10th edition of KLF all set to kick off on March 1

The 10th Karachi Literature Festival (KLF), the country’s most anticipated literary event, is all set to kick off on March 1 at the Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi.

A vibrant programme of talks, interviews, panel discussions, readings, book launches, English poetry readings, Urdu mushaira, stand-up comedy, satire, performing arts, documentary screenings, a book fair and literary award have been lined up for the three-day event.

With ideas and subjects as diverse as mental health, education, writing autobiographies, and pop culture being explored at the KLF, the event promises to be a literary and cultural feast.

Arshad Saeed Husain, managing director, Oxford University Press (OUP), shared the programme highlights of the 10th KLF and announced the shortlisted books of the KLF–Infaq Foundation Urdu Literature Prize in a press conference held at the Arts Council on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Arshad Saeed Husain said, “The KLF is not just an event; it’s a celebration of literature, books, reading, performing arts, culture and diversity. The festival will be used as a platform to explore the fundamental question -- what’s going to happen to books, literature, publishing and reading in the future?’”

He further added, “The KLF is Oxford University Press’ heritage, and like every year we aim to bring forward its international and cosmopolitan flair through an exciting lineup of speakers, authors, book launches, English poetry readings, Urdu mushairas, satire, performing arts, and film screenings. Karachiites have a lot to look forward to over the coming two and a half days of literature, art, culture, dialogue, and debate.”

This year, among the many events, the book launches will feature OUP titles: The Economy of Modern Sindh; The Begum: A Portrait of Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan; Pakistan’s Radioactive Decade; and Defiance of the Rose: Selected Poems of Perveen Shakir.

This year also features a session with talented youth in ‘Nayee Nasl ki Awaz: Kal Hamara Hai’. The future- focused sessions include: ‘The Karachi Dilemma: Conservation or Evolution’; ‘Urdu Theatre Kal, Aaj aur Kal’; ‘Pakistani Cinema: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’; ‘Publishing 2020 and Beyond: New Trends, Digitization and Technology’; and ‘Rethinking Education in the Fast-Changing World’. Five Pakistani documentaries featured in this year’s festival are: ‘City by the Sea: The Future of Karachi’s Coastline’; ‘Qalandar Code—Rise of the Divine Feminine’; ‘Indus Blues: Pakistani Folk Artists and Their Struggle to Keep a Fading Art Form Alive’ (Pakistan premiere); and ‘These Silences Are All the Words’. A short film about a Transgender Pakistani Woman titled ‘Rani’ will also be screened at the Festival.

The KLF–Infaq Foundation Urdu Literature Prize of Rs 200,000 will be awarded to the best book of prose or poetry in Urdu. The books shortlisted for this prize include Northern Command by Sami Ahuja (published by Sanjh Publications); Qila-e-Faramoshi by Fahmida Riaz (published by Oxford University Press); Rooh-e-Qadeem ki Qasam by Sabir Zafar (published by Rang Adab Publications).

The performance highlight of this year’s festival will be Qawwali by Hamza Akram and Brothers and Pepsi Battle of the Bands. Around 220 Pakistani and 15 international authors and speakers from ten countries will be participating.

Deborah Baker and IA Rehman will be the keynote speakers at the inauguration and the closing ceremony will be addressed by Ishrat Husain and Iftikhar Arif. There will be 20 book launches and more than 80 sessions. This was announced by Arshad Saeed Husain, managing director, OUP.

Among the many literary luminaries, academics, and intellectuals participating are Adrian Husain, Ahmed Shah, Ali Usman Qasmi, Amar Jaleel, Amar Sindhu, Amin Gulgee, Anwar Maqsood, Arfa Sayeda Zehra, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Asif Noorani, Atiya Khan, Attiya Dawood, Azra Abbas, Baela Raza Jamil, Bilquis Edhi, Ghazi Salahuddin, H.M. Naqvi, Hafiz A. Pasha, Hameed Akhund, Harris Khalique, Haseena Moin, Huma Baqai, I.A. Rehman, Iftikhar Arif, Ikram Sehgal, Imrana Maqsood, Ishrat Husain, Jami Chandio, Javed Jabbar, Khaled Anam, Kishwar Naheed, Marina Khan, Mujahid Barelvi, Muneeza Shamsie, Murad Moosa Khan, Nadeem Farooq Paracha, Noorul Huda Shah, Sabyn Javeri, Sajid Hasan, Shafqat Ali Shah Jamote, Shamshad Akhtar, Shazia Hasan, Sheema Kermani, Syed Nomanul Haq, Wusatullah Khan, Yasmeen Hameed, and Zia Mohyeddin. The other participants are Anita Weiss, Deborah Baker, Blair Glencorse, Mona Eltahawy, David Waterman, Elena Nicolai, David C Heath, Leila Aboulela and Aysha Baqir.

The festival has seen a large number of people attending the KLF. Attendance rose from roughly 5,000 in 2010 to 200,000 in 2018.