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Abulhoul defends Dubai Bedell ban
17.02.09 | Philip Jones
The Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature has defended its decision not to allow Penguin author Geraldine Bedell to launch her new book The Gulf Between Us at the event. The organisers withdrew the book after discovering the novel featured a homosexual sheikh who had an English boyfriend and was also set in the backdrop to the Iraq war.
Isobel Abulhoul, director, has now issued the following statement: "I have lived in Dubai for forty years. Based on my knowledge of who would appeal to the book-reading community in the Middle East, and having read 150 pages of Bedell’s manuscript I knew that her work could offend certain cultural sensitivities. I did not believe that it was in the festival’s long term interests to acquiesce to her publisher’s (Penguin) request to launch the book at the first festival of this nature in the Middle East."
Abulhoul, who runs Magrudy's Bookshops in Dubai, added: "We do, of course, acknowledge the excellent publicity campaign being run by Penguin which will no doubt increase sales of her book and we wish Ms Bedell the very best."
The first International Festival of Literature in Dubai starts on 26th February and features authors including Kate Adie, Anthony Horowitz, Jamil Qureshi, Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
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One can appreciate the difficulty of your situation Isobel, but you really can't have a literature festival that bans certain types of stories. I can't help thinking, however, that someone at Penguin was up to a bit of mischief.
"Among the reasons given to her for the cancellation of the launch was that the book was set in the Gulf, that it talks about Islam, that it focuses on the Iraq war and there was a gay character."
Hope you're proud of yourself!
Shame you chose to acquiesce to homophobia.
Now Atwood has pulled out, hardly surprising, and I expect others to follow.
MS. G. BEDELL, what motive do you have in coming out in the open recently when you have ample time to react on the organiser's decision not to include your work at the festival last September?Is it too pretty obvious that you only want to be talked about as you are having your book to be out in April and reacting toooooo late when the Festival of literature is nearing so as ur book to be publicised using the EAIFL EVENT?dont you have other ways to promote your book and not associating with this event?
I have a friend who lives in Dubai as her husband has a 5 year contract. She hates it. It is a cultural as well as the other sort of desert, and she and many were looking forward to the Literature Festival as a real Oasis. Now many writers will withdraw. Well what did you expect Ms Bedell?Penguin ? Did anyone actually stop to THINK about launching what would clearly offend the Host country ? No, they thought, 'Hey, great publicity.' So you cause a rumpus, get your publicity - and thereby deprive a lot of literature lovers in Dubai of a good literature festival. Congratulations.
One can appreciate the difficulty of your situation Isobel, but you really can't have a literature festival that bans certain types of stories. I can't help thinking, however, that someone at Penguin was up to a bit of mischief.
"Among the reasons given to her for the cancellation of the launch was that the book was set in the Gulf, that it talks about Islam, that it focuses on the Iraq war and there was a gay character."
Hope you're proud of yourself!
Shame you chose to acquiesce to homophobia.
Now Atwood has pulled out, hardly surprising, and I expect others to follow.
MS. G. BEDELL, what motive do you have in coming out in the open recently when you have ample time to react on the organiser's decision not to include your work at the festival last September?Is it too pretty obvious that you only want to be talked about as you are having your book to be out in April and reacting toooooo late when the Festival of literature is nearing so as ur book to be publicised using the EAIFL EVENT?dont you have other ways to promote your book and not associating with this event?
I have a friend who lives in Dubai as her husband has a 5 year contract. She hates it. It is a cultural as well as the other sort of desert, and she and many were looking forward to the Literature Festival as a real Oasis. Now many writers will withdraw. Well what did you expect Ms Bedell?Penguin ? Did anyone actually stop to THINK about launching what would clearly offend the Host country ? No, they thought, 'Hey, great publicity.' So you cause a rumpus, get your publicity - and thereby deprive a lot of literature lovers in Dubai of a good literature festival. Congratulations.