The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair returns with a programme spanning literature and poetry, music, art, history and space diplomacy.
Running from Sunday until September 18 at Adnec, the 35th staging will feature around 1,500 events, with exhibitors from 95 countries and sessions spread across six stages.
The 17th century Spanish novel Don Quixote has been designated the Book of the World, while eighth-century scholar Al Khalil ibn Ahmad Al Farahidi is the fair’s Focus Personality. The culture of the Balkan region is being celebrated as Guest of Honour, with sessions looking at its publishing industry and culinary connections with the Arab world.
The programme also brings together winners of this year’s major Arabic literary prizes, musicians, artists and cultural figures, with sessions on Egyptian singer Nagat Al Saghira, painter Inji Efflatoun, Cafe Riche, Abdel Halim Hafez and the UAE’s use of space diplomacy.
Here are 13 sessions to catch.
1. Opening Ceremony
When: Sunday, 5pm
The fair opens with a programme looking back at its history since 1981, alongside Emirati music and a theatrical performance inspired by this year’s Focus Personality.
2. Cervantes and the Birth of the Modern Novel
When: September 14, 4pm
Few books changed fiction as decisively as Don Quixote. Published in the early 17th century, Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes’s masterpiece follows an ageing nobleman who imagines himself a knight-errant and sets out on a series of adventures with his companion Sancho Panza.
Its irony, self-awareness and psychological depth helped give the novel new possibilities, while its characters brought greater complexity to the form. The discussion, featuring Muhsin Al Musawi and Akeel Al Marai, will consider its impact on modern literature and how Don Quixote opened the novel to a richer exploration of the human condition and its contradictions.
3. Nagat and the Golden Age of Arabic Music
When: September 14, 6pm
Egyptian singer Nagat Al Saghira is being recognised as Cultural Personality of the Year at the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.
Nagat will look back on her career that spans decades, with songs including Oyoun El Qalb and La Takthibi, offering a clear insight into one of the great eras of modern Arabic music, when singers, composers and poets worked together to create songs of unusual emotional and literary weight.
4. Habib Al Sayegh: A Legacy of Giving, Poetry as a Nation’s Heritage
When: September 14, 7pm
The session is an evening dedicated to the works of the late Emirati poet and journalist, with readings and music honouring one of the leading figures of modern poetry in the UAE.
Born in Abu Dhabi in 1955, Al Sayegh worked across various forms of classical Arabic poetry, with collections translated into languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Chinese before he died in 2019, aged 64.
5. From Recognition to Readership: A Conversation with Said Khatibi, winner of the 2026 International Prize for Arabic Fiction
When: September 14, 9pm
This year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction winner Said Khatibi will discuss his award-winning novel Swimming Against the Tide. It goes through half a century of Algerian history thanks to the intertwined stories of an ophthalmologist accused of murdering her husband and her father, a former resistance fighter accused of treason.
He will also consider what literary prizes can do for Arabic fiction in reaching international readers.
6. Sung Secrets: Halim’s Other Half
When: September 14, 9pm
Twentieth-century Egyptian crooner Abdel Halim Hafez remains one of the defining voices of modern Arabic music, with his canon carrying romance, longing and Arab nationalism. Songs such as Ahwak and Zay El Hawa emerged from collaborations with some of the region’s greatest composers and lyricists.
It's a legacy that writer Mohamed Abdelazim, composer Waleed Shaaban and singer Adel Elsanhory will discuss through the songs, stories and creative partnerships behind his career.
7. Cafe Riche: The Spirit of Place and Time
When: September 15, 5pm
For generations, Cafe Riche in Cairo – still open in the Egyptian capital – was a meeting place for writers, artists and intellectuals, including Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, Taha Hussein and Abbas El-Akkad.
Emirati poet and novelist Maisoon Saqr Al Qasimi will be part of a panel that also includes Cafe Riche co-owner Andrew Michel, revisiting the stories and figures connected to the cultural landmark.
8. Salman Ziman: A Bahraini Musical Legacy
When: September 15, 9pm
The late Bahraini singer Salman Ziman helped shape the sound of Bahrain and Gulf music through songs such as Inta Muradi, Aqbel Al Eid and Thikrayat.
His younger brother, composer Khalifa Ziman, will reflect on the singer’s life and work, followed by a performance by a Bahraini ensemble.
9. Al Farahidi and the Music of Arabic Poetry
When: September 16, 3pm
The eighth-century scholar Al Khalil ibn Ahmad Al Farahidi – who is the Focus Personality at this year's fair – gave Arabic poetry an enduring structure largely followed today.
Literary critics Mohamed Abouelfadl Badran, Abdullah Ghlais and musician Mustafa Said will discuss his creation of Arabic prosody, the metrical science that helped define the form and rhythm of Arabic verse.
10. Rashid, Wadeha and the Blue Qur’an
When: September 16, 7pm
One of Zayed National Museum’s most significant holdings, a bifolio from the ninth-century Blue Quran, will feature in a family-friendly storytelling session led by Emirati authors Mohammed Al Mansoori and Latifa Al Mansoori.
11. The UAE in Times of Crisis Creates Miracles
When: September 17, 4pm
The session is a timely discussion on how UAE authorities and society respond to challenges through institutional co-ordination, innovation and leadership, and how resilience is built into long-term national planning.
Taking part are Maya Al Mazrouei, spokeswoman for the UAE Ministry of Defence, and Emirati political analyst Salem Al Ketbi, who specialises in strategic and international affairs.
12. The UAE and the New Language of Space Diplomacy
When: September 17, 5pm
Naser Abdullatif Al Hammadi, head of international relations at the UAE Space Agency, discusses how space exploration can become a tool of diplomacy and international co-operation. The conversation considers whether working together in space can build trust between governments.
13. How Is Creativity Born? A Presentation of the Life and Work of Inji Efflatoun
When: September 17, 7pm
Inji Efflatoun, one of Egypt’s most important modern artists, was a painter whose work was inseparable from her ideas about justice, equality and freedom.
Barjeel Art Foundation founder Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi and its director, Suheyla Takesh, co-editors of the book The Life and Work of Inji Efflatoun, discuss the artist’s career as well as the political and personal experiences that shaped her work.
