The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature authors contribute chapters to create a Twitter story based on the Festival theme. Take a look at past stories below:
EAFOL16 Twitter Story
The 2016 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature Twitter Story.
EAFOL15 Twitter Story
Students from Higher Colleges of Technology illustrated the 2015 Festival Twitter Story.
Hover over each image to see the corresponding chapter.
EAFOL14 Twitter Story
The 2014 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature Twitter Story.
EAFOL12 Twitter Story
| Over the course of the 2011 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, we tweeted a short story in 140-character “chapters”, written by 18 of the participating authors – some experienced twitterati, others new or casual users, still others uninterested or uninitiated. Here is the complete story. | |||
Chapter 1. Leila AboulelaFrom the window he saw silver buildings, a sea or lagoon, sand the colour of wafer. Adam grabbed the arm of a passing stewardess. “Where?” |
Chapter 2. Miguel SyjucoShe pulled away, her rebuke in a strange language. He retched, the taste of jelloshots like regret. Then, panic: that 3am tweet! |
Chapter 3. Matt ReesHe rushed to the airline toilet, where he found Khaled dead with a BlackBerry clenched between his teeth. |
Chapter 4. Mark BillinghamHe scrolled through to ‘last number dialed.’ He heard the ragged tattoo of his own heartbeat. Khaled had been trying to call him. |
Chapter 5. Paul BlezardHe stood, transfixed by the blood on the metal floor. Then reached down and removed the tiny gold ingot from Khaled’s inside pocket. |
Chapter 6. Louise DoughtyHe looked at the ingot. Khaled had tried to call; now he had to answer. He closed his eyes, lifted his hand, swallowed the ingot. |
Chapter 7. Charlie HigsonHe was back. This last trip had been more intense than ever. Mason grinned at him. ‘You found your way out of the hole, white rabbit?’ |
Chapter 8. Christina Lamb“You know me, always looking for the latest #revolution”, he said. The ingot sent a signal summoning him to the top of Burj Khalifa. |
Chapter 9. Philip ArdaghHe sighed. Of all the places, they chose the tallest building in the world. But vertigo was the least of his worries… |
Chapter 10. Tess GerritsenTen minutes later, from the top, he saw it. Shimmering in the distance like a diamond. His worst nightmare had come true. |
Chapter 11. Eoin ColferNot a diamond. An emerald shamrock. The trademark belt buckle of ‘Lucky’ Murphy, the Irish mafia’s international gun-for-hire. |
Chapter 12. Charley BoormanThe lifts had broken. He headed for the stairs. There he saw it – a beautiful shiny motorcycle, which was the only way down. |
Chapter 13. Richard WisemanHe jumped on the motorcycle but the petrol tank was empty as his heart. He had to find a way out. Then he saw it – a pogo stick! |
Chapter 14. Marina LewyckaHe unscrewed it with care. Inside, rolled tight, was a parachute and a note in small crabbed writing. The paper smelled of lavender. |
Chapter 15. Michael MorpurgoLavender. His grandmother loved lavender. Her bedroom smelt of lavender. Her dresses smelt of lavender; including the one she died in. |
Chapter 16. Abraham VergheseAs Chekov said, a pistol in act one means it has to go off by act three. He saw the parachute and realised he had to jump. |
Chapter 17. XinranHe jumped. A 100 metres later, the parachute opened and opened. To his surprise it becomes a pair of wings – and the wind blew him away. |
Chapter 18. Kamal Abdel-MalekThen suddenly he realised that all his life he’d been speaking in prose, not poetry. |
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