The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| "Poetry Under The Stars" at the Emirates Airline Literature Festival 2013 Posted: 26 Mar 2013 04:25 AM PDT What better way to experience poetry than by flickering torchlight under the stars in a trackless, dark desert? THE night was warm, and the desert seemed expansive, rising around us in gentle peaks like poised waves about to slump into the valley below. I stepped out of the 4WD vehicle and my feet instantly sank into powder-fine sand. This far away from the glitter of Dubai, capital of the United Arab Emirates, from the solidity of paved roads, a sense that I was floating encompassed me as I gazed around, a feeling similar to being out at sea. With all the deep-held mysteries that the desert holds for man's imagination, what better place to listen to some of the best writers in the world romance the languages through that most magical of word-based mediums, poetry? Thus did I and 200 eager participants find ourselves on a moonless night at a Bedu encampment as attendees of "Poetry Under The Stars", one of the many highlights of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, an annual event held in Dubai that brings together international talents in celebration of the written and spoken word from more than 30 countries around the world. This gathering, the fifth, took place from March 5 to 9. Tonight, fest visitors would be treated to a star-studded cast of poets who would share their works with us around a bonfire in a torch-lit desert camp. The line-up included such lauded names as Simon Armitage, Roger McGough, Sjon, Ben Okri, and Jeet Thayil, together with local Arabic poets Adel Khozam and Nujoom Al Ghanem. A chorus of Harabiya singers greeted us in their immaculate dishdasha (white robes) and stark white headdresses, singing and dancing in sequence and waving their camel sticks. We learnt later that the headgear is held in place by a black rope known as an agal, which is traditionally used to secure the headdress during the day and to hobble the camels by night so they don't wander too far from the campsite. The campsite itself was grand and invoked just about every fantasy one has of the desert – flickering torches, rustic wooden shelters, a ground strewn with carpets and pillows, and, to complete the picture, a herd of camels actually made an appearance! It brought a whole new perspective to one's previous idea of what "attention to detail" entailed. The night's moderator was Paul Blezard, whose refined sense of humour had us in a semi-permanent state of chuckles with his witty introductions of each performance and the occasional wry remark at the festive flight of airplanes flying overhead. I found myself spellbound, soaking in the atmosphere and capturing minute details with ecstatic, elevated senses. It was hard to imagine a more surreal setting than being taken out into the night from which all evidence of man's urban stamp has been removed and in which one is dwarfed by nature; where one is almost naked, ready and receptive to perceive new images and experience new emotions and perspectives. It was a privilege to hear a string of human stories uttered as a thundering proclamation, or rattled out in staccato, or gently released into the night as if each syllable was a newborn dove. At such a time and in such a place, it is easy to recollect Stephen Fry, who once said that poetry was a primal impulse within us – perhaps as natural to us as our inclination to appreciate music and other forms of aesthetics. I closed my eyes and listened to the words and experienced the way poetry as a medium delivers on the promise of expanding one's imagination and more – in flowering imageries that left a smoky echo in the corners, subtle but indelible. It was an incredibly intimate and moving experience. During the recital His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, dropped by and shared the cushioned ground with us to the delight of all present. After the recital, we were served a traditional Arabic supper, and were free to purchase books and mingle with the authors. It was an extraordinary series of performances that will not soon be forgotten, and neither will the ideas shared and friendships formed that night, under the desert sky. |
| Posted: 26 Mar 2013 04:21 AM PDT THE Emirates Airline Literature Festival, now in its fifth year, took place in Dubai's Festival City in the United Arab Emirates from (UAE) March 5 to 9. The five-day festival offered a smorgasbord of literary offerings catering to a wide range of ages and tastes – from the everyman (and child) down to veteran publishers, literary critics, and writers. Weaving together such diverse tastes and interests as cooking and recitals to history and music, the festival managed to fulfil a symposium as wide as it was diverse – with 120 authors from more than 30 countries coming together to showcase a mosaic of lectures, recitals, roundtable discussions, masterclasses and workshops... in other words, all things celebratory of the written word. The festival was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in partnership with Emirates airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, in a liberal display of cross cultural pollination showcasing Dubai's diversity. Authors in attendance included such eminent names as Jeffrey Archer, Shashi Tharoor, Ian Rankin, Dan Rather, Alia Mamdouh, Waciny Laredj, Antony Beevor, Anupam Kher, and very proudly, Malaysia's winner of the Man Asian Booker prize, Tan Twan Eng. In what can only be called a fantastic feat of organisation, the event halls were filed with the lively buzz of conversations as award winning authors rubbed shoulders with political journalists and children's book writers, with publishers and poets, students, hobbyists, and avid readers. Lines snaked around author booths as fans queued up to memorialise meeting their favourite authors with autographs and photo opportunities. Events open to participation included everything from poetry to politics, with key events including an opening anthem composed by Yousef Khan in recognition of the 2013 festival theme "Heroes and Villains", which was voiced by 200 children. Another notable tribute to this character-driven theme was a traditional whodunnit murder-mystery dinner theatre enacted by the Dubai Drama Group, with top crime writers including Boris Akunin, Lynda La Plante, Ian Rankin and Jeffrey Deaver tasked to put their sleuthing skills to the test, together with festival participants. Occurring alongside and simultaneously with the literature fest was the Penguin Fringe festival, which had many children's events and a line-up of recitals, debates and performances from talents both international and local. More than 30,000 visitors thronged various halls and locations over five days, and more than 200 unique sessions were taught, presented or chaired by some of the most brilliant and informed literary minds of the day. Perhaps a good representative comment of the crowd's enthusiastic appetite for this event is famed American crime writer Jeffery Deaver who, among other notable achievements, has the distinction of having written a James Bond novel. A self-confessed aficionado of literary festivals, he enthused, "There is no better festival in the world than the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature." |
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