Pakistani English Conference (PEC), the first international conference on Pakistani writing in English, will take place on February 17 and 18 in Lahore. PEC 16 will highlight the intellectual, creative and critical aspects of Pakistani writing in English and its place in the contemporary international literary scenario. It aims to provide and engender new perspectives and insights on the work of Pakistani writers.
The two-day event is organised by the International Centre for Pakistani Writing in English (ICPWE) and Kinnaird College, Lahore. The ICPWE is the only Centre of Excellence in the world that is dedicated to creating a critical mass of work focusing on Pakistani novelists, playwrights, poets, essayists, authors, translators and critics.
The Conference will feature some of the finest scholars, researchers and academics from Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Mandi Bahuddin and abroad. Speakers from Kinnaird College, Forman Christian College University, Government College University, Punjab University, Beaconhouse University, Lahore University of Management Sciences, and University of Sargodha.
The speakers will include Adrian Hussain, Afsar Sajid, Ameena Saiyid, Amra Raza, Ayesha Fatima Barque, Cara Cilano, Fawzia Afzal Khan, Feryal Ali Gauhar, Furrukh Khan, Ilona Yusuf, Javed Jabbar, Kanza Javed, Athar Tahir, Maryam Ortt Saeed, and others.
ICPWE’s first publication, The Last Tea, will be accorded critical attention in several papers. Panel discussions are also part of the event. It will also have two “Face-to-Face” sessions. One will be with the internationally renowned scholar Prof. Dr. Cara Cilano from the University of North Carolina. The other will be with novelists Kanza and Zeenat Mahal.
Poetry and prose will also be recited on Day One.
A teenage business guru has made enough money to pay his tuition fee since launching his own business at the age of 12.
Mohammed Ali, 15, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, spend his days earning thousands of pounds, while most teenagers struggle to get out of bed.
He builds websites and is now designing an app for currency dealers and share traders - all before he has even taken his GCSEs.
He regularly travels to Canary Wharf in London to meet clients and has already raked in more than £30,000.
The young entrepreneur, who learnt how to create websites using YouTube and books, now charges £600 per website.
Ali, who has always had an interest in computers, created his own online game called Project 2006 at the age of 12.
It attracted more than 3,000 registered members in about four months and he hopes his success story inspire other youngsters to take up programming.
The son of a taxi driver, who has five siblings, Ali soon realised that he could start making money from his computer skills, so he set up his website-making business called Flaming Sites.
Compiled By
Usama Rasheed
