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Dubai literature fest now a 2-week event

Dubai - The latest additions to the 2016 guest list include House of Cards author Michael Dobbs and 2015 IPAF-winner Shukri Al Mabkhout.

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature has been expanded from five days to 12, organisers announced on Sunday. The festival is now slated to take place from March 1 to 12.
"It is fantastic news for the festival's fans and a ... testament to the success of the event," said Isobel Abulhoul, CEO and trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation and director of the festival.
"The response from authors this year has really been incredible, so we felt we had no alternative but to expand the event from its traditional five-day slot to cover a whole two weeks in order to accommodate the wealth of bestselling writers, thinkers and speakers who want to come to Dubai. It means we have an exceptionally strong programme in store for our audience with authors of a very high calibre.
"Festival-goers can expect another world-class event which will be a major attraction for visitors across the region."
Organisers had announced earlier that they would release names of 12 authors every month till the festival is officially launched in October.
The latest additions to the 2016 guest list include House of Cards author Michael Dobbs and 2015 IPAF-winner Shukri Al Mabkhout. Both are award-winning authors who will be visiting the festival for the first time. British politician Michael Dobbs has written a number of political thrillers but he is most famous for his novel, House of Cards.
Tunisian-born Al Mabkhout's writings have featured in journals across the world, and his first novel, The Italian, won several literary prizes including the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.
Award-winning poets John Agard and Simon Armitage will feature in the 2016 edition of the festival. Agard, a playwright, poet, short story and children's writer, has a unique style, ably demonstrated in his famous poem, Half Caste. Armitage, who was recently elected professor of poetry at the University of Oxford, was named Millennium Poet in 1999.
For further details, visit: www.emirateslitfest.com
reporters@khaleejtimes.com

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