The future of Urdu literature has been an age-old question doing the rounds in literary fraternities and a session titled ‘Globalisation of Pakistan’s Literature’ at LLF will open the debate for fresh perspectives. M.A. Farooqi questions, “can we really speak about the globalisation of literature sitting in a place which does not have a robust publishing culture?” and adds, “Urdu literature itself is doing well. A lot more non-fiction is being published in Urdu currently. The Urdu readership is growing in satellite towns, but all publishers are having problems with distribution, even within major cities,” he concludes. Other participating authors: Ata-ul-Haq Qasmi, Intizar Hussain, Mohsin Hamid, Tehseen Firaqi, Mohammed Hanif, Moni Mohsin and Tariq Ali are among other authors who will engage listeners into gripping discussions on narrative forms in Urdu fiction and poetry, satire and art of story-telling. Author Jeet Thayil, Indian feminist and historian Urvashi Butalia, British historian and writer William Dalrymple and Penguin India’s head Chiki Sarkar are other prominent participating speakers at LLF 2013.
