At the 44^th Sharjah International Book Fair, British novelist Clare Whitfield and Emirati writer Talal Mahmoud agreed that emotionally layered people make stories compelling

Sharjah, November 11, 2025 

A good twist is not about giving shock but is about emotion and should feel inevitable in hindsight, agreed British novelist Clare Whitfield and Emirati writer Talal Mahmoud as they discussed “The Unpredictable Factor: Twists, Reveals and Surprises!” at the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF). Moderated by radio presenter Louis Denham, the compelling session on building powerful plot twists, crafting surprises that feel real, and exploring why unpredictability is one of the key elements that keeps readers truly hooked, was a useful study for aspiring writers and lay readers.

From early-morning writing battles to bestselling novels, the American author of Around the Bend inspires audiences at the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair to write from the heart

Sharjah, November 11, 2025

New York Times bestselling author Shirley Jump encouraged aspiring writers to transform personal experience and emotion into powerful fiction during an engaging, interactive session at the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2025).

Speaking to a full house in a discussion titled Real Life, Real Stories: Your Journey into Fiction Writing, Jump shared how her journey from journalism to fiction began during a challenging period in her life. “For years I would get up at 4:30am to write before anyone was awake,” she said. “Those quiet hours were when I learned how to tell stories that came from the heart.”

Pakistani supercop-turned-author Omar Shahid Hamid and Icelandic writer Eva Björg Ægisdóttir explore how local realities shape the global language of thrillers at the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair

Sharjah, November 11, 2025

What connects the quiet Nordic town of Akranes to the bustling streets of Karachi? At the 44th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2025), two acclaimed crime authors offered the answer: ‘culture’.

During a Thrillerfest session, Omar Shahid Hamid, Pakistan’s counter-terrorism officer-turned-novelist, and Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, Iceland’s award-winning crime writer, discussed how real-life experience, psychology, and place shape the universal language of crime fiction.