There are almost 200 speakers from 40 different nationalities confirmed to appear at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2026. The lineup (in alphabetical order) comprises: Aarvi Paleja, Abdelouahab Aissaoui, Abdulaziz Al Musallam, Abdulla Al Anazi, Abdullah Alkadi, Abdulrahman Alhumairy, Abdulwahab Alhammadi, Affan Adeel, Ahmed Al Saadawi, Ahmed ElMorsy, Ahmed N Barqawi, Alastair Chisholm, Alawiya Sobh, Alex Shaw, Alexander McCall Smith, Ali Al Mazmi, Ali AlShaali, Ali Sparkes, Aloush Alswait, Alwaleed Abdullah Alneyadi, Alwyn Hamilton, Amal Al Marri, Amaryllis Abu, Annabel Kantaria, Asma Khan, Aube Rey Lescure, Aysha Sultan, Badriah Albeshr, Bashayer Alatrouzi, Beatrice Cross, Bettany Hughes, Big Manny, Brent Shuttleworth, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Carlos Andrés Gómez, Chloe Pierre, Curtis Jobling, Dai Rahmi, Danabelle Gutierrez, Diana Darke, Ebtisam Al-Beiti, Eowyn Ivey, Eve Wersocki-Morris, Ezzat Elkamhawi, Fatima Al-Mazrouie, Freya North, Greg McLeod, Greg Mosse, Hafsa Lodi, Hala Alyan, Hamda Alzarouni, Hamdan Al Shehhi, Hamza Kenawi, Hanin Omar, Hannah Gold, Hasan Madan, Hayley Mae Masters, Hessa Almehairi, Hessa Lootah, Hoda Barakat, Inua Ellams, Jalal Barjas, Jamie Smart, Jemima Forrester, Jane Pica, Janette Ayachi, Jeremy Bowen, Jessica Kahawty, Jessica Smith, Joanna Barakat, John Patrick Green, Judy Murray, Kathy Urban, Kelly L Weinersmith, Ken Liu, Keshava Guha, Khalfan Belhoul, Layla Almotawa, Leigh Hodgkinson, Leyth Sharaf, Louise Candlish, Lucy Strange, Lulwa Yaser Al Ali, Mahdi Hanna, Maitha Al Khayat, Manupriam Seth, Mariana Missakian, Marjorie Lotfi, Maryam AlZarooni, Mark Fiddes, Matt Goodfellow, MC Grammar, Meera Almansoori, Meera Yousef Malalla Al Khemeiri, Mehran Gul, Meredith Miller, Michael Pedersen, Mira Sethi, Mirna Elmahdy, Mishaal Asjad, Mohamed Fathi, Mohamed Samir Nada, Mohammad Abdulrahman AlKaabi, Mohammed Hamed Abedin, Mohammed Alhebsi, Mounir Hayek, Mushata Matei, Myles McLeod, Myrna Ayad, Nada AlShaali, Nadia Al Najjar, Naeema Al Hosani, Naga Munchetty, Nasir Nasrallah, Neil Shubin, Nizrana Farook, Nora Zeid, Noura Al Khoori, Noura Al Noman, Nouri Al Jarrah, Oindrila Chakraborty, Oli Munson, Oliver Jeffers, Omar Saif Ghobash, Omer Taher, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Paul Dolan, Peter Frankopan, Petr Horáček, Peter Mackay, Philip Reeve, Plestia Alaqad, R.F. Kuang, Raafat Hekmat, Rachel Bright, Rachel Clarke, Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Rawan Alyahmadi, Reem Al Hashimy, Reem Al Kamali, Rob Biddulph, Ross MacKenzie, Ruchi Mhasane, Ruth Ware, Rhys Johnston, Saeed Rashed AlMansouri, Safia AlShehi, Salha Obaid, Samantha Shannon, Sammar Shabir, Sara Hamdan, Sarah McIntyre, Saud Alsanousi, Scott Turow, Scott Walker, Saif Al Neyadi, Shahina A. Ghazanfar, Shahla Ujayli, Shamma Al Bastaki, Sharon King-Chai, Shashi Tharoor, Shereen Malherbe, Shihab Ghanem, Shireen Sabanegh, Simon Armitage, Simon Mole, Soukaina Habiballah, Sue Wickison, Sultan Al Amimi, Sultan Al Shehhi, Sultan Sooud AlQassemi, Tarek El-Ariss, Thomas Doherty, Thor Pedersen, Tia Watson, Uttama Kirit Patel.