Full Festival Sessions From Emirates Litfest 2022 Released By The Emirates Literature Foundation

Emirates Literature Foundation, home ofthe 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 UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General Expo 2020 Dubai, HE Reem Al Hashimy, and former CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi. 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, SerhiiPlokhy. Catch Sunday Times bestselling author, Dr RupyAujla, 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.

AhlamBolooki, 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, H.E. Omar SaifGhobash, 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 FadelAlMheiri, 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 AfraAtiq, 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 AfraAtiq, Ahmed Al Ali, Brent Shuttleworth, Carlos Andrés Gómez,Danabelle Gutierrez, Elizabeth Acevedo, Nikita Gill, Noor Naga, Sascha A Akhtar and ZainabArrefai.

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.

Sessions from previous Festivals with prominent authors and thought leaders, such as Amin Maalouf, ElifShafak, and Malala Yousafzai, are also available for free on the Foundation’s Youtube channel. Making these recordings available online is one of the many efforts of the Foundation to promote literacy. Other initiatives include the School Librarian of the Year Award, Kateb Maktub, and From the Inside Out, as well as conducting year-round student education programmes, book clubs and mentorship programmes.

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is the flagship event of the Emirates Literature Foundation and Middle East’s largest celebration of the written and spoken word. More information about the Foundation can be found on website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, and on the Foundation’s two podcasts, the Best of Emirates LitFest and the Boundless Book Club. #EmiratesLitFest fans can check out Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for year-round Festival updates.