Image: Emirates Airline Festival artwork for its coronavirus COVID-19 guidelines on the program’s physical events
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Physical-Session Safety Guidelines Are Stressed
Following up on our report earlier this month on the physical-and-digital Emirates Airline Festival of Literature planned for three weekends in Dubai, the tickets for that program now are available.
Watching how this is done at a time when so many of the world’s literary festivals have no physical events because of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, you’ll find that the events with a physical component are selling fewer seats than they would normally do.
“Tickets will be required for each event, including free sessions,” according to organizers, “to ensure that visitor number restrictions are adhered to. Several sessions will also be streamed live for those who are unable to attend or miss out on tickets.”
The festival opens January 29 and ticket prices start at:
- 60 UAE dirhams for adult sessions (US$16.34)
- 40 UAE dirhams for children’s sessions (US$10.89)
- 100 UAE dirhams for a digital pass to watch streamed sessions
Organizers say a minimum of 10 top sessions will be streamed live from the festival venue at InterContinental Dubai Festival City.
Many of the events offered are workshops, while others are presentations, readings, and interviews with key authors and other publishing figures. There are a total of just over 100 events listed in the ticketing area of the site, which can be found here.
More on the festival overall is here, and details of the program’s COVID safety guidelines and restrictions are here.
Here’s a video from the program about those COVID guidelines.
Hebb Research Grant Application Deadline: February 15
As you’ll remember from our report in July, Canada’s Access Copyright Foundation calls itself “an arm’s length foundation” of Access Copyright, the English-language Canadian copyright management agency.
And its Marian Hebb Research Grant program funds “the creation of a publishable work, an innovative program, strategic initiative, study paper, or report.” It’s named for Marian Hebb in honor of her work as a copyright attorney.
In its announcement of grants last summer, the total funding allocated in the program was 100,000 Canadian dollars (US$79,157). Grants went to 28 recipients and four organizations in Canada.
Relative to the impact of the pandemic on the program, organizers write, “As opportunities to travel to conduct research remain limited, the foundation is pleased to announce that it has added additional flexibility to its Marian Hebb Research Grant program.
“Creators now have two options when applying for a research grant.
- “The first is to apply for a grant as usual for a research project involving travel.
- “The second is to apply for a grant for an at-home research project to cover expenses such as costs for local transportation, video conferencing and other online services.
Publishers and organizations representing Canada’s creative and publishing communities can also apply for a grant for a research project, no matter whether the project is conducted virtually, in-person, or both.
The deadline is February 15, and full information is here.
More from Publishing Perspectives on literary festivals is here. More from us on the United Arab Emirates is here. More on the Canadian market is here, our coverage of the work of Access Copyright is here, more of our Industry Notes series is here, and more from us on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.