… like most of yeez I s’pose, I can be a grouch at times… this ol’ Jurassic has his moments when the only thought in mind sum’times is to whine, moan and complain… in fairness to myself, however, I do occasionally take a moment’s pause to applaud things such as fine service in a restaurant, or when sumb’dy goes that extra mile for yeez… this week, I’d like to more than just pause… the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai ended last Saturday… I was privileged to participate at several levels in the course of the week’s events… at first hand, I observed the multiplicity of things that went into making it the huge success it turned out to be… a triumph for coordination, organisation and teamwork… one of the collective nouns for swans is ‘a ballet of swans’… these beautiful creatures who glide gracefully across the surface of the pond waters, while their feet are paddling away like mad… the Festival team were that ballet of swans… much labour goes into the event, of course, over an entire year prior to the opening day… the week itself is a whirlwind of activity… from the ticketing reception areas, to the magnificent presentation room management, to the brigades of volunteers, the supreme efficiency of the Green Room managers… the whole nine yards from start to finish… I’m gonna give myself the authority to say ‘Thank You’ on behalf of all we quill-scraping participants, and the tens of thousands of Literature-LUVVIN people who attended… no list is ever comprehensive enuff, and if anyone is omitted from here who should be on it, ‘Thank You’ also to you… here’s the wonderful gang who made it all possible :
Isobel Abulhoul Director
Yvette Judge Acting Director
Becky Kilsby Head of Programming
Jacky Williams Head of Operations
Asma Merchant Operations Coordinator
Mohemmed Musthafa Runs the office
Chrissie Searle Volunteers and radio
Nicky Mills Education Coordinator
Yara Mirdad Competitions manager
Cathy Penaflor PA to Isobel
Mary Ann Miranda Author liaison
Hind AbdulRahman KHDA representative
Tariq Thaljeh Dubai Culture representative
Manisha Dutt Sponsorship
Carmel Rosato Head of Communications
Natasha Shekar Communications team
Hiba Kunil Communications team
Ronita Mohan Communications Team
Aedan Lake Web Content
Georgina Walsh Authors’ social and cultural programme
Lucy Ward Intern
Annabelle Corton Intern
Charlie Madsen Intern
Lydia Maskell Intern
Prachiti Talathi Receptionist
Gillian Bourke Green room
Jo James Green Room
Lisa Bond Green Room
Malik Kurshid Khan Looks after the Festival office building!
WELL DONE!!!!! see yeez all again next year!