year in order to prevent over-crowding. This year’s annual event will take place over three weekends rather than the usual two.

The programme will feature authors from various genres including literature, art, science, current affairs, film and food. The literature fest features internationally-acclaimed authors and Booker nominees Avni Doshi (Burnt Sugar) and Oyinkan Braithwaite (My Sister the Serial Killer). There is also a day dedicated to Emirati authors.

The first sessions will take place on January 29 and January 30 at Art Jameel, the second weekend (February 4 to February 6) will be held at InterContinental Dubai and the final sessions will be at Alserkal Avenue on February 12 and February 13.

Adult ticket prices for the sessions start from Dhs60, while a special virtual ticket costing Dhs100, will let you access all ten of the virtual sessions.

And for the little book-lovers in the family, there will be a special line-up of childrens’ writers with tickets starring from Dhs40.

There will be no live book signing sessions. Organisers said due to social distancing, there will be fewer tickets available, so early booking was recommended. Tickets will be required for each event, including free sessions, to ensure visitor number restrictions are adhered to. Many sessions will also be livestreamed for those who are unable to attend physically or miss out on tickets.