1-9 2019 MARCH Highlights Programme - Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.
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1-9
MARCH
Highlights
Programme
2019 InterContinental, Dubai Festival City
www.emirateslitfest.com
United By Words
Our festival theme for 2019 is United By Words, an exploration of
what binds us together in a world that sometimes seems irrevocably
divided.
Inspiring speakers tell their stories as a way of guiding people to do
good and work together for a common goal, from Zelda la Grange’s
story of how her friendship with a great leader changed her view of the world in Good Morning, Mr Mandela
and Jennifer Palmieri addressing future female leaders in Dear Madam President to Cixin Liu depicting a
human destiny reshaped by contact with intelligent alien life in The Three Body Problem.
We explore the power of the written and spoken word in the returning
Poetry Mix performance session, joined this year by a mix of fantastic
prose storytelling in Author Readings – Discovery. We look towords
of the past as Yasmine Seale and Paulo Lemos Horta introduce their
new edition of the classic story of Aladdin. Poets from the UAE share
their tributes to beloved and much-missed poet Ousha bint Khalifa
Al Suwaidi. We look to the future as Omar Saif Ghobash and James
Owens discuss how reading for pleasure can improve lives worldwide.
Words are not the only thing that unite us, so authors and chefs will
gather for the United by Food dinner to celebrate the stories that
translated by edited by
YA S M I N E S E A L E PA U L O L E M O S H O R TA
are told by our plates – and how strangers sharing a meal can lead to
understanding of what else we share.
Desert Stanzas
“I have always loved the desert. One sits down
on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears
nothing. Yet through the silence something
throbs, and gleams...” — Antoine de Saint-
Exupéry, The Little Prince
One of our most anticipated events, Desert
Stanzas, will return in 2019.
A night of cultural entertainment unique to
Dubai, Desert Stanzas celebrates international
and homegrown poetic talent in a desert camp
on the edge of the city.
In a new venue for 2019, this edition of Desert Stanzas will bring together talented poets from around the
world for an evening of powerful poetry under the stars, alongside music and traditional Emirati food.
Tickets for this event are expected to sell out, so do book early to avoid disappointment. Keep an eye on
our website for the full line-up of poets, and directions to the desert camp.
Future World RICHARD BALDWIN
Where have we come from… and where are we going?
The Future World strand explores this question and much more in
a series of talks and panels featuring speakers from a wide variety
of disciplines, united by a common concern about the world we are
building.
THE
Futurist Gerd Leonhard will deliver one of his characteristically up-
to-the-minute talks on the ever-more-pressing issue of Technology GLOBOTICS
UPHEAVAL
Versus Humanity, a theme continued in the panel The Job Machine
– Are We Becoming Obsolete?, by economist Richard Baldwin,
transport engineer Samuel I Schwartz and leadership expert Dawn Globalization, Robotics, and the Future of Work
Metcalfe, who will discuss where people fit into an ever-more
automated future.
But understanding the future also means knowing ourselves. Lewis Dartnell will introduce his new book
Origins: How the Earth Made Us, a look at the deep history of humanity as written by the geology and
biology of the Earth. Martin Puchner looks at The Written World, the story of how literature shapes
societies. And panellists Katherine Ormerod, Ty Tashiro and Annabel Kantaria look at the effects, good
and bad, of our networked and social media-driven society in the panel Is the Future Social?
All this and more can be found in our full programme, online at www.emirateslitfest.com
Friday 1 March 2019 PETER FRANKOPAN: LEON MCCARRON: THE LAND BEYOND KATHERINE ORMEROD: WHY SOCIAL
THE NEW SILK ROADS There are many reasons why it might seem unwise to MEDIA IS RUINING YOUR LIFE
Following the phenomenal success of The Silk Roads, walk, mostly alone, through the Middle East. That, in This is for any woman who has ever looked at her
Peter Frankopan brings the story up to date in The part, is exactly why Leon McCarron, Northern Irish Instagram feed and thought, ‘Who are these women,
JANE HAWKING: FROM FACT TO FILM adventurer and filmmaker, did it, following a series
New Silk Roads. This new book examines the intercon- and how on earth do they do it?’
TO FICTION nected world of 2018, explores how it is changing and of wild hiking trails that trace ancient trading and Katherine Ormerod, journalist and social media
Dr Jane Hawking shares the story of her explains why this matters not just to politicians and pilgrimage routes and traverse some of the most mogul, explodes our social-media-addled ideas
extraordinary marriage to genius physicist Stephen businesspeople, but to all of us. contested landscapes in the world. about body image, money, relationships, motherhood,
Hawking. 20:00 - 21:00 | Adult | English/Arabic careers, politics and more and gives us the tools
16:00 - 17:00 | Adult | English/Arabic
Jane delves into her bestselling memoir, Travelling Price: AED 75 we need to control our own online lives, rather than
Price: AED 75
to Infinity, and introduces her novel Silent Music, a being controlled by them.
coming-of-age story set in post-war Britain. 16:00 - 17:00 | Adult | English
16:00 - 17:00 | Adult | English Price: AED 75
Price: AED 75
Friday 8 March 2019 STRANGER THAN (CRIME) FICTION:
CHRIS BROOKMYRE, CHARLES
CUMMING, JASPER FFORDE
ZELDA LA GRANGE: GOOD MORNING, How will we write about the crimes of the future?
