01/09/18: Emirati science fiction writer Noura Al Noman talks about what books have made her. From the classic Lord of the Rings series to The Five Adventurers, we learn how some of her favourite books have influenced where she is today and how they have inspired her growing up.

01/09/18: This week, award-winning author and former broadcast journalist Joanna Nadin will be in the story corner talking about her series and collaboration with Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy. Flying Fergus follows the cycling adventures of nine-year-old Fergus Hamilton and his friends in a parallel universe called Nevermore.

01/09/18: Tune in for book recommendations, round-up of headlines from the book world and a random and interesting bookish fact!

01/09/18: This week, award-winning author and former broadcast journalist Joanna Nadin will be in the story corner talking about her series and collaboration with Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy. Flying Fergus follows the cycling adventures of nine-year-old Fergus Hamilton and his friends in a parallel universe called Nevermore.

01/09/18: Literary enthusiast and Managing Director of The Tribe, Rob Mitchell, takes a look at The President is Missing by James Patterson and Bill Clinton, a political thriller and the first novel co-authored by the former US president. We also discuss author collaborations in general - when do they further a narrative and when are they just a gimmick?

01/09/18: Ruby Liberty Flynn reads an excerpt from her entry to the Oxford University Press Story Writing Competition held annually by the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature for school and university students. She won first place in the Under 11 category with her story ‘Stolen Memories’.

07/07/18: The Bookshelf – Less by Andrew Sean Greer

What if you weren’t still over an Ex, and they invited you to their wedding? In the 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning Less by Andrew Sean Greer, the eponymous Arthur Less has this very problem. Joining us for a hot-take on this bittersweet romance of chances lost and a wider look at memorable breakups in literature, are writer and Founder of Dubai Literary Salon, Hananah Zaheer, and Penny Mackenzie, long-time librarian at The Old Library and lifelong bookworm with a spooky knack for identifying prize-winning books.

The Bookshelf – An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim

After break-ups we move onto a tale of the ultimate long-distance relationship in debut novelist Thea Lim’s An Ocean of Minutes. As a result of a deadly flu pandemic, Polly signs up to a one-way ticket to the future to work as a bonded labourer in exchange for the cure that will save the man she loves. Polly and Frank arrange to meet 12 years in the future at a specific place, but Polly lands years later than intended and Frank is nowhere to be found.

07/07/18: Two books that both the most ardent and lukewarm of football fans can sink their teeth into over the final days of the World Cup. What happens when you cross one of the most famous poets of the English Romantic period with the Breaking Bad television series. Plus a quick round-up of headlines from the book world.

Two books that both the most ardent and lukewarm of football fans can sink their teeth into over the final days of the World Cup. What happens when you cross one of the most famous poets of the English Romantic period with the Breaking Bad television series. Plus a quick round-up of headlines from the book world.

07/07/18: What happens when you combine Jane Austen and Pakistan? We asked Laaleen Sukhera, curator of and co-contributor to, Austenistan, a Jane Austen-inspired anthology of stories set in contemporary Pakistan. Laaleen tells us about the book, what she’d ask Jane Austen and who her favourite Austen couple is.