Emirates Litfest

The UAE’s biggest and best literary event is back, with the usual cornucopia of writers, creators and thought leaders – a total of around 160 events at Festival City from 31 January to 6 February.

The line-up includes the 2023 Booker Prize-winner Paul Lynch; a past Booker winner and current President of the Royal Society of Literature, Bernardine Evaristo; BookTok sensation Curtis Sittenfeld; shoe and accessories designer and author of Oh My Gosh, I Love Your Shoes! Sophia Webster; gender equality and arts advocate Eliza Reid, the First Lady of Iceland; Emirati artist and cultural envoy, Fatma Lootah; and the Egyptian graphic novelist and illustrator Deena Mohamed.

The Festival will be hosting a series of book launches including Out of This World by Dr Sultan Al Neyadi, a photo journal of the recently appointed Minister of Youth’s six-month visit to the International Space Station

This year there’s an evening programme under the title LitFest After Hours, running Thursday to Sunday with “a feast of performances, games, activities, and food”. There’s also Discovery Talks, a series of free-to-attend lectures on topics ranging from the Spiderverse and AI to Chinese mythology. And there’s a special focus of children at LitFest Families,  “an action-packed weekend perfect for tiny bookworms”; and for older students there’s Youth Day, “a day of specially curated events for curious minds … all with an anchoring focus on Arabic culture”.

The full programme is here, including prices, and it’s worth downloading the Festival Grid to check for clashes among your preferences. The days usually start at 10am and most sessions should be done by 6pm, though a few don’t start till 7 or 8pm.