Dubai, 10 October 2017:  The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature is pleased to announce the highly successful Montegrappa Writing Prize is back for 2018, and it is bigger than ever before. For the first time, the competition is broadening its reach and first time novelists from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia can enter.

 

The winner of the Prize wins the chance to discuss their manuscript with international literary agent Luigi Bonomi, a two-night stay at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai, a copy of the current Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook and a Montegrappa Limited Edition Writing Instrument.

 

The competition is now open to residents of the above countries who are 21 years or older and who have never published a novel before. Entries can be on any theme, but must include:

All entries will be judged by Luigi Bonomi, founder of Luigi Bonomi Associates (LBA) and literary agent for several previous Festival authors, including Rachel Hamilton, Lucy Strange, Alan Titchmarsh, Judy Finnigan and Richard Madeley.

 

‘We feel the time is right to expand the reach of the competition and tap into the writing potential of the region,’ said Isobel Abulhoul, OBE, CEO and Trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation and Director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. ‘The success of the Montegrappa Writing Prize has been easy to judge - eight past winners from the UAE have already signed book deals with international publishers. Imagine the latent talents we can discover in the rest of the region. So, no more excuses. Finish your manuscript, enter the competition, and start your writing journey today.’

 

Closing date for entries is 19 January, 2018. Winners will be announced during the 10th Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, to be held from 1-10 March, 2018. Entries must be submitted online via the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature website at emirateslitfest.com/competitions/montegrappa-writing-prize.

 

Giuseppe Aquila, CEO of Montegrappa Italia said, ‘At Montegrappa we love the creative process of writing, be it traditional penmanship, calligraphy, or in the case of this competition, the creativity and imagination of writing fiction. The Montegrappa Writing Prize has been a fantastic opportunity to support and engage with new authors. Past winners of the competition have been delighted with their prizes and have gone on to be great ambassadors for Montegrappa writing instruments, and we have been watching their writing careers unfold with great pride. We are looking forward to another year of the competition and discovering more talent from a wider geographical group as the competition expands.’