Bestselling author RF Kuang withdraws from Dubai festival over Sudan war

Bestselling American author Rebecca F Kuang has announced her withdrawal from the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in Dubai, citing the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement’s recent call to boycott the United Arab Emirates over its role in the war in Sudan.

Kuang shared her email to the event organisers in an Instagram story posted on Monday, stating that she is “no longer able to travel to Dubai” to attend the event and that she has “always respected organized calls for cultural boycotts against genocide from communities affected”.

“I’m adhering now to the Palestinian BDS National Committee's recent call given the mass atrocities in Sudan,” she added.

The Emirates Airlines Festival of Literature is sponsored by a range of government-affiliated agencies, including the Investment Corporation of Dubai (which describes itself as the “principal investment arm of the Government of Dubai”), the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, and the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi. 

Middle East Eye has asked the festival for comment.

Kuang’s announcement came after criticism on social media from people who pointed out that she writes extensively about themes of colonialism, yet had agreed to headline the festival in late January.

After making a career out of talking about colonization, forced labor, and displacement, Rf Kuang is headlining a lit fest in Dubai. Nothing she writes means anything to me after this. It just shows that wealth only cares about wealth lmao https://t.co/AySqgNQjmg

— Levi @ drafting (68k) (@pagesoflevi) November 30, 2025

MEE has extensively documented the role of the UAE in supplying arms to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, which has been accused of committing ethnic cleansing and mass killings in Sudan. 

In April of 2025, the government of Sudan raised an International Court of Justice case against the UAE, accusing it of complicity in genocide.

Mounting calls to boycott the UAE

Sudanese activists have long campaigned for a boycott of travel to the UAE over its backing of the RSF, successfully pressuring American rapper Macklemore to heed the call in 2024.

In November, the Palestinian BDS National Committee released a statement in solidarity with the people of Sudan, saying that “it is no coincidence that the same brutal tactics used in the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza, claiming tens of thousands of Palestinian lives, are being repeated in Sudan".

How the UAE kept the Sudan war raging

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“The Palestinian BDS National Committee reiterates its call to boycott the Emirati regime and all its companies, institutions, and entities that are complicit in the security and strategic alliance with the Israeli regime, including those involved in tourism,” it added.

The statement came as pressure continues to grow on the UAE following the RSF’s brutal assault on el-Fasher in October, during which the paramilitaries carried out widespread massacres, sexual violence and other atrocities.

Mounting global attention towards the UAE’s role has led to the rise of new boycott efforts. 

On Tuesday, a number of academic and cultural workers launched a call for a “Cultural and Academic Boycott of the UAE”, organised under TAGATU3: Sudanese Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of the UAE. 

The letter, signed by prominent academics such as Angela Davis and Hatem Bazian, urged members of academic and cultural institutions to “reject funding, collaborations, partnerships, and sponsorships from the Emirati government, royal families, and their complicit institutions”, and boycott collaboration and attendance at these institutions.