Zia Mohyeddin as he expressed his views about culture during his keynote address at the inaugural session of the 13th Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) 2022 on Friday. This year’s theme is “Separation, Belonging and Beyond: 75 years of Pakistan.”
Over 60 sessions including twenty book launches are scheduled. Speakers from Pakistan, the UK, US, New Zealand, and France will share their insights along with feature film screenings, English poetry readings, and qawwali.
The pandemic did not allow public gatherings to be held during most of 2021. Therefore, this year’s festival is the first in-person event held after a one-year hiatus. It will bring to the fore ideas, insights, thoughts, views, recommendations, and suggestions from industry experts, thought leaders, academics, social activists, and literary figures. There is something awe-inspiring about KLF that must be experienced to be understood. We must bask in the words of the speakers and panellists, and understand their views to fully comprehend the functioning of our culture and society.
During an opening speech, Arshad Saeed Husain, Managing Director, Oxford University Press (OUP), Pakistan said that, “this annual event brings together intellectuals from across the world and emerging writers from a variety of fields. It is a rare opportunity for literary enthusiasts to meet their favourite writers.” He added that the event bridge distances between cultures and languages.
The three-day KLF-2022 will be an emotional ride, as it will explore Pakistan’s journey during its 75-year history through various panel discussions and book launches. Over 60 sessions including twenty book launches are scheduled. Speakers from Pakistan, the UK, US, New Zealand, and France will share their insights along with feature film screenings, English poetry readings, and qawwali.
During the first day, dastangoi returned when Fawad Khan, Meesam Naqvi, and Nazrul Hasan read passages from Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi’s Haweli. A session celebrating 75 years of Urdu poetry was also held. Iftikhar Arif, Zehra Nigah, Kishwar Naheed, Nasir Abbas Nayyar shared their views in a session moderated by Najeeba Arif. The distinguished panellists explored the progress in Urdu in Pakistan during the last seventy-five years.
An interesting session titled "Fulfilling Jinnah’s vision" discussed Pakistan's history, present, and future. Javed Jabbar, Ian Talbot, Nasira Iqbal, and Arfa Sayeda Zehra were the panellists while Syed Jaffar Ahmed moderated. This session explored Quaid-e-Azam’s vision for Pakistan and how it was pursued after his passing away. The first day ended with a traditional session of English poetry where poets including Alyana Khan, Fatima Ijaz, Harris Khalique, Jeeva Haroun, Minaa Shahzad, Moeen Faruqi, Peerzada Salman, Salena Godden, Sateah Afreedi, Shireen Haroun, and Zarmina Raza read their pieces. The moderator was Salman Tarik Kureshi. As per the tradition, awards in prose and poetry were also bestowed. This year’s awardees were 'Little America' by Zain Saeed (English fiction), Asim Bakhshi (Urdu prose), Saleem Kausar (Urdu poetry).