The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature - Emirates Litfest returns and will be held from 31 Jan to 6 Feb 2024

Every year, the United Arab Emirates hosts the worldwide literature festival known as The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. The Emirates Literature Foundation, under the direction of Ahlam Bolooki, and with the support of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, oversee the event. The Dubai International Writers' Centre houses the festival's offices.

Dubai hosts the festival in February each year. It includes over 250 courses and special events including poetry readings, masterclasses, panel discussions, and workshops. Events for adults and kids in Arabic, English, French, and other languages are available on the schedule. The festival has about 44,000 guests annually, according to estimates.

In 2022, as the globe began to recuperate from the epidemic, the "Here Comes the Sun" themed Emirates Airline Festival of Literature was held in Habtoor City hotels in Dubai, in collaboration with Emirates Airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority. Though certain special events were conducted at Jameel Arts Centre and expo2020, most of the sessions took place there. Among the notable visitors are Gary Vee, Sara Gay Forden, Myrna Ayad, Julia Quinn, Azza Fahmy, Lucinda Dickens-Hawksley, Ahmed Mourad, David Edward Williams, and Ashraf Al Ashmawi. The much-anticipated dessert stanzas event was also reinstated by the festival.

People from all over the globe come to Dubai each year for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature with the intention of captivating, inspiring, and amusing us. These remarkable writers foster discourse, share their works, thoughts, and words, and create bridges between civilizations by bringing fresh viewpoints and new ideas. I feel hopeful about the future because of all the ideas, discussions, and tales being produced at this festival. The Festival has consistently upheld its commitment to promoting the pleasures of reading and elevating the literary community in the United Arab Emirates. It has given people a forum to celebrate Emirati culture and to appreciate Arabic poetry and literature on a larger scale, both domestically and internationally.

Emirates Litfest returns with a new round of conversations, family activities, musical performances and more from 31 Jan to 6 Feb 2024.