Karachi Literature Festival to begin from Feb 5

The seventh Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) will be held from February 5 to Feb 7 at the Beach Luxury Hotel.

Through the festival, the KLF will bring together and celebrate Pakistani and international authors writing in diverse languages.

The festival will feature talks, panel discussions, readings, book launches, English and Urdu mushaira, stand-up comedy, author signings, performing arts, art exhibition, film screenings, separate art strand, music, dance, book fair, literary awards, food court, and much more.

Addressing a press conference in this connection, Karachi Literature Festival Founder/Director and Oxford University Press Managing Director Ameena Saiyid said, “An event like the KLF, the seventh in this city, is like a beacon whose light spreads out far beyond the grounds of the Beach Luxury Hotel, indeed, far beyond this city itself.”

She said the festival had grown rapidly as attendance soared from roughly 5,000 in 2010 to 125,000 in 2015. She said the KLF was not merely a local affair, adding that “with participants and visitors from all over the country, from all four provinces and all of our major cities, this is truly an all-Pakistan event.”

Speaking on the occasion, KLF co-founder Asif Farrukhi said that with participants from India, the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, and Austria, it was truly an international event.

Saiyid disclosed that 224 Pakistani and 38 international authors and speakers from seven countries woulb attend the festival this year.

According to details, Pervez Hoodbhoy and Fahmida Riaz will be the keynote speakers at the inauguration, while the closing ceremony will be addressed by Ziauddin Sardar and Rakhshanda Jalil. There will be 21 book launches and more than 90 sessions during the event.

Among the many literary luminaries, academics, and journalists participating, both from Pakistan and abroad, some of the notable names include Ali Akbar Natiq, Amar Jaleel, Anwar Masood, Arshad Mahmud, Anupam Kher, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Attiya Dawood, Ayesha Omar, Azra Abbas, Barbara D. Metcalf, Barkha Dutt, Bina Shah, Ishrat Husain, Feryal Ali-Gauhar, H. M. Naqvi, Harris Khalique, Haseena Moin, Hina Rabbani Khar, Imdad Hussaini, Intizar Husain, Jamsheed Marker, Kamila Shamsie, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Kishwar Naheed, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Mahtab Akbar Rashdi, Mirza Waheed, Mohammed Hanif, Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Najmuddin Shaikh, Nandita Das, Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Noor ul Huda Shah, Saad Haroon, Sadia Shepard, Sahar Ansari, Salman Khurshid, Sanam Saeed, Sania Saeed, Sarmad Khoosat, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Syed Salim Raza, Tahira Syed, Tapu Javeri, Uzma Aslam Khan, Zaheda Hina, and Zehra Nigah.

The annual Karachi Literature Festival is about the promotion of reading, writing, and authors, and of bringing enrichment to people’s minds. As always the entry to the event will be free. This year the USAID-Funded Pakistan Reading Project is the title sponsor of the event. Sponsorship support is also being provided by United Bank Limited; Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Karachi; Goethe Institute; Embassy of France, Islamabad; Consulate General of France, Karachi; Alliance Francaise, Karachi; US Consulate General, Karachi; Embassy of Italy, Islamabad; Consulate  of  Italy, Karachi; British  Deputy  High Commission; Lifebuoy; Lipton; Lays; British Council; American Institute of Pakistan Studies; South Asian Institute, University of Texas; Coca-Cola; Tehzeeb Foundation; and ArtNow.