The Emirates Literature Foundation today released its recording of the Identity Poetics session from the 2020 edition of the festival, featuring homegrown UAE performance poetry star, Afra Atiq; Dubai-born Palestinian spoken word poet, Farah Chamma, and award-winning Colombian-American poet, speaker, actor, and author, Carlos Andrés Gómez.

The session, moderated by Jamil Adas, Founder of Dubai Poetics, explores what makes a poet, digging deep into modern poetry, from its use in understanding and expressing identity, to the challenges faced in becoming a poet.

The 12th Emirates Airline Festival of Literature saw literary heroes such as Jane Goodall, Jo Nesbo, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Sir Chris Bonington, Tayari Jones, Fatima Bhutto, Jokha Alharthi and more, converge to answer life’s big questions.

During this period of social distancing, the foundation is publishing a limited series of filmed panels from this year’s festival, as well as book recommendations, and a curated list of resources for literary entertainment, education and self-improvement across their digital platforms. This includes reading lists and other resources for children of all ages.

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is the Middle East’s largest celebration of the written and spoken word. It is the flagship event of the Emirates Literature Foundation and brings together multicultural audiences with leading international and local literary talent, promoting literature, education, debate, and above all, love or for reading.