Emirates Literature Foundation, home of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, one of the top literary festivals in the world and the biggest celebration of stories in the Middle East, brings some of the most impressive and compelling sessions from their 2022 edition to viewers fingertips via YouTube for free.
Panel sessions include Global Leadership: Work, Family, and our Future, with Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General Expo 2020 Dubai, and Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo. An out of this world dialogue about the best scientific discovery of all times with YouTube content creator, Ahmed El Ghandour, known as Da7ee7, Head of the UAE Astronaut Programme, Salem Al Marri, and professor and author, Serhii Plokhy.
Catch Sunday Times bestselling author, Dr. Rupy Aujla, and cookbook author, presenter, entrepreneur, and social media influencer, Zahra Abdalla, as they discuss modern ways of Cooking the Classics. East meets West where Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, prolific author and direct descendant of Charles Dickens, Daniel L Newman, author and Chair of Arabic Studies at the University of Durham, and Karim Hauser, Head of International Relations at Spain’s Casa Árabe, reflect on the long history of globalisation in context of art, literature, and food. Watch four masters of the crime thriller genre, Felicia Yap, Lucy Foley, Mark Billingham, and Polly Phillips, as they talk Originality in Crime Fiction. Enjoy Between the Covers, a riveting discussion with poet and novelist, Noor Naga, and editor, Selma Dabbagh, on erotic writing in Arabic literature.
Ahlam Bolooki, Festival Director, said,
"We strive to make the literary landscape more inclusive and accessible to all by making some of the diverse and interesting conversations from the Festival available online. It is our mission to bring the joy of literature and literary conversations to everyone, and allow global audiences to enjoy the LitFest experience."
The Foundation also shares in-depth conversations with writer and bloggess, Jenny Lawson, and with Emirati movers and shakers, Omar Saif Ghobash, the Assistant Minister for Culture and Public Diplomacy at the UAE's Foreign Ministry, and Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, founder, and chairman of Al Habtoor Group of Companies.
Entertain children with Aisha’s Pearl, a literary treasure from author, Julia Johnson, and illustrator, Maitha Al Khayat, that explores the tradition of pearl diving. Or for those that speak Arabic, enjoy the tale of Antar and Abla by Sanaa Chabbani.
Art enthusiasts can immerse themselves in discussions with Ken Arto, animator of popular series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Demonslayer and Jujutsu Kaisen, and Fadel AlMheiri, director of Catsaway, Abu Dhabi’s first animated feature film, on Anime Fan Club. And hear from popular Emirati actors, Dr. Habib Al Attar and Sameera Ahmed about the difficulties faced by creatives on Stigma in Art. And young (and young-at-heart) artists have the opportunity to learn art from Rob Biddulph, author, illustrator, and draw along superstar.
Poetry lovers can enjoy the world premiere of multi-lingual, multi-genre collaboration of Emirati spoken word poet, Dr. Afra Atiq, with Colombian American award-winning poet, Carlos Andrés Gómez, and singer, songwriter and music producer, Brent Shuttleworth. Or relive the magic of Desert Stanzas, a signature Emirates LitFest event of poetry under the stars with a heavyweight lineup of top-tier local and international poets and performers including Dr. Afra Atiq, Ahmed Al Ali, Brent Shuttleworth, Carlos Andrés Gómez, Danabelle Gutierrez, Elizabeth Acevedo, Nikita Gill, Noor Naga, Sascha A Akhtar and Zainab Arrefai.
The sessions are available in their entirety on the Emirates Literature Foundation’s YouTube channel where the Foundation is also sharing author interviews from the recent Festival. They encourage viewers to subscribe to their channel to receive notifications when new videos are released.
News Source: Emirates News Agency
