Isobel Abulhoul  Isobel Abulhoul , is the CEO and Trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation. Isobel Abulhoul came to Dubai in 1968 and co-founded Magrudy’s, a bookshop chain, in 1975. In 2008, she founded and was the Director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, the Arab World’s largest celebration of the written and spoken word. The Festival won the Best Festival title at the Middle East Event Awards in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In October 2016, the Festival was named Best Family Day out by Time Out Kids Dubai and received another award as Favourite Festival given by What’s On awards in November 2016 and 2017. In 2013, HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and also the Festival patron, issued a Decree forming the Emirates Literature Foundation, naming Isobel as one of the trustees on the Board. In addition, Isobel also holds the position of CEO of the Foundation. She is also a Trustee of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction Board, Secretary General of the Kalimat Foundation and Director of the Board for the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library. Isobel has received several awards and accolades over the years, including Cultural Personality of the Year by Dr. HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah in 2010 and an OBE by HM Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain in 2012. As the co-host of ‘Talking of Books’, broadcast weekly on Dubai Eye 103.8 FM, Isobel has now found an enjoyable way to spend Saturday mornings discussing the latest titles and interviewing authors from around the world.