The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is a celebration of literature in all its forms.  As the Middle East’s largest annual literary festival, it offers residents and overseas visitors the opportunity to meet famous authors, attend literary debates, listen to readings and participate in workshops.  Attendees can also enjoy the many free Fringe activities that are held as part of the festival.

The 2010 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature will take place over 4 days from 10th to 13th March.

More than 80+ remarkable authors have so far signed up to take part in 2010.

19 nationalities are represented by the authors who have already signed up to participate in the 2010 Festival: American, Australian, Canadian, Egyptian, Emirati, English, Ghanaian, Indian, Iraqi, Irish, Jordanian, Lebanese, Northern Irish, Palestinian, Saudi, Scottish, Sudanese, Welsh and Zimbabwean.

The 80+ authors who have already confirmed their participation cover a wide range of genres including fiction, business, cookery, travel, biography, history, children, young adults and international relations. We believe we are bringing together a diverse range of authors which reflects the different communities living in Dubai.

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature will be returning to the InterContinental Hotel Event Centre at Dubai Festival City.

Once again, there will be an Author Programme of debates and discussions led by bestselling international authors. The free Fringe Festival starring local schools, colleges and community groups will be returning but it will have much closer links to the main programme. We will be extending Education Day over two days in 2010. It will take on a slightly different format to allow more students to see more authors. We will also be introducing more educational workshops on subjects such as drama, translation and creative writing.

The Children’s Writing Competition was renamed The Student’s Writing Competition because it has now been extended to include undergraduate entrants. The competition, on the theme of “The Adventure”, is now closed to new entries and results will be announced during the Festival. For more information click here.

Last year, Education Day saw more than 50 authors fan out to more than 60 Dubai schools. This year, Education Day will be expanded and will take place over two days. It will take on a slightly different format to allow more students to see more authors.

Last year we ran a very popular series of creative writing workshops with Greg Mosse. This year we plan to introduce a number of translation workshops. This is going to be a very important initiative for the Festival. We want to highlight and address the need for excellent translators who also have the ability to write. In addition to continuing to run the creative writing sessions and introducing translation workshops, we also plan to set up drama workshops.

72% of 2009 Festival attendees said the Festival encouraged them to read more. Feedback from teachers who witnessed Education Day suggests that visits from authors encouraged students to read more.

This year’s Festival was the first event of its kind in the Middle East. More than 20,000 people attended the Festival. All 51 events which made up the Author Programme were conducted in both English and Arabic – a first for a cultural event of this size - using simultaneous translation facilities provided by Dubai Culture (formerly Dubai Culture and Arts Authority) and the Mohammed bin Rashid Foundation. Education Day saw more than 50 authors fan out to more than 60 Dubai schools. The Fringe Festival gave more than 60 schools and colleges and the chance to display a range of talents from storytelling, poetry recital, through dance and musical performances.

We have received tremendous feedback from the 2009 Festival-goers. Many have written to us to say it was their ‘favourite event of the year’, ‘a breath of fresh air’ and ‘a fantastic event for Dubai’. Nearly two thirds of visitors to the Festival described the event as excellent and nearly nine out of ten attendees of author sessions described them as good or excellent.

This is not a book fair – it is a cultural festival highlighting the role which authors and books can play in the education and entertainment of people in the UAE. It is a celebration of literature from around the world and will showcase a diverse range of events including performances, plays, lectures, song and dance.

Emirates Airline has signed a three year contract to be headline sponsor for the Festival. Emirates is already an active supporter of the arts and culture, both locally and internationally, with such sponsorships as the Dubai International Film Festival, the Skywards Jazz Festival, the Hay Festival and classical music events in both Australia and San Francisco. The Festival is another channel of sponsorship which allows the airline to engage with its existing customers as well as offer an opportunity to support the growth of arts and creative industries in Dubai. As a multi-award winning carrier, Emirates values creativity and innovation and recognises this in the literary world.

The Festival is a not-for-profit event focused on supporting literature and promoting cultural tourism in the UAE.  All revenues generated from sponsors, ticket and event sales are ploughed directly back into Festival funds to ensure that we deliver a world class literary event.