The Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature kicks off on Tuesday and is scheduled to run until March 12.

Centred around the theme of ‘Time’, the event will see the participation of more than 150 writers, poets and illustrators from 30 countries. The festival will mostly take place at InterContinental Hotel in Festival City.

With 2016 announced as the Year of Reading by the country’s leaders, the eighth edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is putting a special emphasis on the habit, along with local traditions, and William Shakespeare, in honour of the famous bard’s 400th anniversary.

Isobel Abulhoul, CEO and trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation and director of the festival, said that the huge array of talent and topics being covered this year have prompted them to extend the length of the festival “and do justice to the most diverse programme yet”.

Among the names participating in the eighth edition of the Emirates Airlines Literature of Festival 2016 are novelist Anthony Horowitz; award-winning children’s writer Jacqueline Wilson; English poet and playwright Simon Armitage; and British Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. For the full list of authors, visit emirateslitfest.com/authors.

Abulhoul said of the theme Time, “The 2016 Festival is a brand new adventure for us and our audience,” Isobel said, “We will take a look at the past through our Shakespeare strand while looking at the present and the future with our science writers … I sincerely believe that this will be our largest, longest and most spectacular Festival yet.”

Saeed Al Nabouda, acting director-general of Dubai Culture, has previously said: “The festival marks the beginning of the Dubai Art Season, which celebrates the artistic, cultural and literary diversity of our city, and the strong intercultural dialogue that we promote through various initiatives. Dubai Culture has been extending its support to the festival over the past seven years, and we are delighted that it has now evolved as one of the most anticipated and widely attended literary events in the region.”

The festival offers plenty of panel discussions, insightful conversations, poetry recitals and performances, workshops and masterclasses, featuring authors and speakers from every corner of the globe. Tickets for the workshops and performances can be purchased on emirateslitfest.com.