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This November will see the start of the 2012-13 year-round programme, as three authors return to Dubai for a series of special workshops at Dar Al Adaab, our home in the Al Fahidi Historic Area, Dubai. The workshops are ticketed and numbers are limited!

Tickets are available online now, priced at 200AED, with Festival Friends getting the same 10% discount that they would get at the LitFest.

Poetry Workshops with Imtiaz Dharker

Acclaimed poet Imtiaz Dharker will be the first to return to Dubai, with two poetry masterclasses on Friday 9 November and a poetry reading in Dar Al Adaab’s literary square on Saturday 10 November.

Click here to see a video of Imtiaz reading her poetry at the 2012 Emirates LitFest

The first workshop, beginning at 10am on Friday 9 November, will be for adults interested in improving their poetry writing. This will be followed at 2pm with a class for young adults (ages 12-18), which will be focused on unlocking the memory to lead participants into writing a poem.

These workshops will be followed on Saturday 10 November with a poetry reading at Dar Al Adaab, at which Imtiaz will be joined by the Poeticians, a group of writers who come together to share their work, thoughts, ambitions and fears with audiences in the Middle East. This will be a ticketed event, tickets will be available online or at the door and cost only 30AED.

Creative Writing Workshops with Tim Bowler

The following weekend, Tim Bowler, the Carnegie Award-winning author of River Boy, will be teaching writing workshops for young adults (10am Friday 16 November) and adults (2pm Friday 16 November and 2pm Saturday 16 November).

Both Tim and Imtiaz will also be teaching workshops for the winners of the 2012 Oxford University Press Story Writing Competition and Taaleem Poetry Award respectively. These workshops are only available to the winners, who have been contacted by email.

And even more

Our trio of November speakers will be completed with the return of Fiona Lindsay, whose workshops “Shakespeare on Your Feet” and “Maximise Your Impact” were hits at the 2012 LitFest. She will be speaking at a number of schools and colleges in Dubai, as well as training our session moderators in the arts of conducting the best festival events.

We are also hosting a Ladies Morning with journalist Kristiane Backer (with thanks to Sharjah Book Fair) on Tuesday 6 November and, on Saturday 24 November, will be staging the play Al Teen (Mud), performed by the Sharjah Folklore Arts and Theatre Association Modern Theatre, in Dar Al Adaab's Literary Square. Both events are free of charge.

And of course, the news that you’re all waiting for is the announcement of the 2013 authors and speakers. This is coming very soon, and we’re confident that we have our most exciting lineup yet. Soon after this, you will start hearing about the events that make up the 2013 programme, including a few brand new events that we’re sure you will love.

For news of our upcoming events, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, subscribe to our newsletter, and tune into Talking of Books at 12 noon every Saturday on Dubai Eye 103.8. If you like you can also join the Festival Reading Group and start getting acquainted with the 2013 authors.