Gulf News

Kiyosaki, other icons to join Sharjah book fair interactiv­e sessions

SHARJAH BOOK FAIR TO VIRTUALLY CONNECT AUDIENCES WITH AUTHORS

- Staff Report

Notable internatio­nal literary icons including a Man Booker Prize winner, toprated inspiratio­nal speakers, a spoken word artist, and several NYT bestsellin­g authors, are among the diverse literary talents from across the globe who will make a livestream­ed interactiv­e appearance at the 39th edition of the Sharjah Internatio­nal Book Fair ( SIBF 2020) from November 4 – 14.

Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority ( SBA) under the theme ‘ The World Reads from Sharjah’, SIBF 2020’ s cultural programme has lined up 64 events and activities to be presented on the ‘ Sharjah Reads’ virtual platform.

Amongst the internatio­nal luminaries participat­ing in the 11- day annual literary and cultural extravagan­za at SIBF 2020 are Richard Williams, an American spoken word artist, poet, and filmmaker better known by his stage name Prince Ea whose creative, inspiratio­nal and thought provoking content has accumulate­d over 1 billion views on social media platforms; US author Robert Kiyosaki, and 2002 Man Booker Prize winner ( Life of Pi) and Canadian author Yann Martel.

Other prominent literary figures at SIBF 2020 include UK writer Ian Rankin; Italy’s Elisabetta Dami, internatio­nally renowned children’s author and creator of the popular Geronimo Stilton series; and Canada’s Neil Pasricha, whose roster of seven NYT bestsellin­g works focuses on living intentiona­lly and follows the themes of gratitude, happiness, failure, resilience, and trust.

Also present at SIBF 2020 will be UK’s Kate Mosse, author of nine novels and short story collection­s, Najwa Zebian, the Lebanese- Canadian author of Sparks of Phoenix, and Dr. Shashi Tharoor, an Indian award- winning writer, and a former internatio­nal diplomat.

Prominent Young Adult authors to look out for include Kimberley Jones, an African-American prolific novelist, and New Zealand’s Lang Leav, a contempora­ry novelist, evocative poet and winner of a Qantas Spirit of Youth Award.

Authors from the UK include journalist and writer Mihir Bose, whose The Nine Waves chronicles the extraordin­ary story of Indian cricket; and UK- based librarian and author Richard Ovenden who has written a history of the deliberate destructio­n of knowledge in Burning The Books.

Literary figures from the USA include Michael Anderle, a Military Science Fiction and Fantasy genre specialist whose The Kurtherian Gambit series has sold over a million books.

Representi­ng Russia at SIBF 2020 are Dr. Gennady Goryachkin, a prominent Orientalis­t; and Dr. Yaser Akel, author, interprete­r, and lecturer at the Department of History of the Middle East – The Faculty of Asian and African Studies at St. Petersburg State University.

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 ??  ?? Prince Ea
Prince Ea
 ??  ?? Mihir Bose
Mihir Bose
 ??  ?? Lang Leav
Lang Leav
 ??  ?? Neil Pasricha
Neil Pasricha
 ??  ?? Yann Martel
Yann Martel
 ??  ?? Shashi Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor

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