Festival Director Isobel Abulhoul is at the London Book Fair. She will be blogging her thoughts on this unusual edition of the annual trade event, disrupted by volcanic clouds that have reduced visitor numbers by an estimated 20 per cent.

London Book Fair

Day 3: Wednesday 21st April

"How did you get here?"

The London Book Fair today felt like the Mary Celeste. Stands with no one on them, publishers sitting looking very glum. It is such a shame after all the hard work they have done and hardly anyone there to appreciate it. A shame doubly, as the stands look so inviting: I wish I had time to visit more of these wonderful publishing companies. I am definitely a window shopper and find it very hard to pass by and not pick up some of the books on offer.

When I turn up for my appointments I am greeted by gasps of surprise. “How did you get here? What kind of journey did you have?” Well this is where my overactive imagination kicks in! I would love to say, by camel, by dhow, by foot across the Sahara, and I may even be believed! However that would not be the truth and it is a bit of an anti-climax when I have to let them know I was here prior to the volcano erupting and spewing ash into the skies.

The most important part: inviting authors!

Even though this was the last day of the fair, it turned out to be most worthwhile.

I had four meetings and each publisher suggested a writer or poet who we had not considered yet. I felt that by the end of the morning a very interesting and topical strand was emerging for our 2011 programme – if the authors are able to come.

The final day of meetings at London Book Fair looks like it will be key to next year’s festival, if all goes according to plan...

BookBrunch

Finally I had lunch with Liz Thomson of BookBrunch, and we chatted about this year’s festival and next year’s, about the future of publishing in UK and in our region. Liz is such a knowledgeable person and I would imagine has spent most of her working life in the books industry. I find BookBrunch a daily must-read, to learn about anything that is happening in the world of books, and not just the UK. I am amazed how Liz manages to conjure up such good news, day in, day out. She did say that during the Book Fair she barely slept.

Well, I wave a final goodbye to this year’s book fair and now back on the train to Cambridge to write up copious notes of all the meetings. I am sure the Dubai team will be anxiously waiting to hear which authors we may have enticed to next year’s event.

It is a gloriously sunny day and London is very perky and full of busy people, long summer evenings are on their way and the air travel crisis seems to be coming to an end. I had visions of getting back to Dubai over land and by sea, and am quite sad that will now probably not be the case. On the other hand, I love being cosseted on the Emirates flight: time to watch some great films, eat some delicious meals... then stretch out and catch up on some well-earned sleep!

That's all from Isobel for now, but as you can see we will soon have more names to announce! To keep up to date with the Festival blog, subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Festival Director Isobel Abulhoul is at the London Book Fair. She will be blogging her thoughts on this unusual edition of the annual trade event, disrupted by volcanic clouds that have reduced visitor numbers by an estimated 20 per cent.

London Book Fair
Day 2: Tuesday 20th April

Memory and Anticipation

Feeling tired from back to back appointments and no reprieves!

Because there are so few international visitors we are being lavished with attention and interest!
I only have to get out our wonderful festival scrapbook to revive my spirits and remind myself of what a wonderful four days it was... [Editor’s Note: all the pictures in Isobel’s scrapbook can also be seen online.]

We have gathered some amazing author names as possible speakers in 2011 and if they all say yes, where do we put them? The chances are that just the right number will say yes and others will say “ask me in 2012”. As you can gather I am ever the optimist!

Booksellers United

All kinds of people have heard about our festival; I bumped into a bookseller from Syria yesterday and she was bowled over by our author line up this year and passed on her best wishes and congratulations to the team. She is coming as a visitor next year, and is astounded at what has been achieved in two short years.

I also saw David Kelly from Jashanmal Bahrain, who again raved about the author line up and the positive effect for all booksellers in the region. Our festival is bringing books to life and to the fore, and therefore anyone in the books business is benefitting – very good to have such positive and complimentary feedback from experienced booksellers in the Gulf.

Dinner with Orion

Went to a wonderful dinner hosted by Orion. It was at the Bluebird on Kings Road, a famous and lively spot in London. Anyone who wants a restaurant recommendation – this is a great one.
Orion had invited four authors who each gave a short and very funny talk at various stages of the dinner.