MR. MANDELA Come and hear how real and fictional thrills will meet
or diverge in the future, and how facts and fantasy
A white Afrikaner, Zelda la Grange grew up in
can address this in different ways. Chris Brookmyre
segregated South Africa, supporting the regime
has written about murder, virtual reality and cyber-
and the rules of apartheid. Yet just a few years after
crime and is joined in this discussion by master of
Nelson Mandela’s release and the end of apartheid,
metafiction Jasper Fforde whose novel Early Riser
she would be traveling the world by his side, having
is set in a world where most humans hibernate
grown to respect and cherish the man she would
through a long cold winter, and thriller writer Charles
come to call ‘’Khulu,’’ or “grandfather.’’
Cumming, currently one of the team working on the
Here La Grange pays tribute to Mandela as she knew
second spin-off series of John Le Carre’s The Night
him and tells the extraordinary story of how a young
Manager.
WOMEN CROSSING BORDERS: DR. woman’s life was utterly transformed by the man she
NEW POLITICS, OLD IDENTITIES: 18:00 - 19:00 | Adult | English
SHEREEN ABOUELNAGA, HUZAMA had been taught was the enemy.
SHEREEN ABOUELNAGA, SHAHAD Price: AED 75
HABAYEB & FADI ZAGHMOUT 10:00 - 11:00 | Adult | English
ALRAWI, JABBOUR DOUAIHY Price: AED 75
What is the nature of boundaries that women in
How does political discourse shape our identities?
novels have to contend with? Is there a big difference
Our panel investigates the critical role imaginative
between boundaries facing men and women in con- DOUGLAS COUPLAND IN
fiction plays in understanding, defining and preserv-
temporary fiction? CONVERSATION WITH SHUMON BASAR
ing one’s sense of identity, and discusses how they
approach identity in their own writing. 18:00 - 19:00 | Adult | Arabic/English Douglas Coupland is a hugely influential figure in
Price: AED 75 contemporary literature and visual art, who since the
18:00 - 19:00 | Adult | Arabic/English
Price: AED 75 publication of his debut novel Generation X: Tales
for an Accelerated Culture in 1991 has been a major
commentator on the effects of consumerism and
technology on our lives and culture.
Coupland will discuss his insights into the world of
Monday 4 March 2019 2019 in an up-to-the-minute conversation with his
friend and Age of Earthquakes co-author Shumon
Saturday 2 March 2019 Basar.
19:30 - 20:30 | Adult | English
Price: AED 75
THEIR FINEST SCREENING & TALK
GILES YEO: GENE EATING Their Finest is a 2016 romantic drama starring Bill
Nighy, Gemma Arterton and Sam Claflin, based on
Cambridge geneticist, Dr Giles Yeo, has dedicated the book Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans,
over 20 years to studying how genes influence our which tells the story of producing a propaganda SAMUEL I SCHWARTZ:
eating habits. Instead of looking at how we have movie during The Blitz.
become obese, Gene Eating tackles the question of
NO-ONE AT THE WHEEL
Come and enjoy a film about rescue and romance on
why some people eat more than others. Our time at the wheel is done. Driving will become
the beaches of Dunkirk, told through the eyes of a
illegal, as human drivers will be demonstrably more
10:00 - 11:00 | Adult | English woman in a man’s world. You have will an opportunity
dangerous than cars that pilot themselves. Is this
Price: AED 75 to hear from the author herself and ask her any
an impossible future, or a revolution just around the
questions.
corner?
19:30 - 22:00 | Adult | English America’s most celebrated transportation guru, Sam
Price: AED 75 Schwartz, a.k.a. “Gridlock Sam”, describes how the
ALANNAH HILL: BUTTERFLY ON A PIN driverless vehicle revolution will transform our cities,
Now one of Australia’s most successful fashion revolutionise the job market and introduce a new
designers, the young Alannah Hill once ran away wave of AI-inspired ethical dilemmas.
from home with eight suitcases of costumes and a
12:00 - 13:00 | Adult | English/Arabic
fierce determination to succeed.
