Emirates festival boycott 'disappointing' to director

Isobel Abulhoul, founder and director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, said the Think Twice campaign calling for UK authors to boycott the event is “disappointing”.

She told The Bookseller: “Our aim has always been simple - to get as many people, particularly youngsters, reading and engaging with books in the Gulf region and beyond. Education and the exchange of ideas is at the heart of our festival, which has grown from a small independent start-up into a respected literary platform which attracted 37,000 visitors last year.

“Of course it is disappointing for us that the festival has become the focus of a campaign. I have written to our authors to highlight that we not only have a tradition of inviting writers to engage in lively cross-cultural discussion, but – most importantly – to emphasise the positive impact their participation has on the region.”

Earlier this month author Jonathan Emmett and blogger Zoe Toft launched a campaign asking writers to boycott the event because it is sponsored by Emirates Airline, which is owned by the Dubai government.

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”.

However, Abulhoul said visiting authors make “a major contribution to the growth of the local literary scene” and act as “incredible role models to the region’s youngsters, inspiring countless readers and aspiring authors”.

This year’s festival, which will take place 1st-12th March in Dubai, will host around 160 writers from 32 countries this year, she added.

Author Matt Haig recently pulled out of appearing at the festival, saying he was inspired by the Think Twice campaign.

He told The Bookseller: “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 but is sponsored by the government-owned airline, makes me very uncomfortable, when that government imprisons so many rape victims and pro-democracy supporters. 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.”