Celebrating literature

Celebrating the fifth anniversary next year, the EAFL will host a stellar line-up of authors, speakers and writers from across the world. The international line-up includes Jeffrey Archer, Kate Adie, Boris Akunin, Simon Armitage, Abdel Bari Atwan, Bobby Chinn, Chris Cleave, Artemis Cooper, Shobhaa De, Nik Gowing, Anthony Horowitz, Anupam Kher, and Tan Twan Eng among several others.

The 2013 festival will be held from March 5 to 9 in Dubai, under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and in partnership with Emirates airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture). The five-day LitFest will be staged at the Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City.

In an interview with Khaleej Times, Abulhoul said: “The numbers in terms of author and audience participation has more than doubled. After working on the festival for five years, we have come to understand what the audiences in Dubai appreciate and want in terms of both author profiles and genres.”

The preliminary author list features some 80 authors, writers and speakers from 25 countries who will cover a huge range of subjects, styles and genres.

“A few more names might be released in January, but that is what I call possibilities. There is something for every one at the festival. You don’t need to necessarily be someone who reads books to enjoy the festival. You just need to be living and breathing,” said Abulhoul.

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com