Children’s author superstar David Walliams had two sold-out sessions diving into his Mega Monster and Gangster Granny Strikes Again stories on the penultimate day of the first weekend of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, which was filled with children. Following the rise of the COVID-19, Hana Al Hashimi and Mona Ali Khalil discussed the future of diplomacy and stressed the importance of working together to not only solve the global pandemic, but also to make the sacrifices that will be required to address other global issues such as climate change and poverty. Raed Barqawi, the Executive Editor-in-Chief of the Al Khaleej newspaper, has launched his book Dare to Dream: How Mohammed Bin Rashid Made His Dream of Dubai a Reality, which looks at how Dubai, under His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has become a hub for talent from all over the world.
Rob Biddulph, an illustrator and novelist, inspired both children and adults at his second LitFest event, where he told his narrative and gave advice, read from his own stories, and even led a live #DrawWithRob session in Dubai! During the workshop, I was reminded of the joys of recognizing differences, making things you enjoy, and doing things that make you happy. The older children were inspired while the younger ones were kept entertained by Rob weaving together stories from his life, charting his path to becoming an author illustrator, and not least by peppering his slides with rogue ‘alien invasions’ as he flicked through them! Julia Johnson, an author, and Maitha Al Khayat, an author-illustrator, led a session on their new book Aisha’s Pearl, which was published by ELF Publishing, which delighted their young audience. Mira Sethi, an actress and a writer, discussed the complications of being a modern Pakistani woman in passages from her recently published book, Are You Enjoying.
Source: https://www.gulftoday.ae/news/2022/02/06/book-on-sheikh-mohammed-launched-at-emirates-litfest