Price: AED 75 MAKING A MONSTER:
Her memoir, Butterfly on a Pin, describes her journey
of transformation from a joyless childhood to a HARRIET MUNCASTER, IAN RANKIN &
dream-come-true career peak of love, loss and KEITH STUART
reinvention. CIXIN LIU: THE THREE-BODY Murderers, Vampires and Monsters...there are many
10:00 - 11:00 | Adult | English PROBLEM AND BEYOND different strains of evil, but not all are created equal
Price: AED 75 in fiction. Discussing what makes a compelling villain
How different is Chinese and Western sci-fi? What is
different about translating sci-fi, versus other genres? in fiction in crime novels, children’s fiction and videog-
This conversation with the first author from Asia to ames are Harriet Muncaster, author-illustrator of
win a Hugo Award for Best Novel is your chance to half-vampire, half-fairy Isadora Moon, crime writer
learn more about the man whose books took China Ian Rankin and author and former games editor of
by storm before astonishing and inspiring English-lan- the Guardian Keith Stuart.
guage readers, including President Obama. 19:30 - 20:30 | Adult | English
12:00 - 13:00 | Adult | English/Chinese Price: AED 75
Price: AED 75
Thursday 7 March 2019 Saturday 9 March 2019
YOU ARE WHAT YOU READ: SAADIA ZAHIDI: FIFTY MILLION RISING
OMAR SAIF GHOBASH & JAMES OWENS JENNIFER PALMIERI: There is a quiet revolution that is radically reshaping
How does literacy build a better society? It’s often DEAR MADAM PRESIDENT the Muslim world: 50 million women have entered
said that reading is a ticket to accessing a wider Dear Madam President is an empowering letter from the workforce.
world of opportunity but how do you give people former Hillary Clinton Communications Director Join award-winning economist and World Economic
that ticket? Professor James Owens, founder of the Jennifer Palmieri to the first woman president, and Forum executive committee member Saadia Zahidi
charity The World is Just a Book Away, and H.E. by extension, to all women working to succeed in any as she illuminates this discreet but momentous
Omar Saif Ghobash, author of the thought-provoking field. revolution through the stories of the remarkable
Letters to a Young Muslim, discuss how to make a Palmieri creates a forward-thinking framework of women leading this change.
difference. inspirational and practical advice for all women 10:00 - 11:00 | Adult | English
14:00 - 15:00 | Adult | English/Arabic everywhere. Price: AED 75
Price: AED 75 18:00 - 19:00 | Adult | English RICHARD BALDWIN:
Price: AED 75 THE GLOBOTICS UPHEAVAL
Richard Baldwin is one of the world’s leading
SUE NELSON: WALLY FUNK’S globalisation experts and has coined the word
RACE FOR SPACE ‘globotics’ to describe the combination of
As part of the Mercury 13 crew, Wally Funk was one globalisation and robotics. He warns that the
of the pioneering women training for space travel, speed of this change in our world threatens to
frequently outperforming male astronaut candidates overwhelm us, with the lives of millions of white-collar
in tests of endurance. But just one week before workers disrupted much faster than automation,
the final phase of training, the programme was industrialisation, and globalisation disrupted the lives
abruptly cancelled and Wally never flew into space. of factory workers in previous centuries.
Sue Nelson, author of Wally Funk’s Race for Space, 14:00 - 15:00 | Adult | English/Arabic
discusses a remarkable life and Wally’s ongoing Price: AED 75
pursuit of space travel.
14:00 - 15:00 | Adult | English
Price: AED 75
HAPPY EVER AFTER: SANDHYA MENON,
KEITH STUART & TY TASHIRO
And they lived happily ever after…The End. What TY TASHIRO: AWKWARD
makes a happy ever after in fiction feel real and not If you have ever felt gawky or clumsy, then you
contrived? What does science say about the reality should know you are not alone. Psychologist and
of finding fairy-tale endings in our own lives? Sandhya interpersonal relationship expert Ty Tashiro has
SAUD ALSANOUSI: Menon blames a steady diet of Bollywood movies for literally written the book on awkwardness.
BIRDS OF THE HOUSE her obsession with happily-ever-afters, while in Keith Why do we feel awkward? Is being awkward a
In this conversation Saud AlSanousi tells us about his Stuart’s Days of Wonder, happily-ever-afters acted genetic disposition? And for those of us who feel
relationship with his characters. Can he finish a novel out at the local theatre, are a lifeline for Tom and his constantly overwhelmed: how do we learn to cope?
as planned, or do the characters take the story in an chronically-ill daughter, and Ty Tashiro’s The Science Join Ty as he explores the characteristics that
unexpected direction? Who ‘wins’ in writing: is it him of Happily Ever After explains what truly matters in make people socially clumsy and how they can be
or them? our real-life quest for enduring love. harnessed to produce remarkable achievements.
19:30-20:30 | Adult | Arabic/ English 14:00 - 15:00 | Adult | English/Arabic 14:00 - 15:00 | Adult | English
Price: AED 75 Price: AED 75 Price: AED 75
All Information is correct at the time of going to print. However the Programme is subject to change. Please check emirateslitfest.com for the latest update.
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The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature will be held from 1-9 March 2019 under the patronage of His Highness
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and
in partnership with Emirates Airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s
dedicated authority for culture, arts and heritage.
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