A love for literature

Isobel Abulhoul is the founder of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature and the CEO of Emirates Literature Foundation. A lifelong lover of books, she lets us in on the realities of planning an on point programme in an ever changing world…

How did the creation of the festival come about? 

This is our ninth festival and, really, its creation came down to a chance conversation. I’ve been involved in books, publishing and education my whole adult life and in a way, it was a natural progression. I arrived in Dubai in 1968, I taught at Dubai Infant School and then co-founded Magrudy’s bookshop, so I guess I’d built up my experience and knowledge of books – what people wanted to read, who the best publishers and the best contacts were – so when it came to the idea of a literary festival, I had all the right experience in place. Although at that time, I’d never actually been to a book festival!

How do you create a programme and how long does it take?