Karachi, 24 January: The eighth Karachi Literature Festival (KLF), the country’s
most anticipated literary event, is scheduled to be held on 10, 11, and 12 February
2016 at the Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi. A vibrant programme of interviews, panel
discussions, readings, book launches, English and Urdu mushaira, stand-up comedy,
author signings, performing arts, art exhibition, film screenings, art strand, book fair,
literary awards, and a food court, has been lined up. As 2017 marks the seventy
years of Pakistan’s creation, the theme of the festival will be an examination of the
different facets of this country. With ideas and subjects as diverse as honour killings,
teaching history, and climate change being explored at the KLF, the event promises
to be a literary and cultural feast.
Around 136 Pakistani and 40 international authors and speakers from ten countries
will participate. Mustansar Hussain Tarar and Ayesha Jalal will be the keynote speakers
at the inauguration and the closing ceremony will be addressed by Bobby Sager and
Mohammed Hanif. There will be 18 book launches and more than 70 sessions. This
was announced by Ameena Saiyid OBE, Managing Director, Oxford University Press
(OUP), and Founder/Director, Karachi Literature Festival, and Co-founder, Children’s
Literature Festival, at a press conference.
Among the many literary luminaries, academics, and intellectuals participating are
Adeel Hashmi, Afzal Ahmed Syed, Ali Akbar Natiq, Amar Jaleel, Ahmed Rashid, Arfa
Sayeda Zehra, Arif Hasan, Asif Noorani, Arshad Mahmud, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Attiya
Dawood, Ayesha Tammy Haq, Bina Shah, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, Christina Oesterheld,
Fahmida Riaz, H.M. Naqvi, Hamid Khan, Harris Khalique, Imdad Hussaini, Jamsheed
Marker, Kishwar Naheed, Mahtab Akbar Rashdi, Masood Ashar, Mian Raza Rabbani,
Mirza Waheed, Mujahid Barelvi, Nadeem F. Paracha, Nafisa Shah, Najmuddin Shaikh,
Nasira Iqbal, Noor ul Huda Shah, Omar Shahid Hamid, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Roger Long,
Sabyn Javeri, Salima Hashmi, Sania Saeed, Shabnam, Shazia Omar, Sheema Kermani,
Shandana Minhas, Shrabani Basu, Taimur Rahman, Tina Sani, Zafar Hilaly, Victoria
Schofield, Zehra Nigah, Zia Mohyeddin, and Zoe Viccaji.
“Karachi Literature Festival, the eighth in this city, is like a beacon whose light spreads
out far beyond the grounds of the Beach Luxury Hotel—indeed, far beyond this city
and country,” said Ameena Saiyid. “The Festival has grown rapidly. Attendance rose
from roughly 5,000 in 2010 to 175,000 in 2016” she added
While talking to the media, Ameena Saiyid mentioned that four prizes are awarded at
KLF every year. These include the KLF-Pepsi Non-Fiction Prize, KLF-Getz Pharma Fiction
Prize, KLF Peace Prize (Consulate General of Germany), KLF-Infaq Foundation Urdu
Literature Prize, and Italy Reads Pakistan Award (Consulate of Italy). The submissions
received for the prizes are evaluated by panels of jury members comprising eminent
critics, writers, and scholars. Books shortlisted for these prizes were announced at
the press conference.
The three books shortlisted for the KLF-Pepsi Non-Fiction Prize are Surkh Salam:
Communist Politics and Class Activism in Pakistan 1947–1972 by Kamran Asdar Ali;
A Book of Conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia by Manan
Ahmed Asif; and The Raj at War by Yasmin Khan. The KLF-Pepsi Non-Fiction Prize
of Rs 300,000 goes to the best non-fiction book originally written in English in
2015-2016 by a Pakistani or Pakistan-origin foreign national.
FOUNDERS
Ameena Saiyid
Asif Farrukhi