3rd Conference of Festival Directors

Music from Arqam -Emirati soul singer

Discussion concerning GAoLF membership and if in agreement, ratification of

changes

Led by Carmel Rosato, Emirates Airline Festival of Literature and Lola

Shoneyin, Ake Arts and Book Festival

Looking to the future Post-pandemic we have seen audiences return, but perhaps not in the numbers we saw previously. Is this a post-pandemic hangover, or a sign of the changing profile of audiences and their expectations? What impact will the financial climate have on those relying on ticket sales? What has been the impact of streaming services – do people prefer to stream their entertainment into their homes rather than go out? What about sustainability issues– can it be a festival if its only online?

Lyndsey Fineran, The Times & Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival;

Daniela Ini, Filba International Buenos Aires,

Jean-Claude Cournand, Bocas Literature festival

The Festival’s signature event, Desert Stanzas transports poets from around the world to perform amongst the sand dunes, under a starlit sky.

Literature’s place in including ‘others’, breaking down stereotypes and building bridges across communities.

Syima Aslan on Bradford Literature Festival’s diversity project;

Razi Ahmed, Lahore Literary Festival

As the Culture Wars rage on, fiction has become a flashpoint in the debate.

Is the right to have freedom of expression having the opposite effect, resulting in the suppression of imagination? And how does cultural convention play a part in the debate? Should festivals be a place of neutrality for differing points of view?

Lily Gonzalez, San Antonio Book Festival;

Leslie Hurtig, The Vancouver Writers Festival

Isobel Abulhoul Emirates Airline Festival of Literature;

Rose-Marie Milsom, Newcastle Writers Festival;

Jean-Claude Cournand, Bocas Literature Festival

Head of Business Marketing at TikTok MENA Annie Arsane Mattar will delve into the world of #BookTok and what this channel means to the publishing industry.

Kenanano Phele, Gabarone Book Festival, Botswana;

Nermin Mollaoğlu Demirtaş, ITEF Istanbul International Literature Festival

Nick Barley, Edinburgh International Book Festival;

Isobel Abulhoul, Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

Publishing day  conversation chaired by award-winning author Kit de Waal, author of My Name is Leon and editor of working-class memoir Common People.