Next Stop, Dubai! Emirates LitFestival 2025 – Featuring “Manseerah”: A Global Tapestry of Poetic Expression
- Sands and City Magazine
- Jan 12
- 2 min read
The 17th annual Emirates Festival is set to take place from January 29 to February 3 at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City, bringing together an impressive lineup of literary figures and artistic talents. Among the highly anticipated events is a panel discussion on Manseerah, a groundbreaking poetic epic that celebrates the power of language to unite cultures through shared human experiences.
The panel will feature Emirati poet Adel Khozam, British poet Fiona Sampson, and George Wallace (via Zoom), offering a unique global perspective on this innovative literary endeavor.
Adel Khozam, the director of a TV channel at Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) and a respected columnist for Al Ittihad, contributes his extensive experience to this conversation. Fiona Sampson, a distinguished British poet, writer, editor, and academic, brings her esteemed literary background, having served as the editor of Poetry Review and earning an MBE for her services to literature in 2017.
Manseerah is an ambitious collaborative epic, featuring contributions from 86 poets across more than 50 countries. Released in Arabic in October 2024 by the renowned publishing house Dar Al-Takwin, the collection has since been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Bengali, and English. As an editor of the English version, George Wallace had the privilege of working closely with Emirati/Saudi poet and publisher Adel Khozan to refine this global tapestry of poetic expression.
During the panel discussion, we will delve into the themes and creative journey behind Manseerah, exploring how poetry can transcend borders and connect us through shared values of beauty, truth, and love. The anthology has been praised for its ability to capture diverse voices while highlighting the universal aspects of human experience.
The Emirates Festival promises an exceptional lineup of events, including author talks, workshops, and panel discussions featuring renowned literary figures such as American writer Abraham Verghese, Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah, and Booker Prize-nominated Chigozie Obioma. With more than 150 events scheduled, this festival is a celebration of literary excellence and cultural exchange on a grand scale.
As the festival approaches, anticipation builds for the rich conversations, creative insights, and profound exchanges that will emerge from this exceptional gathering of literary minds.
Source: George Wallace FB
Thank you for sharing this exciting several-day festival, and our small portion of it, with your readers. It is gratifying to see how the worldwide community of poets is stepping up to our unique role as agents of peaceful intercultural exchange and aesthetic understanding. Manseerah is an ambitious and worthy example of what we can accomplish. George Wallace