Fourth Islamabad Literature Festival will be bigger, better, organisers say

The fourth Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF), organized by Oxford University Press, is set to feature a line-up of around 165 authors, academics, journalists, and artists from Pakistan and abroad. It is scheduled to be held on 15, 16, and 17 April at the Lok Virsa Museum in Islamabad.

This was announced by Ameena Saiyid OBE, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan, and Co-Founder and Director of the Karachi and Islamabad Literature Festivals at a press conference held at the Lok Virsa Museum.

“The ILF has grown tremendously since its inception in 2013. Attendance rose from 15,000 in 2013 to more than 30,000 in 2015,” said Ameena Saiyid. “ILF is not merely a local affair. Participants and visitors from all over the country will attend. The festival allows participant’s access to leading writers,” she added.

151 Pakistani and 14 International speakers will participate in the festival this year. Ahmed Rashid, and Masood Ashar will be the keynote speakers at the festival inauguration while the closing ceremony will be addressed by Amjad Islam Amjad and Christophe Jaffrelot, author of The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience. There will be around 20 book launches and 38 sessions at this year’s edition of ILF.

The 4th ILF will feature talks/interviews, panel discussions, mushaira, English mushaira, dramatic readings, book launches, author signings, performing arts, Sufi music, book fair, art exhibition and much more. The festival is free and open to all.

Other than the keynote speakers, some of the prominent speakers at ILF this year are Abdul Malik Baloch, Ali Akbar Natiq, Anatol Lieven, Anwar Masood, Arfa Sayeda Zehra, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Babar Ayaz, Barkha Dutt, Basharat Peer, Bina Shah, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, F.S. Aijazuddin, Fahmida Riaz, Fouzia Saeed, H.M. Naqvi, Harris Khalique, Hina Rabbani Khar, Jerry Pinto, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Kishwar Naheed, Madeeha Gauhar, Mujahid Barelvi, Munir Ahmed Badini, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Nasim Zehra, Nasira Iqbal, Pavan K. Varma, Pran Nevile, Qaisra Shahraz, Riaz Khokhar, Riaz Mohammad Khan, Saif Mahmood, Salima Hashmi, Sarmad Khoosat, Sudheendra Kulkarni, Talat Hussain, Tariq Rahman, Zaheda Hina, Zehra Nigah, and Zubair Torwali.

Some of the exciting sessions planned for the ILF are: A Tribute to Fatima Surayya Bajia;  A Tribute to Intizar Husain; Women’s Protection Bill; The State of Urdu Literature in Pakistani School and College Syllabi; The Past is A Foreign Country: How Does History Inform Fiction?; A Tribute to Jamiluddin Aali; Blind in One Eye: Cinematic Traditions and Pakistani and Indian Cinema; Media: More Independent, Less Responsible; Pakistani English Literature: New Books, New Writers, New Directions; Mera Paigham Mohabbat Hai: The Secular and Pluralist Tradition of Urdu Poetry; and  A Tribute to Nasreen Anjum Bhatti.

The performances include: A Tribute to Ismat Chughtai and Quratulain Hyder: Lady Changez Khan and PomPom Darling by Zambeel Dramatic Readings; dance performance by Shayma Saiyid; Aik Sham Anwar Masood kay Naam; and Mystic Sufi Night.

This year, too, the ILF will also feature parallel sessions on art and an art exhibition curated by Art Now.