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Thursday March 28, 2024

Lahore Literary Festival kicks off today

LAHOREFAIZ Foundation Trust/Faiz Ghar’s annual Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) 2015, which brings world renowned writers, artists, filmmakers, movie stars and great contemporary literary minds from India, Pakistan, UK and many other countries, begins at Alhamra Arts Council today (Friday).The much awaited and anticipated mega event in the world of literature

By Shahab Ansari
February 20, 2015
LAHORE
FAIZ Foundation Trust/Faiz Ghar’s annual Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) 2015, which brings world renowned writers, artists, filmmakers, movie stars and great contemporary literary minds from India, Pakistan, UK and many other countries, begins at Alhamra Arts Council today (Friday).
The much awaited and anticipated mega event in the world of literature which attracted over 50,000 people during this three-day long literary extravaganza, is considered to be one of the biggest literary festivals in Asia. This year, the organisers are expecting even a much bigger volume of visitors from various parts of the world, including India.
On Friday, February 20, the opening day of the Festival, Alhamra Arts Council will be buzzing with literary buffs like bees while FFT/FG Trustee Ms Mira Hashmi will be in conversation with acclaimed Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah about his recently released autobiography ‘And Then One Day’ along with writer/director Sarmad Khoosat. On the second day, Saturday February 21, Dr Ali Hashmi will be launching his English translation of the widely popular Urdu short story collection ‘Qaim Deen’ along with the book’s author Ali Akbar Natiq. Also on Saturday, renowned artist and FFT Chairperson Mrs Salima Hashmi will be at the launch of her book ‘The Eye Still Seeks: Contemporary Art from Pakistan’. Later, Mrs Hashmi will be in conversation with Faiza Butt, the London-based Pakistani artist along with novelist and writer Kamila Shamsie. The session is titled ‘We Are All Stardust: An Artist’s Journey’.
On Sunday, February 22, actor, writer, director and FFT Trustee Mr Adeel Hashmi will be in conversation with Kashmiri author and screenwriter Basharat Peer whose maiden film ‘Haider’ (directed by Vishal Bhardwaj) was recently released to great acclaim along with writer and critic Sarwat Ali. The session will be moderated by novelist and musician Ali Sethi and is titled ‘Faiz: Kuch ishq kiya kuch kaam kiya’.
Later in the day, Dr Ali Hashmi will moderate a session on the writings of Ismat Chughtai and Left wing Urdu literature. He will be in conversation with Prof M Asaduddin, Head of Department of English at Jamia Millia University, New Delhi, Mr IA Rehman, journalist and Director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Ms Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director of Oxford University Press, Pakistan. On Tuesday, February 24, Basharat Peer will be at Faiz Ghar (126-F Model Town) to talk about his book on Kashmir ‘Curfewed Night’ as well as his feature film ‘Haider’.