Love the Emirates Lit Fest? You can now watch the best author talks online for free

One new session from this year's festival will be published on YouTube every week

British mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington seen hiking on Lamma Island. 24JUN15 [JUN2015 POST MAG FEATURE] (Photo by Jonathan Wong/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

OXFORD, ENGLAND - APRIL 3: Sir Ranulph Fiennes, explorer and adventurer, at the Oxford Literary Festival 2019 on April 3, 2019 in Oxford, England. (Photo by David Levenson/Getty Images)

British mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington and Sir Ranulph Fiennes spoke at this year's Emirates Festival of Literature. Getty

Razmig Bedirian

Apr 08, 2020

If you feel like you missed out on some key sessions during this year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, you’re in luck.

The Emirates Literature Foundation has announced it is releasing a series of filmed panel discussions from this year’s iteration of the festival, online.

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One new session will be released on the EmiratesLitFest YouTube channel every week. First up was a panel discussion with explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington, which was made available on Tuesday, April 7.

The celebrated explorers appeared at the festival in February to share their extraordinary experiences at the farthest points on Earth.

Bonington started climbing in 1951 at the age of 16 and continues to do so. His many achievements include the first successful climbs of Mount Everest's south-west face and the south face of Annapurna. Fiennes has been described as "the world's greatest living explorer" by Guinness World Records and is one of only two men to travel around the Earth's circumpolar surface. The other was British explorer Charles Burton.

Several literary heavyweights appeared at this year's festival, including An American Marriage's Tayari Jones, crime writer Jo Nesbo, The Book Thief's Markus Zusak and Omani author and Man Booker International Prize winner, Jokha Alharthi.

Besides uploading a series of panels, the foundation will share book recommendations during this period of social distancing. It will also publish a curated list of resources for literary entertainment, education and self-improvement across its digital platforms. This includes reading lists and resources for children of all ages.

To view the sessions and to keep up to date with all the latest content, subscribe to the EmiratesLitFest YouTube channel, or go to elfdubai.org.