A specially commissioned digital event featuring author and diplomat Omar Saif Ghobash and historian Peter Frankopan will be the centrepiece of the Emirates Literature Foundation’s presence at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair.

 

The digital discussion, titled ‘The New World Order - How the pandemic has changed the course of history forever’, will be available as a free to view broadcast at 16:40 GST (14:40 CET) on Saturday 17 October as part of the BookFest digital @ Frankfurt Book Fair.

 

This is the first time that The Emirates Literature Foundation is taking part in Frankfurt Book Fair (from October 14 to 18), the world’s largest trade fair for books, which this year has gone digital because of the pandemic and travel restrictions preventing countries from exhibiting.

 

The Emirates Literature Foundation proposition for the online session was selected from almost 1,000 proposals considered for inclusion in the digital edition.

 

Isobel Abulhoul, CEO and trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation said: “We were thrilled, in the face of such strong competition, to have our proposal selected for the digital programme. Showcasing Emirati authors at the Frankfurt Book Fair was in our plans before the pandemic, so we are delighted that we are still able to take part in its digital form. Pandemics have always been a catalyst for change, and it will be enlightening to hear our two experts’ predictions for the consequences on world politics, particularly within the region.”

 

Frankopan is professor of global history at Oxford University and author of The New Silk Roads. Ghobash is the Assistant Minister of Public and Cultural Diplomacy for the UAE. Previously he served as Ambassador to France (2017-2018) and Ambassador to Russia (2008-2017) and published ‘Letters to a Young Muslim’ in 2017. -- Tradearabia News Service