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Indelible Festival of Literature, organized and directed by founding editor Dr Roula-Maria Dib took place in Dubai over the span of 3 weeks virtually.
The literature festival hosted an impressive line-up of world-renowned poets, novelists, educators, screenwriters, and playwrights who have shared their work, given workshops, and engaged in live discussions with an international audience. Among the festival's notable literary figures were Naomi Shihab Nye, Andre Naffis-Sahely, Raymond Khoury, Sophie Boutros, Fiona Sampson, Helene Demetriades, Norbert Hirschhorn, Chun Yu, Lorette C. Luzajic, Ruth Padel, Abhay K., Antonia Taylor, Maria Taylor, Romalyn Ante, Anthony Anaxagorou, Sabrina Mahfouz, Mona Arshi, Patricia Finney, Sarah Smith, Adam Wyeth, Zuzana Zachar, Omar Sabbagh, Alan Hickman, and Roula-Maria Dib. Speakers and moderators who participated in the festival joined from different places around the globe including from the US, UK, UAE, China, Canada, Madagascar, Cyprus, Romania, Italy, Australia, and Ireland. The themes and topics that were discussed included, the way creative writing shifts perspectives, history and memory in literature, screenwriting compared to novel writing, the connection between poetry and other knowledge disciplines, poetry and the environment, writing and migration, poetry and medicine, playwrighting, different writing routines and processes, diaspora and identity, the role of storytelling in child development and education, publishing, the creating literary communities, and a glimpse into editors' lives.The festival commenced with a phenomenal poetry reading and workshop with Young People Poet Laureate in the USA, Naomi Shihab Nye, who spoke about the connective powers of poetry and its other roles in shaping the way we see the world and each other. Poet Ruth Padel from the UK and poet-diplomat Abhay K. read environment-themed poems and engaged in a discussion about the triple threats of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. The festival also witnessed stimulating readings and presentations by writers participating in the festival and ended with an Editor's chat, a conversation about what it is like to be an editor, a discussion on the importance of connection, the building of communities around creative platforms, the wellbeing of both the editor and contributor, the challenges of managing the journal, and the rewards of being an editor. (ANI)
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