Tomorrow, I will Fly — a book of essays written by Dubai prison inmates will be launched at the Emirates Literature Festival, to be held from February 4 to 9, 2020. The book, a ground-breaking venture is the culmination of a two-year long collaboration with the Dubai Police and a year-long project with authors Clare Mackintosh and Annabel Kantaria. Both authors worked with inmates to help them pen their stories. The title of the book, Annabel said, was inspired by a Ugandan inmate who flew only once in her lifetime, the day she came to Dubai.
Intense creative writing workshops helped male and female inmates to process their own emotions and experiences through words. The collection of essays and personal reflections, all on the topic of Tomorrow, were collated in an anthology. To be launched on February 6 at the Penal and Correctional Institutions in Dubai, it will enable the writers involved to read their work aloud and celebrate their achievements among their peers. The book is also an attempt to help them harness their skills to acquire job opportunities once they complete their sentence.
‘’Words are extremely powerful tools. They can change people, and shape how we view the world and who we will become,” said Ahlam Bolooki, festival director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. “Tomorrow, I Will Fly” is a truly ground-breaking initiative for the UAE. It is humbling to be able to creatively support inmates in Dubai and through this project, make a difference to their lives.” At the conference she also announced that over 31 literary festival directors will be attending the festival and that there will be a 50 per cent increase in the number of free events and activities that the public can attend.
Middleeastmasala 