The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature concludes with a distinguished session by Ahmed Al Shugairi

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature concluded today with a wonderful session By Ahmed Al ShugairiOne of the most prominent media celebrities in the Arab world, this highly popular session culminated in nine days of cultural entertainment, Ahlam Al Bloki.

The literary event was attended by more than 175 writers from more than 40 countries.

The festival was held at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City (1-9) March 2019 under the generous patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, "may God protect him". The festival is organized in partnership with Emirates Airlines and the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the emirate's general authority for culture, arts and heritage, and Dubai's most prominent initiative for culture will be launched, the Dubai Arts Season, which features art events over two months in Dubai.

Speaking about the festival's bus journey, the festival director commented,Blocky dreamsWe have lived nine days of extraordinary literary experiences and celebrations of words and ideas in all their forms, everyone has been allowed to participate in wonderful, emotional and thought-provoking discussions, we have discovered new ideas that have unleashed on our imagination, and we have enjoyed the speech of the wonderful writers we had the honor to welcome to our festival This year."

She added, "What we have achieved would not have been possible without the support of the Board of Trustees of the Emirates Literature Foundation, and all the sponsors, led by the official sponsor of the festival, Emirates Airlines, and our partners, the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. We are also grateful for the participation of educational institutions in the UAE, and all sectors of society, in this major cultural event. The Foundation’s friends and the festival’s audience are the main supporters of the festival and contribute to the success of this day. Our work team is a small team and we count on the dedication of our volunteers every year to be able to run a festival of this size, and we can only extend our thanks and appreciation to them for their hard work. And last but not least, a big thank you to the Foundation team, who work throughout the year to make the festival a reality more beautiful than fiction!”

One of the most prominent participants in the 2019 session was the author of the novel “The Search for Happiness”,Chris Gardner, presented by Will Smith in a movie that was very successful; world-class ballerina, judge of famous dance competitions, Darcy Bussell، Jane Hawking, author of the bestselling autobiography, Traveling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, which was turned into a film, and the Kuwaiti novelist, winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction،  Saud Alsanousi, novelist and artist Douglas Copeland, who introduced the term Generation X, and the undisputed master of crime literature, Ian Rankin, and many others.

More than 1700 children enjoyed Jeff Kinney's session, author of "A Student's Diary", and his funny presentation, and the young people flocked to the writers' sessions, holly black، and Cassandra Claire، and Victoria Aviard. The children's program included a display of their favorite characters, such as the evil director, Isadora Moon, and the bee boy, and there was a lot of fun with free family activities at the Festival of accompanying events, "Fring", and drama and music performances by different school groups.

And again the festival, youth day Which aims to engage the younger generation, and provide them with inspiring sessions and workshops, in order to enlighten the next generation in the UAE and raise its awareness. One of the most prominent special events was the “Dinner Brings Us Together” banquet, which celebrates the ways our dishes tell and communicate; And the magical festival evening, “Verses from the Depths of the Desert”, which is back again; And a “crime mystery dinner” with legendary writer Tony Blackburn.

 

Among the most prominent sessions, a session on the occasion of International Women's Day, which dealt with the global movement for equality, and sessions on tolerance, sustainability and future worlds, and many sessions focused on the theme of the festival, “The Word brings us together.”

The themes of the festival's sessions dealt with various literary styles. The festival program also dedicated a publishing day, where global industry experts held sessions and workshops on the main aspects of publishing. On the business day, experts discussed the latest ideas to help business leaders develop their businesses with the latest experiences.

praised Sheikh Majid Al MuallaEmirates Airline Senior Vice President Commercial Operations, Student Competitions, said: We are pleased to support another successful edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, which brought together the brightest minds and most passionate voices in the world of literature to share their creativity in various fields. We will continue to support the festival to reach higher levels in the coming years, based on our commitment to supporting arts and culture in Dubai.”

This year witnessed a noticeable increase in the number of students participating in the festival's children's competitions, the Taaleem Prize for Poetry, the Oxford University Press and Story Writing Competition, the Chevron Readers' Cup, and the Poetry for All sponsored by Emirates NBD Bank for Poetry Performance in which people of determination participated. .

More than 29000 students from across the Gulf Cooperation Council participated in the festival this year, enjoying a unique opportunity to interact and listen to one of the world's leading authors, whether at the festival or in their schools and universities.

Commenting on this session, His Excellency Saeed Al NaboodahActing Director General of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, said: “Literature is one of the sectors of Dubai Culture and a major component of community life in Dubai, and in line with the UAE National Strategy for Reading 2026, the UAE is working to promote and support all initiatives and efforts that highlight the The importance of reading and literature to create a thinking and educated society capable of keeping pace with the challenges of the times. Over the years, the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature has become an essential platform for the exchange of ideas and knowledge, which has made the Emirate of Dubai a land of talent, which attracts the most famous authors, academics and writers from all over the world. With the festival approaching a successful conclusion, this event contributed to raising cultural awareness among the community in the country and for those who visited the festival from outside, and this was evident by holding training workshops that brought together authors from all parts of the world who brought literary wealth that contributed to enriching the growing cultural scene. in the emirate.”