ISLAMABAD: The second day of the Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF) attracted a large number of visitors this year.
The first session — a discussion on the works of Urdu poet and littérateur Iftikhar Arif — titled ‘Iftikhar Arif: Life and Work’ was attended by a panelist Anna Suvorova, poet, Harris Khalique, Vafa Manesh and Iftikhar Arif himself.
Other sessions held at the first day of the festival included a discussion on Zahoor Ahmed’s translation of the Chinse Novel titled, ‘Teen Saltanaton ki Daastan,’ moderated by Shahid Awan and with Chinese Cultural Counselor Zhang Heqing Yao Jing in attendance. A conversation with Sonia Kamal, author of ‘Unmarriageable – A Novel on Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan’ was also held.
Book launches included, ‘Phat’tay Aamonka Case’ — which is an Urdu translation of ‘A Case of Exploding Mangoes’ by Mohammed Hanif and Zafar Ullah Poshni’s ‘Prison Interlude: The Last Eyewitness Account of the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case’ which was hosted by Owais Tohid and attended by panelists such as Muneeza Hashmi and Raza Rabbani.
On the second day of the literature festival, discussions were held on politics and international security. A session about the threats of nuclear arms titled, ‘Striking Peace in a Nuclear Charged Environment’ — moderated by Ejaz Hyder and attended by physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy amd Air Commodore (r) Khalid Banuri — was held.
A conversation with H.M. Naqvi, the author of ‘The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack’ – moderated by George Fulton — was also held
A discussion on the works of poet Enver Sajid and a conversation with Haroon Khalid Akhtar, the author of ‘The Melody of a Tear,’ also took place.
A discussion titled ‘Challenging the Colonial Narrative in South Asian Historical Fiction’was held with Nukhbah Langah, Muhammad Sheeraz Dasti and Safeer Awan as speakers andAsmaMansoor as moderators. Another important session held was ‘PotoharkaAdabiManzarnama: MaaziaurHaal’. The discussion featured Akhtar Usman, EnvarFitrat, ShoaibKhaliq and Nilofar Iqbal as speakers and Ravish Nadeem as the moderator.
The ever-popular Urdu Mushaira was held in which poets such as Ahmad Atta, Akhtar Usman, Ali Zayoun, Asghar Nadeem Syed, AyubKhawar, Farrukh Yar, Hamid AteeqSarwar, Harris Khalique, Hassan Abbas Raza, KishwarNaheed, Mehboob Zafar, Ravish Nadeem, Syed Kashif Raza and Yasmeen Hameed participated.
The documentary film ‘The Qalandar Code’ was screened at the conclusion of the event. This was followed by a discussion on the film with Atiya Khan, Syed Mehdi Raza, Shah Sabzwari and Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro as speakers and Ali Abbas Zaidi as moderator.
