Emirates Literature Foundation Celebrates The Month Of Reading With Literary Bonanza

The Emirates Literature Foundation is celebrating the UAE’s Month of Reading with a raft of far-reaching initiatives offering literary experiences for all ages. In celebration of the nine years since the Foundation was established, it has created a programme of nine literary activities for a range of audiences.

Isobel Abulhoul, CEO and Trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation said: “The Month of Reading is a wonderful initiative that reminds us to make time in our busy lives for stories. The life-changing benefits of reading for pleasure are well documented, and anything we, as a society, can do to encourage it should be not only supported but celebrated. As a Foundation, we want as many people as possible to find the joy of reading and all the advantages it brings. In celebration of our first nine years, we have created a programme of nine activities for everyone, in line with this year’s theme, UAE Reads.”

The Emirates Literature Foundation activities for the Month of Reading include:

1. The child authors of Voices of Future Generations, the inspiring global writing competition for children, are becoming book fairies and sprinkling the magic of stories around Expo 2020 Dubai, hiding free books in plain sight across several pavilions throughout the Month of Reading. The regional competition is organised by the Emirates Literature Foundation on behalf of HH SheikhaHissa bint Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Goodwill Ambassador for the initiative for the Middle East region, who will be one of the book fairies hiding a book at Expo 2020 during the month of March.
2. Taking authors on a book tour to schools across the Emirates ensures more children have the opportunity to meet an author and experience the joy of books than ever before. Throughout the month of Reading,the ELF Caravan brings author Julia Johnson and author/illustrator Maitha Al Khayat will visit schools with their new book, Aisha’s Pearl, while Ebtisam Al Beiti will share her new story, Citrus the Smoothie Sloth. Both books were published by the Foundation’s new publishing house, ELF Publishing. Nour Arab is also joining the caravan with her book, Naya’s Dream, and Noura Al-Khoori with her story, Furboa.
3. The ELF Children’s Story Corner at Expo 2020 is a wonderful free weekend activity for children of all ages. Between 15:00 – 17:00 on every Saturday in March, Expo visitors are welcome to the Sameem Pavilion, where Foundation team members and locally based authors will read and interact with stories at the ELF Story Corner.
4. The Voices of Future Generations team will also be reading sustainability stories from the first two anthologies of winning stories, the Young Voices of Arabia, during the ELF Story Corner at Expo 2020, on 19 and 26 March.
5. The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature’s virtual programme for students has been extended to be available to schools across the UAE for the entire Month of Reading. Schools across the Emirates and the globe have already enjoyed the programme, and by extending it even more students will have the opportunity to hear from an author. Schools can get access to several fantastic author sessions for a range of ages, in Arabic and English, digitally from the website: org/en/emirates-litfest-student-edition-2022
6. The Foundation’s monthly book club will offer literature lovers a chance to meet and discuss the chosen book, which will be announced on the website, https://www.elfdubai.org/en/elf-book-clubs.
7. There will also be a book club meeting for the inmates of Dubai’s penal and correctional institutions, as part of the ongoing initiative ‘From the Inside Out’, a long-term collaboration between the Emirates Literature Foundation, the Dubai Police and Dubai Central Jail.
8. The Emirates Literature Foundation and the Wikimedians of the UAE User Group have issued an open invitation to the Wikipedia community to celebrate International Women’s Day, 8 March, with action. Hosting an editathon event dedicated to recognising women’s achievements, the target is to create a minimum of 50 new Wikipedia pages for notable Emirati women. Pages can be created in Arabic, English or both. The event will take place in the iconic House of Wisdom, Sharjah.
9. Throughout the Month of Reading, the Foundation will share literary quotes and author videos on its social media accounts, each one including a call to action; read!

March was declared Month of Reading in UAE in 2017 as a way to foster a culture of reading with the aim of creating a knowledge economy. This is the sixth year of the programme, which is managed by the Ministry of Culture and Youth.

More information about the Emirates Literature Foundation can be found online and year-round news of #EmiratesLitFest on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The Foundation also has two podcasts; the Best of the Emirates LitFest, and the Boundless Book Club.