The much anticipated Karachi Literature Festival (KLF), arranged by Oxford University Press, is ready to commend its 11th edition this year from 28 February to 1 March 2020.
The overarching theme of KLF in this year is ‘Across Continents: How the Word Travels’ which will discover different aspects of the trans-geographical nature of literature.
Managing Director, Oxford University Press (OUP) Pakistan Arshad Saeed Husain shared details of the 11th KLF in a press conference held at the Arts Council of Pakistan.
He said that over 200 speakers and authors from Pakistan, UK, USA, France, Germany, and Italy will join in the event.
There will be over 80 sessions featuring talks, panel discussions, Urdu and English mushaira, readings, performing arts, and film screenings.
Around 22 books will be launched at the festival this year. Of special significance at the 11th KLF is a session planned for performance poetry and a workshop on media Literacy and Misinformation’. This year an art exhibition titled ‘Ahang: Peaceful Protest against Warfare around the Globe’ will showcase video installations and new media art.
Arshad Saeed Husain said, “The 11th KLF will feature a number of sessions that will look at how the written and spoken word connects across borders and results in a cross-pollination of ideas and inspiration for literary works. The festival aims to bring together not only the stalwarts of Pakistan’s literary world and academia, but also some of the most creative minds beyond Pakistan’s border.”
He further added that festival celebrates cultural and linguistic diversity through its vibrant program.
He announced that William Dalrymple and ZahedaHina will be the keynote speakers at the KLF inauguration while Ahdaf Soueif and Harris Khalique will deliver the keynote speeches at the closing ceremony.
Alexandre Colliex, Claire Chambers, David Waterman, George Fulton, Harriet Sandys, Julien Columeau, Massimo Ramaioli, Sadia Abbas, Sean Pue, Victoria Schofield, JochenHippler, and Bettina Robotkaare some of the international names participating in the festival.
Large number of people from local literary luminaries, academics, and artistes to be featured in the 11th KLF .
The 11th Karachi Literature Festival will take place at the Beach Luxury Hotel. Following in its decade old tradition, the festival will be free and open to public.
Poet, columnist, and member of the KLF Advisory Board Salman Tarik Kureshi shared his views at the press conference that “the theme for this year’s KLF takes us beyond this city, or even the country, to reflect upon the fact that literature, culture, and intellectual scholarship are international phenomena, which travel across continents faster than the click of a mouse, and are not restricted by national or ethnic borders.”