Chimamanda Adichie to headline Emirates Airline Festival of literature

Adichie

By ADA DIKE

Information reaching Newswatch Times stated that one of Nigeria’s prominent novelists, Chimamanda Adiche, will headline the Emirates Airline Festival next year in Dubai, alongside Alexander McCall Smith,

According to the organisers, the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature will return in March next year with more than one hundred and twenty authors, including a range of talks, panel discussions and master classes, all revolving around the theme of Wonderland.

They further stated that the festival continues its reputation of luring marquee names. The author of Purple Hibiscus (2003), Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), and Americanah (2013), Adiche, will be in Dubai to discuss her third novel Americanah, as well as its predecessor, the 2006 Orange Prize-winning Half of a Yellow Sun.

Another author that will headline the event, Smith, is a Pakistani author of Mohsin Hamid. Known for his evocative trio of regionally- based novels including his latest, last year’s How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia. His most renowned work, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, was made into a film in 2012, directed by Mira Nair.

Also, the Chinese-British author Jung Chang, best known for her controversial 1991 family memoir, Wild Swans, which sold 10 million copies, will be there. Her work remains banned in her native China. In addition to the new festival guests, several Dubai favourites will be back which include Palestinian author and poet, Mourid Barghouti who will discuss his acclaimed career, which includes his 1997 Naguib ­Mahfouz Medal-winning novel I Saw Ramallah.

“Desert Stanzas will return with poetry from John Agard, Imtiaz Dharker, Yang Lian, Victor Rodriguez-Nunez and Owen Sheers, all under the stars of the desert night.

Michael Morpurgo is returning to the festival, and this time he is accompanied by the stars of the acclaimed stage version of War Horse: intricate life-size horse puppets Joey and Topthorn. On the night of Thursday 4 March, the Al Mamzar theatre will host a night of readings, songs and performance from the book and stage versions of the classic story. Genre-bending novelist Jasper Fforde has offered a few lucky aspiring authors the chance to have him review their work in Fforde’s Fantastic Feedback. An all-new graphic novel strand features authors and illustrators Zeina Abirached, Naif Al-Muttawa, Clément Baloup, Jan van Hamme, Satoshi Kitamura and Nicolas Wild,” they stated.

More than 120 top authors from around the world will gather at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City from March 3 to7, 2015 for five packed days of literary activity.