The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature has today announced Jane Goodall, the world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees and Mai Jia, arguably the most successful writer in China today, have been confirmed for the 2020 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, 4-9 February.

Ahlam Bolooki, Festival Director for Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, said: “I look at our programme and I am humbled by the incredible writers who give up their time to share their passion with us and our diverse community. These three writers are all veritable super stars in their genres, and I recommend booking quickly before tickets sell out.”

Speaking at a special pre-festival event at the Cultural & Scientific Association Centre in Al Mamzar on Saturday 1 February, celebrated ethologist Dr Jane Goodall will share her life’s work studying the apes of Gombe, and her educational project in the UAE: Roots & Shoots.

Dr Jane Goodall’s talk will cover her extraordinary scientific breakthroughs in animal behaviour and her journey to becoming one of the world’s most prominent and active conservationists, as well as her ongoing efforts to inspire every individual to protect the environment we share. She is back by popular demand, as her last event with Emirates Literature Foundation in early 2019 sold out within hours.

Mai Jia is possibly the most successful writer in China today. With five bestselling spy and thriller novels, he has sold more than five million copies in 33 languages with both TV and film adaptations. His debut novel Decoded was acclaimed for its originality and complexity. The Message, a novel about five codebreakers locked in a secret room until a traitor is revealed, will be published in English in 2020. He will be discussing his extraordinary award-winning career, from achieving consistent bestseller status and receiving the prestigious Mao Dun award to inventing a new type of chess while researching mathematics for Decoded.

These two international icons join the already dazzling line up for the 12th Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, which includes the world’s greatest explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes; bestselling memoir and fiction author Mitch Albom; TV presenter and best-selling author Nadiya Hussain; the first Arab winner of the International Man Booker Prize Jokha Alharthi; celebrity branding expert Jeetendr Sehdev; space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, and UAE astronaut Hazzaa Al Mansouri. The Festival will welcome more than 150 writers in total to the InterContinental Festival City in February.

Award-winning and best-selling authors include Tayari Jones, Hoda Barakat, Omaima Alkhamis, Esi Edugayan, Mohammed Hanif, Linwood Barclay, Santa Montefiore and Omar Saif Ghobash. Genres covered include literary, popular and crime fiction, business, history, spirituality, poetry, science, food, adventure and exploration and more, along with an exciting interactive programme for children of all ages.

The Festival is held with Founding Partners Emirates Airline and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated authority for heritage, arts, and culture.

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.

To buy tickets and for the full list of authors, visit http://www.emirateslitfest.com/shop

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