A former hostage, held for over five years by Lebanese militants, John McCarthy will be appearing at the the Sharjah International Book Fair 2015 (SIBF) on 4-14 November at the Expo Centre. McCarthy is a writer and a broadcaster, who in 1986 had his life dramatically changed when working on his first foreign assignment in Lebanon he was kidnapped abducted and held hostage for 1,943 days.But turning adversity into triumph, going from darkness into sunlight, John McCarthy has taken a life shattering experience and turned it into a benefit for humanity through his work as author and speaker on current affairs. McCarthy will be part of a panel discussion at the SIBF called, “Writing and Facing the Current Situation” with Habib Al Sayegh from the UAE, and Moni Mohsin a Pakistani author based in London.
The panel will look at how writing and creativity helps communities overcome the negative impact of conflict and acts of aggression. Creative writing and books shape our view of the modern world so how literature and non-fiction help in furthering our understanding of some of the most destructive and hostile concepts and regimes is explored in the session. McCarthy says, “The thought of thousands and thousands of people coming together to talk about books and share ideas is wonderful. I’m looking forward to meeting people and learning from them. I think that it’s very important in trying to understand how the world works and, therefore, how things might work better.”
McCarthy has worked for the BBC, ITV, Sky Arts and Al Jazeera with BBC radio series including, “John McCarthy’s Bible Journey”, “A Place Called Home”, “Excess Baggage”, “God of War, God of Peace”, and , “Kurdistan: A State of Uncertainty”.Perhaps understandably McCarthy has a special interest in the Middle East and has written a book, “You Can't Hide the Sun: A Journey through Palestine” focusing on the Palestinian Israeli conflict and the toll it takes on people. He says that despite his extraordinarily tough experience, there is much to be hopeful for in humanity. “The extraordinary thing is that even in the most terrible, dangerous or deprived situations, human beings seem able to maintain hope for the future and treat each other with respect and courtesy. That’s a really strong foundation to build from.” he said.
Speaking of his concerns for the world in general, that fuels much of his public speaking engagements, McCarthy said, “I think it is time that those of us in the developed world recognised that the people in less developed areas should have a fair share of the world’s resources, much of which are in the areas where the less well-off live, and, therefore, economic opportunities. These differences in prosperity seem to go hand in hand with the opportunity to enjoy basic human rights, security, political and social freedoms. I think we need to work at improving these inequalities now because the world is running out of natural resources and in so many areas – the Middle East one of them – whole populations are living in danger from violent conflict.”
John McCarthy is a Patron of “Freedom From Torture” a campaigning medical centre for asylum seekers in the UK and has written several other books including “Between Extremes”, “Island Race”, and “A Ghost Upon Your Path: An Irish Journey”. His hostage experience was explored in the film Blind Flight and you can see him on 4 November, at 7:15-8:15pm, literature Forum, with Habib Al Sayegh, a leading UAE media personality, journalist and poet. Al Sayegh has been recognised for supporting the Emirates Identity Authority's strategy and his role in enriching the cultural and media movement through work.Also on the panel is Moni Mohsin a satirical writer and journalist who has written two novels: “The End of Innocence” and “Duty Free”. Her best-selling books, “The Diary of a Social Butterfly” and “The Return of the Butterfly” are based on her long running column in the Pakistani weekly newspaper, The Friday Times.
Her journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The Nation, The Independent, Boston Review, Prospect, The Times of India and India Today.For more information on SIBF 2015 visit the website at www.sharjahbookfair.com The Sharjah International Book Fair was first launched in 1982 under the patronage of His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah to manifest his vision to make the Emirate of Sharjah a beacon of culture and literature at both the Arab and global levels. SIBF aims to encourage everyone to read and foster a love of books so that reading becomes a daily habit, by offering access to books in various disciplines of knowledge.