Our host from Orion was Mark Streatfeild, and one of the guests was Peter Mayer, a publishing legend, and now the co-publisher in the States of Roger Ellory, one of our 2010 authors.
Roger was there and waxed lyrical about Dubai and our festival – such a nice man and a great conversationalist.

Denise Mina was a novelist who also spoke and I am very keen to read her latest book after hearing her reasons for writing it.

Another writer, David James Smith, spoke about his new biography of a famous figure and he will be publishing it later this year. It is called Young Mandela and he has unearthed many hitherto unknown facts. He also wants to show the man, not the saint.

The last speaker was Ian Rankin, and he had travelled by train from Edinburgh to be at the dinner and was travelling back overnight too.

He is such a dry and witty talker and I had the pleasure of sitting next to him for much of the dinner.
He told me about his one and only trip to Dubai which had gone horribly wrong, no hotel room, downgraded flight and so on. His impression of Dubai was rock bottom and wonder if we will ever persuade him to give Dubai another go, and come to our festival? One of his neighbours is Alexander McCall Smith and he has been singing the festival and Dubai's praises to Ian, so maybe he will try Dubai again.

One more day to go. Will need matchsticks in the eyes tomorrow, poor publishers who have to meet me tomorrow!

Isobel will continue to blog her experiences at the London Book Fair – to keep up to date with the Festival blog, subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Festival Director Isobel Abulhoul is at the London Book Fair. She will be blogging her thoughts on this unusual edition of the annual trade event, disrupted by volcanic clouds that have reduced visitor numbers by an estimated 20 per cent.

London Book Fair
Day 1: Monday 19th April

Impressions of the Festival

The aisles for the first day of the Fair looked sadly empty as so many visitors were unable to make the journey.

This year’s London Book Fair is honouring South Africa and many of the planned events around South African authors have also been cancelled.

Planning for Emirates Litfest 2011

I spent most of the day visiting key publishers and giving them an overview of this year’s Festival and feedback on their authors who came.

It was heartening to hear their comments and enthusiasm for the Emirates Litfest and I had many exciting discussions on who may be able to attend next year. We already have signed up more than 30 authors from around the globe (some of whose names must be kept under wraps for the time being – but watch this space for more developments!)

The publishers shared with Vivienne and me the authors’ forward publishing schedules, so that we can target authors who will have a new book out around next March. The difficult thing is always that there are so many wonderful authors out there, and who to choose? Luckily as the festival is an annual event, we have many years to keep inviting – indeed we have already issued a couple of invitations for 2012 to authors who can’t join us next year!

Our international profile has become far higher since we began recruiting authors in 2008 for the first Festival. We have definitely made a name for ourselves in the book world, and hopefully the process of signing up international authors will become easier each year.

Catching up with an old friend

I was very fortunate to attend a dinner at which the guest of honour was Philippa Gregory, one of our founding authors. The table conversation was all I could have hoped for and Philippa had us all enthralled. Two other publishers’ parties were cancelled however as the authors were unable to get back to UK in time.

Isobel will continue to blog her experiences at the London Book Fair – to keep up to date with the Festival Blog, subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

So the 2010 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is over, and behind the scenes we're busily figuring out what we did right, what could be done better, and above all who to invite for next year! We already have 18 authors signed up for 2011, with the dates set as March 8-12 - but there's plenty left to digest from this year's festival. For example, Dubai TV have uploaded this rather nice video, which includes interviews with Martin Amis and Robert Greene as well as some background on the Litfest itself.

Meanwhile, the international authors may have gone home (or on to the next stage of their tour) but the community side of the Litfest lives on via Twitter. The establishment of Twitter in the UAE over the last year or so has been quite extraordinary, and there is now an established, lively and friendly community at work in Dubai - a community who mobilised to support the Festival as photographers, bloggers or attendees of the sessions. That Twitter has also been embraced by a number of authors was a bonus, and has narrowed the divide between speakers and public - something that a festival of literature has to appreciate. So here's to openness and communication - look out for a more frequently updated blog and plenty of literary banter throughout the year, and March 2011 will be here before you know it!

