As part of the cultural activities organized on the side line of the 30th edition of Sharjah international Book Fair, guests from Edinburgh - the city in focus at this year’s Sharjah International Book Fair - made a presentation of their work which attracted large number of Audience on Monday Evening.
Anna Burkeyis a creative consultant and literary ninja, working across the world to develop cultural events and festivals, she creates curates, produces and presents innovative projects with the arts at their heart, and is particularly interested in literature development: she was a founding staff member of Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature. She’s blogging about the Sarah Book Fair.
Anna talked about Edinburgh’s UNESCO City Of Literature status, and about projects she has worked on as part of the team there - including a graphic novel of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ’Kidnapped’.
She said that Edinburgh is, of course, famous for its cultural festivals. Not just the Book Festival, but also The Fringe and many others. Hannah McGill, who is a writer and illustrator, spoke about her work as the director of the Edinburgh Film Festival - a role she has just finished.
“At the invitation of the Sharjah International Book Fair, I put together a team of writers and festival experts from Edinburgh, the biggest festival city in the world and home to the globe’s first UNESCO City of Literature. We are here to learn about the Sharjah International Book Fair and writing in the Middle-East, and to share our combined expertise about festivals and reading. “Anna added
“We are delighted to be here in Sharjah, and would like to thank the Fair for their invitation and subsequent kind hospitality – we’ve learned a lot so far from our visit. We would like to meet more local writers though!” she said
During the activities Sara Grady Sara Grady, is an American working in the UK. She’s the former Children’s Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, a Board member at Seven Stories, the Centre for Children’s Literature in the UK, and is now an in-demand creative consultant, spoke about her writing.
Sophie Cooke - award-winning poet and novelist. She also works as a Creative Writing tutor for the Open University, and has appeared at several European Book Fairs, including Edinburgh International Book Festival and the Kikinda Festival of Short Stories in Serbia presented a series of beautiful photographs of Scotland, with a commentary.
Hannah McGill - formerly the Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, and a writer. She has been on the jury at the Dubai film Festival and is full of fascinating ideas on cultural development and Festivals in general. She briefed the visitors about her new project called ’Birds of Sharjah’, which combines text and graphics, during her stay here in Sharjah.
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