Karachi Literature Festival in London attracts crowd

LONDON: Thousands of people attended Karachi Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre here exploring Pakistan’s literature, freedom of expression and views of leading modern Pakistani writers and intellectuals.

The KLF took place outside of Pakistan for the first time this year to present before the international audience Pakistan’s literary talent and diversity, its rich history and culture in the context of Pakistan’s 70th foundation anniversary. The festival was held in partnership with Southbank Centre, its Alchemy Festival celebrating South Asian culture, Oxford University Press Pakistan and Bloomsbury Pakistan.

Prominent among those who spoke at various events and discussion shows included Aamer Hussein, Ali Zaidi, Imtiaz Dharker, Kamila Shamsie, Mehreen Jabbar, Mohammed Hanif, Moni Mohsin, Cyrial Almeida, Mirza waheed, Atiqa Odho, Nimra Bucha, Taimur Rahman, Sayeeda Warsi, and Asif Farrukhi. 

Mohammed Hanif opened the festival with his keynote speech on Pakistan’s history, hopes and dilemmas. He told the audience that Pakistani writers were coming up with modern ideas and their writings were sharp and intelligent. He spoke about the challenges the Pakistani writers face, yet continue with resilience charting out their identity.

Kamila Shamsie, Qaisra Shahraz and Mirza Waheed spoke at the session titled ‘Reluctant returners: migrants, refugees and memories of the homeland.’

Faizan Fiaz, Ali Zaidi and Leyla Jagiella took part in discussion on laws being enacted about women and transgender people in Pakistan.

Maheen Khan, Fari Kermani, Atiqa Odho and Journalist Cyril Almeida discussed Pakistan’s politics as well as fashion scene and whether Pakistan is undergoing a fashion renaissance. The session was moderated by Fifi Haroon. Maheen Khan stressed that Pakistani fashion has been taken over by the textile industry and its character is under threat.

Basir Kazmi, Ishrat Afreen and Harris Khalique examined the challenges Urdu is facing from English and how little is being to reverse this. This session was chaired by Asif Farrukhi.

Ziauddin Sardar Farooq Bajwa and Iftikhar Malik and Humaira Iqtidar debated the challenges faced by diaspora Pakistanis in Europe and how they cope with that.

Omar Shahid Hamid took part in discussion on ‘Karachi: city of lights and gangs’ and explained the current situation of Karachi after the Rangers’ operation and the calm it has brought to the city.

Ted Hodgkinson, Senior Programmer of Literature and Spoken Word, told this correspondent that he was amazed when he visited Karachi in 2014 to attend the literary festival and came across the richness of Pakistani literature.

He said: “This year marks a special new collaboration for us, as for the very first time Karachi Literature Festival is happening outside of Pakistan, and along with us at Southbank Centre have curated a day of talks, performances and events as part of Alchemy.

“It was vital for us to preserve the integrity and personality of the festival in Karachi, but in the process we have also discovered that we share more than just the fact that both our festivals take place on riverbanks. We share a belief in the power of literature and language to bring us joy, to make us laugh, to challenge and even provoke us, to collapse the distance of 4,000 miles between Karachi and London without the need of a plane ticket and expand our shared sense of humanity. So I guess what I’m saying is that literature is our shared riverbank, fed continuously by the fast-flowing words of the writers who, you’ll hear from today -- be they in Urdu, a regional language of Pakistan or English.”

Ameena Saiyid OBE (co-founder of KLF and Managing Director of Oxford University Press Pakistan) hailed the KLF in London as a great success.

“It is not possible to bring the world to Pakistan to savour our literature and cultural creativity but it is possible to take it to the world. The cultural crossroad that is the great city of London is the perfect place to bring together our authors, both from within Pakistan and the Pakistani diaspora, to celebrate the vigour and originality of their writings in the 70th year of Pakistan’s independence,” Ameena Saiyid said.

Rachel Harris, Creative Producer of Alchemy Festival, said: “We are proud of collaborating with both new and long standing partners from across the globe including Rafi Peer Mystic Music Sufi Festival and Karachi Literature Festival, bringing these festivals to the UK for the first time.

This year’s festival sees a greater focus on celebrating work from the British diaspora across the UK and we are excited to once again tour and collaborate with partners Black Country Touring, Cast Doncaster and Oldham Coliseum Theatre to reach new audience and bring Alchemy to these regions.”