Children literature festival coming to town
Islamabad - A large number of eminent writers, actors and performers are ready to be the part of Capital’s much awaited Children Literature Festival scheduled for October 1-3.
“After the success of earlier children festivals in the federal capital and across the country, Idara-E-Taleem-o-Aagahi and Oxford University Press (OUP) in collaboration with Open Society Foundations and Lok Virsa believe that festival this year will bring smiles to the faces of not only our kids but parents, teachers and the general public of twin cities also,” said Maham Ali, CLF programme manager while addressing the CLF launching press conference here at Lok Virsa yesterday (Tuesday). She was accompanied by Lok Virsa Executive Director Dr Fauzia Saeed and Nargis Sultana of Open Society Foundations.
The CLF Islamabad 2015 is going to be the 21st children’s literature festival along with the 5th teachers’ literature festival. The three-day literature celebration will start on Oct 01 by dedicating the first day to teachers’ literature festival in which specially designed programmes, sessions, workshops and performances for teachers will be hosted while during the following two days the children from twin cities would be enjoying not only literature but also culture, drama, puppet shows, story-telling sessions and many more interesting activities, Maham Ali narrated
The focus of Lok Virsa is to invest in children and give them a sound cultural identity well rooted in national folk heritage. “We see no better partner than CLF to move forward,” said Dr Fauzia Saeed.
“This time Lok Virsa will add a cultural dimension to the event and will have sessions and musical performances by children folk artists and musicians. A children artisans-at-work featuring siblings and students of master artisans in various specialised craft fields such as lacquer art, embroidery, doll making, pottery making, wood carving, weaving, truck art, basketry, etc. will also be organised during the festival wherein these artisans will demonstrate their workmanship at the beautifully designed pavilions at the Heritage museum,” she added.
While revealing the key celebrities attending CLF and TLF this year, Maham Ali said that a galaxy of celebrities including leading authors and writers like Haseena Moin, Kishwar Naheed, Haroon Rashid and Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra would be sharing their thoughts with children in different sessions along with renowned vocalist Tina Sani and many others. It is a matter of great pride that the CLF has not been limited to eminent authors, poets and institutes only in Pakistan but also got great response and participation from writers, storytellers and teachers from across the border and from other countries like Nepal and Afghanistan, she added.
The Children’s Literature Festival is the first ever national programme that has reached all territories and social segments in Pakistan.
Over 380,000 children and teachers have attended the programme in 3 years in 20 CLFs all across the country and 4 Teachers’ Literature Festival. The CLF seeks to promote a reading culture for creativity, imagination and multi-sensory stimulation beyond classrooms and textbooks.