The fourth day of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature saw yet another amazing and insightful day. Focusing on education, children and sustainability, book lovers were left far from disappointed.

Highlights of the day included a nail-biting contest, the battle for the eighth Chevron Readers’ Cup which took place at the Festival today, with 80 students showing of their talents in a live ‘read-off’. The winners were whittled down from more than 2,000 students out of which 731 teams took part in the annual reading quiz. The finals were held in Arabic and English for Primary and Secondary school age groups and the winners were awarded trophies, certificates and book vouchers by top international authors.  GEMS, Our Own English High School won first place followed by, Deira International School securing second and St Mary’s High School coming third in the English speaking primary schools category. Across secondary schools, Private International English School came in first, Private International English School second and St Mary’s Catholic High School secured third place.

Literary Agent Luigi Bonomi shared his vast experience in the publishing industry, representing authors including Alan Titchmarsh, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan as well as eight Montegrappa Writing Prize Winners. He summed up the best tips on whether a book has a chance and what it takes to get that coveted publishing deal.

Furthermore, the festival welcomed 450 students from more than 20 schools to the session called ‘Make a Difference to the World!’ Five top authors and illustrators including Tony De Saulles, Julia Johnson, Robin Stevens, Colette Barr and Leona Collins talked about how schools can save the world, a sustainable future for our planet with lots of Q&As.

Finally, Arabic author Jabbour Douaihy hosted a creative writing course to aspiring novelists on how to approach identity in their own writing. His workshop explored the importance of offering readers a wider perspective on identity in both subject matter and style as well as guiding participants in their writing process, choosing names, using family history and biography to build up character psychologically and physically.

Images of Day Four can be viewed and downloaded here.