Sharjah’s 4th Thriller Festival at SIBF 2025 unites international authors and debuts a homegrown interactive mystery play.
SHARJAH: The 4th edition of the Sharjah Thriller Festival is set to electrify the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) with four days of suspense, mystery, and global storytelling from November 8 to 11 at Expo Centre Sharjah. In collaboration with Thriller Festival New York, this year’s programme brings together 13 bestselling authors, screenwriters, and industry experts from around the world.
The 2025 lineup includes literary heavyweights such as Chris Pavone, Jennifer Hillier, Stacy Willingham, Ragnar Jónasson, and S. Hussain Zaidi. Spanning North America, Europe, South Asia, and the Arab world, the festival highlights how crime fiction and psychological thrillers transcend borders while rooted in distinct cultural perspectives.
Among the highlights is the premiere of Murder at the Majlis, an original interactive murder mystery set in Sharjah. Written by Bhoomika Ghaghada and directed by Tarun Shyam, the play is performed by students from the American University of Sharjah and invites the audience to solve a live whodunit. This unique production exemplifies Sharjah’s commitment to nurturing local talent and bringing cultural storytelling to life through community theatre.
Festival panels include Scene One, Chapter One, a session with Matt Witten and Ragnar Jónasson exploring how thrillers transition from novel to screen, and Writing Thrillers Through a Cultural Lens, featuring Eva Björg Ægisdóttir and Omar Shahid Hamid. S. Hussain Zaidi will explore true crime’s impact on fiction in Inside the Underworld, while Crafting Fear in Thrillers will delve into the psychology of suspense with Araminta Hall and Mirna Al Mahdi.
For aspiring writers, workshops on TV writing, storytelling, and fiction marketing will be led by Matt Witten, Shirley Jump, and Daniel G. Miller, adding a hands-on element to the immersive literary experience.
Sharjah’s Thriller Festival has grown into one of the region’s most anticipated genre events, creating a platform where international expertise meets local storytelling. As the emirate strengthens its role in the global literary scene, the festival showcases how thrillers can both entertain and explore deep human truths across cultures.