Saudi novelist Abdo Khal, who will be speaking at the 2010 Festival, is one of six authors shortlisted for the 2010 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF). He was nominated for his book She Throws Sparks, which examines the seductive nature of power – and its destructive effects.

The other shortlisted authors are Mansoura Ez Eldin, who spoke at the 2009 Festival, Muhammad Al Mansi Qindeel, Rabee Jabir, Rabai’ Madhoun, and Jamal Naji. The Festival organisers congratulate all six authors on being shortlisted.

Popularly known as the “Arab Booker” due to its association with the Booker Prize Foundation, the prize is supported by the Emirates Foundation in Abu Dhabi in its efforts to support contemporary Arabic writing and promote translation. The prize will be awarded on 2 March 2010 at the Abu Dhabi Book Fair.

Previous IPAF winners Youssef Ziedan (2009) and Bahaa Taher (2008) will also be appearing at the 2010 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.

More information about the authors and the prize can be found in these articles:

http://www.arabnewsblog.net/2009/12/16/the-international-prize-for-arabic-fiction-2010/
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091219/NATIONAL/912189989/1010/

The UK and Commonwealth rights to Leila Aboulela’s latest novel, Lyrics Alley, have been acquired by publisher Weidenfeld & Nicolson for publication in 2011.

Leila Aboulela will be appearing at the 2010 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. Her previous books include the Orange and IMPAC-longlisted The Translator, the Orange-longlisted Minaret and the short story collection Coloured Lights. Her short story "The Museum", from this collection, won her the first Caine Prize for African Writing in 2000. Three of Leila’s works have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4: adaptations of The Translator and “The Museum” in 2002, and her play The Mystic Life in 2003.

Editor Arzu Tahsin says Lyrics Alley "is one of the most accomplished and thrilling portraits ever written of Sudanese society just around the time of independence in the 1950s. It is a breathtaking portrait of one family trying to reconcile the strong pull of tradition and the vital need to move forwards in rapidly changing times. It features an epic landscape and a powerful cast of characters and gives a stunning portrait of a land and a time never so evocatively portrayed before. By turns I wept and celebrated the highs and terrible lows the family endured."

The animated adaptation of Oliver Jeffers' Lost and Found has won the award for Best Animation at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Children’s Award Ceremony in London.

The film was first broadcast on Channel 4 on Christmas Eve 2008 and will be repeated in the UK over the 2009 holiday season, on Channel 4 and Nick Jr. The film was produced by E1 Entertainment and Studio AKA. The BAFTA is the 20th Award to be won by the film.

Lost and Found was published in 2005 and won the Nestle Smarties Book Prize 2006 Gold Medal and the Blue Peter Book Award 2006, as well as being nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal.

Oliver Jeffers will be attending the Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature in March 2010. His latest book is The Great Paper Caper (2008).

The Festival organisers extend their congratulations to Oliver, Studio AKA and E1 Entertainment.

Oliver Jeffers’ website can be seen here.

The award ceremony in full can be seen here.

For anyone interested in the politics and culture of Britain in the 1970s, EAIFL 2010 author Francis Wheen’s forthcoming book ‘‘Strange Days Indeed’’ will be essential reading. For a sneak preview of the stories and intrigues that will be investigated when ‘’Strange Days Indeed’’ is launched in September, watch our videos of the author on location around London reading extracts from the book.

Francis Wheen at the Old Bailey

Francis Wheen at the Old Bailey - Part 2

Francis Wheen at Lord North Street

Francis Wheen at the Carlton House Terrace

EAIFL 2010 author, Mark Billingham has won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award at the Harrogate crime writing festival. His London policeman DI Tom Thorne saw off Reginald Hill's Yorkshire duo Dalziel and Pascoe and Peter Robinson's much-loved Inspector Banks!

Mark Billingham’s novel Death Message beat strong competition to scoop this sought after prize on the opening night.

If you live in the UAE and you love Indian cooking or you are a fan of cookery shows, don't miss EAIFL 2010 participant Anjum Anand's BBC series which starts this Friday on BBC Lifestyle!