Matt Haig withdraws from Dubai festival

Author Matt Haig has withdrawn from appearing at this year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai following a campaign against the event, spearheaded by author Jonathan Emmett and blogger Zoe Toft.

The Think Twice campaign is asking UK authors and illustrators not to take part in the festival, which starts 1st March, because it is sponsored by the government–owned Emirates Airline.

According to the Think Twice website “the campaign highlights the brutal suppression of free speech and serious human rights abuses carried out by the Dubai government (the airline’s owners) and how the airline itself is actively undermining efforts to avert climate catastrophe”.

Haig has not yet signed the Think Twice pledge but told The Bookseller he was inspired by the campaign to pull out of the festival.

“I do feel a bit guilty about letting the people I would have been reading to down, and I would have liked a bit of winter sun, but on balance the fact that the festival doesn't just take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but is sponsored by the government-owned airline, makes me very uncomfortable, when that government imprisons so many rape victims and pro-democracy supporters,” he said. “I don't intend to make a habit of withdrawing from festivals and love travelling to international ones, but this is a special case I feel.”

He said he does want to visit the UAE but not “as part of an Emirates/government PR thing”.

More than 20 authors have signed the pledge since its launch earlier this month, including Laurence Anholt, Debi Gliori and Amanda Craig, and a dedicated Twitter account currently has 216 followers.

The International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE (ICFUAE) has voiced its support for the Think Twice campaign. Emmett added: “Human rights groups Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have also expressed serious concerns about the assault on freedom of expression in the UAE”. 

Its organisers Toft and Emmett have not been to the UAE but Toft said visiting the country was “not necessary to be informed on issues surrounding climate change and the impact of flying”.

She told The Bookseller: “On the issues of human rights and free speech we have worked closely with researchers and campaigners from several different human rights organisations who have a first hand knowledge of the UAE which has informed our position. Their perspective on the UAE is very different from that of most tourists, which is what Jonathan and I would have been had we visited the country.”

Several international organisations are associated with the event, including the British Council, Penguin Random House, Oxford University Press, WHSmith and Costa Coffee.

Organisers and authors involved in the festival told The Bookseller they did not want to comment on the Think Twice campaign.