Dubai: Poets, Musicians, Performers Open Emirates Litfest With Nostalgic Storytelling

Near the waters of the Creek, the doors opened to the 18th edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, running from January 21 to 27 at InterContinental Festival City. The Arab world's largest literary gathering returned with voices from more than 40 nationalities, but its opening ceremony looked inward before it looked out.

The evening unfolded as a tribute to memory, oral history, and the ways stories once moved through homes rather than libraries. On stage, Emirati figures, poets, and performers reflected a shared past where storytelling was passed from heart to heart, often at night, often unrecorded, yet never forgotten.

Before microphones were passed to authors, poets, and officials, music filled the space as the National Youth String Chamber Orchestra and the Repton Al Barsha Choir performed, weaving sound into the storytelling. The presence of Dubai Police's mounted cavalry and young drummers added a visual rhythm, grounding the evening in community and continuity.

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.

One of the most intimate moments came through the story of Um Mohammed, a prominent Emirati whose life was documented as part of the Erth Dubai heritage project, an initiative aimed at preserving Dubai's living memory.

She recalled for the audience a time when Dubai was a quieter city, where homes were closer, doors were always open, and news travelled as quickly as footsteps along the creek. People knew who had sailed, who had returned, and who was expected back. The creek was not a landmark, but a daily companion.

Emirati poet Shamma Al Bastaki described poetry as a vessel for preserving lived experience rather than documenting history.“My goal is to carry these memories through poetry,” she said, explaining that her work was inspired by conversations with community members and transformed into verse. In one poem, she described language as the sea, drawing from her father's life at sea and the way sailors once relied on the moon and stars to find direction.

International voices echoed similar themes. Award-winning children's author Rachel Bright, alongside poet Afra Atiq, spoke about poetry as an act of belief - belief in words, in people, and in potential. Bright shared how walking through Shindagha with her father inspired a poem rooted in place, memory, and recognition, pointing to homes where his former students once lived, and to a school that no longer stood, yet remained present through recollection.

The festival's director and chief executive, Ahlam Bolooki, framed the opening evening as a reminder of why storytelling continues to matter, not only as literature, but as a shared human practice.

“Stories have always been a part of who we are, in our homes, in our gatherings, in the way we pass memory and meaning from one generation to the next,” she said.“Long before they were written, stories were spoken, shared, and lived, and oral storytelling has always been deeply rooted in this part of the world.”

Welcoming authors from more than 40 nationalities, Bolooki described the festival as a space that allows people to pause and reflect.“Books give us the chance to slow down, to think deeply, and to understand one another in more meaningful ways,” she said.

She also highlighted key literary milestones being marked during this year's festival, noting that the opening came just a day after celebrating 20 years of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.“It is a prize that has created a profound legacy of Arabic literary gems for the English speaking world,” she said.

Over the coming days, the festival will also celebrate two decades of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, alongside more than 200 sessions ranging from poetry and crime fiction to conversations with Nobel Prize winners.

But the first day was not shaped by words alone.

On its opening day, the festival offered more than a programme preview. It set a tone, one where literature was not only about books and pages, but about memory, voice, and the stories that shaped who people were long before they were written down.

MENAFN21012026000049011007ID1110632486