Pakistani author, Muhammad Ali Bandial’s debut novel I Dream of Rain has been selected for the 15th annual Emirates Airline Festival of Literature (Emirates LitFest 2023) in Dubai, UAE.
Bandial was picked as one of the speakers for the LitFest Launchpad, an even to promote international authors from around the world tp promote their latest works to audiences, in November during the ‘Author Reveal’ for the 2023 Emirates LitFest.
The 43-year-old novelist from Islamabad, Pakistan was honored to be selected for the upcoming literature festival in Dubai. He said,
It is literally a dream come true and something I could never have imagined when I sat down to write the story. All I knew was that I had to be completely vulnerable and honest and let the words flow out unencumbered. The rest, I left to the universe. And I’m glad to say that the results have far surpassed my expectations.
In regards to the Pakistani author’s selection for the prestigious event, Tamreez Inam, the assistant festival director and head of programming for the Emirates Literature Foundation, said, “We were impressed by his original voice and the emotional appeal of the story [I Dream of Rain]. He is a fantastic writer who gradually layers his sharply observed narrative travelling back and forth in time”.
Muhammad Ali Bandial made his authoring debut earlier this year with I Dream of Rain, which was published by Liberty Books Pakistan. The novel is a heartfelt tale that captures a complex father-son relationship through the perspective of its protagonist ‘Bunny’, a 26-year-old boy who carries within him the hurt and anguish of a 13-year-old who felt abandoned and betrayed by the person closest to him.
Bandial finished the entire book during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in Dubai. He explained that “being away from family and having to hear about loved ones being sick and worrying about them opened up a lot of past emotions and feelings” that made him realize how much those bonds mattered.
I Dream of Rain is available at Liberty Books stores in Lahore and Karachi, and also online via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, scribd, and Kobo.
The Pakistani writer also revealed that he is set to publish his second novel next year, and is currently working on a third book as well.
Emirates Lit Fest is considered to be one of the biggest literary events in the world. The annual event brings together people from all four corners of the world to captivate, entertain, and inspire.
The 2023 Emirates LitFest will feature some big names this year, including Hollywood star Brian Cox, Irish novelist Cecelia Ahern, British-Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid, Indian politician and author Shashi Tharoor, and more.
