Scientist Jane Goodall to speak at Dubai literature festival

The famed primatologist will take part in next year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

Young researcher Jane Goodall with baby chimpanzee Flint at Gombe Stream Reasearch Center in Tanganyika.

Scientist Jane Goodall and Chinese author Mai Jia are coming to Dubai's Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in February.

Both will take part in sessions exploring their respective ground-breaking careers. Goodall, whose work has been celebrated in countless documentaries, including 2017's Jane, will shed further light on her work, which saw her making scientific breakthroughs in the field of animal behaviour.

Her appearance at the festival comes on the back of her sold-out session earlier this year at the Emirates Literature Foundation.

She will be joined by Jia, who is viewed as one of China’s most successful authors. His five best-selling spy novels sold more than five million copies and have been translated into 33 languages.

Acclaimed for his dense plotting, Jia's books are as brainy as they are exciting. His appearance at the festival will coincide with the release of the English translation of the novel The Message, a thriller where five code-breakers are locked in a secret room until the traitor among them is revealed.

Running from Tuesday, February 4 to Sunday, February 9 at the InterContinental, Dubai Festival City, the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature will be hosting many best-selling authors and cultural figures.

They include 2019 International Prize for Arabic Fiction author Hoda Barakat, Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist Esi Edugyan, Emirati astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, British explorers Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Chris Bonington and celebrity chef Nadiya Hussain.

“I look at our programme and I am humbled by the incredible writers who give up their time to share their passion with us and our diverse community,” said festival director Ahlam Bolooki. “These writers are all veritable super stars in their genres, and I recommend booking quickly before tickets sell out.”

More information is available at emirateslitfest.com