Guide to Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2025
The start of the year is always an exciting time in Dubai. Out of all the events, those who love the written word are counting the days until the Emirates Literature Festival 2025.
An epic celebration of literature, creativity, writers and readers, this much-loved festival celebrates its 17th birthday this year. Find out all you need to know about one of Dubai’s biggest annual events and festivals, including dates, venues, attending authors and ticket information.
About the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2025
The 17th edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai celebrates storytelling, an art fostering imagination and cultural appreciation.
This festival is among the world’s most prominent international literary events. It combines various literary workshops, debates, performances and panel discussions featuring famous local and international authors and poets.
Launched in 2009, the Emirates Lit Fest has grown from humble beginnings into an immensely popular literary event highly anticipated by residents and visitors alike. The festival aims to instil a passion for reading and writing literature into the community.
There are also many popular workshops for adults and children across various categories. These include story writing, poetry performances, zine making and more.
Emirates Lit Fest 2025 Dates and Locations
The festival will happen at the InterContinental in Festival City from Wednesday, 29th January to Monday, 3rd February 2025. Close to 160 events will be hosted in various halls at this hotel.
Other special events, such as the ‘Desert Stanzas’ and ‘Arabic Poetry and Oud Night’, will take place at the Caravanserai in Exit 29 – Jebel Ali and the Theatre of Digital Art, respectively.
Speakers at the Dubai Emirates Literature Festival
At the Emirates Literature Festival, visitors can expect to meet a diverse range of local, regional and international authors, activists, thinkers, poets and icons.
Some of the big names attending include Abraham Verghese, Chigozie Obioma, Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), Pip Williams, Jeff Kinney and others.
In addition to discussions, performances and workshops, book launches and award ceremonies will showcase talent.
Emirates Literature Festival Programme for 2025
The Emirates Literature Festival’s programme has five broad categories. Each category has its own series of events across the 7-day festival.
Individuals looking to attend the festival can look out for either of these categories and select the event of their interest. They can also head to the speakers and performers page and look out for their favourite author/poet and the event they’re a part of.
Let’s look at the five events to be held at the Emirates Lit Fest 2025 and their highlights.
CONVERSATIONS
As the name suggests, Conversations feature thought-provoking discussions with authors about their topics of expertise.
Events of interest include:
- ‘Naseem Khan: The Inside Story of Pakistan’s Secret Services’: Naseem Akhtar Khan will share various exclusive insights into the intricacies of warfare, politics and national security in Pakistan. This is from his book, Caught in the Crossfire, based on his four decades of experience in the Pakistan Army.
- 31st January, 03:00 pm to 04:00 pm
- ‘Writers’ Corner: Screenwriting 101’: Learn how writing a novel differs from creating a screenplay with screenwriter MJ Arlidge. He’s also part of a session called ‘The Art of Suspense,’ where he discusses writing a dark thriller.
- Screenwriting 101: 31st January, 05:00 pm to 06:00 pm | The Art of Suspense: 2nd February, 12:00 pm to 01:00 pm
- ‘Abraham Verghese: The Covenant of Water’: Abraham Verghese discusses his bestseller, The Covenant of Water. This multigenerational saga explores themes of grief, loss and finding oneself, receiving praise worldwide for its moving prose.
- 31st January, 07:00 pm to 08:00 pm
- ‘Chigozie Obioma: The Road to the Country’: This Booker prize shortlisted author discusses his book set during the 1960’s Nigerian civil war. The Road to the Country has great storytelling and is a memorable book that tugs at the heartstrings throughout.
- 1st February, 12:00 pm to 01:00 pm
- ‘Daniel Handler: And Then? And Then? What Else?’: Beloved children’s author Lemony Snicket discusses his memoir, where he discusses his writing journey and personal challenges.
- 2nd February, 03:00 pm to 04:00 pm
Other speakers include Pip Williams (The Dictionary of Lost Words), Rehan Khan (Tomb of Empires), Hala Gorani (But You Don’t Look Arab), Anil Ananthaswamy (Why Machines Learn) and many more.
- Tickets: From AED 50 (prices vary for each event)
- Language: English and Arabic
WORKSHOPS
If you want to get hands-on with anything literature-related, your best bet is to attend one of the Workshops at Emirates Lit Fest.
Renowned authors and members of the publishing industry will conduct seven workshops. Each allows attendees to explore skills such as writing and drawing.
- Tickets: Varies depending on the workshop
- Language: English (the drawing workshop is in Arabic)
DISCOVERY TALKS
Discovery Talks are discussions on niche and unique topics for people seeking insights from experts. Topics range from the problems of overthinking to Jane Austen and gut health.
Listen to the experts as they share their views and ideas on decolonising literature, talking about writing crime novels, writing through trauma and other interesting topics at Discovery Talks. As a bonus, these events are free of charge*.
- Tickets: Tickets are free of charge if you have booked multiple events. Otherwise, there is a booking fee of AED 10
- Language: English and Arabic
SPECIAL EVENTS
Special Events offer a variety of marvellous experiences for the attendees. There are dinners, poetry nights and insightful discussions on the list. Popular events include ‘All That Glitters,’ where you’ll be part of a murder mystery (with dinner included), and ‘The Big Sing,’ a musical show.
Look out for the LitFest After Hours, a series of events after 06:00 pm that offers experiences and activities such as poetry readings, discussions of fantasy and mythology (the genres), and workshops on loving and accepting yourself, among other interesting topics.
Get your hands on the tickets for these events as soon as possible, as these are typically in high demand and garner quite the attention.
- Tickets: AED 50
- Language: English and Arabic
FAMILY ACTIVITIES
Literature is powerful for children as it can shape their creativity and imagination, encouraging them to question the world around them. Family Activities are about events by children’s and YA authors and recognise young talents.
Look out for Fringe Stage and Children Take Over (English and Arabic editions), where child performers and writers take over the stage. Other highlights include events by authors like Lemony Snicket (author of ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’), Jeff Kinney (creator of the ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ series)
- Tickets: AED 50 onwards
- Language: English and Arabic
Visit the Emirates Lit Fest website to learn about the events and the participating authors.
TICKETS
- Every session has a different ticket price ranging from AED 50 to AED 500.
- You must first register on the Emirates Literature Festival website to buy the tickets.
- Once you create your account, you can add interesting events to your ‘cart’ and either save them for later purchases or buy them immediately.
FESTIVAL PASS
Emirates Lit Fest offers a festival pass that is available on a limited basis. It is great if you want to spend a longer period at the festival. The pass is as follows:
- Bil Arabi Pass: This multi-day pass costs AED 100 and allows access to select Arabic sessions throughout the festival.
FAQS
How to get Emirates Literature Festival Tickets for 2025?
Tickets for the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in 2025 are available on their website.
‘Foundation Friends’ members receive 15% off on tickets and other discounts. For any ticket-related query, email tickets@emirateslitfest.com.
What is the festival contact number?
If you have any queries regarding the Emirates Lit Fest 2025, contact the organisers at +971-4-355-9844. Alternatively, you can email them at info@elfdubai.org.
The Emirates Airline Festival for Literature brings something for everyone with its impressive author line-up. It’s the perfect retreat for bibliophiles, aspiring writers, journalists, intellectuals and anyone with an eye for looking at things differently.
Are you looking for a new book to read? Check out Dubai’s best bookstores for anything from best-selling biographies to fiction. Also, there are a few bookshops where you can get second-hand books in Dubai, which is a sustainable route to reduce consumption.
Discover everything bookish in Dubai with MyBayut, the region’s biggest property portal.
Note: The featured image collage is courtesy of the official website of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.
