KARACHI - The eleventh three-day Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) will get underway here on February 28 under the auspices of Oxford University Press (OUP) which would be free and open for all segments of the population.
The overarching theme of this year’s festival is “Across Continents: How the Word Travels”, which will explore different aspects of the trans-geographical nature of literature. Foreign Missions and different banks are the sponsors.
This was informed by Oxford University Press- Pakistan Managing Director Arshad Saeed here on Tuesday.
Husain, while sharing the details of 11th KLF at a press conference held here at Arts Council of Pakistan, said purpose of the event was to create an intellectual space in which the diversity and pluralism in Pakistan’s society as expressed by authors from literary and cultural traditions beyond Pakistan’s borders could be freely accessible to people in an open and participatory manner.
He was flanked by KLF Advisory Board members, including ACP President Ahmed Shah, British Council’s Director for Sindh and Balochistan Michael Houlgate, Salman Tarik Kureshi, Muneeza Shamse and Mujahid Barelvi.
He said that over 200 speakers and authors from Pakistan, United Kingdom, United States of America, France, Germany and Italy would participate in the event.
“There would be over 80 sessions, featuring talks, panel discussions, poetry sessions both in Urdu and English, reading, performing arts and film screenings. Around 22 books will be launched at the festival this year,” he informed.
He said a session on poetry and a workshop on ‘Media Literacy and Misinformation’ would be of special significance at the 11th KLF.
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 that 11th KLF would feature a number of sessions that would look at how the written and spoken word connected people across borders and resulted in a cross-pollination of ideas and inspiration for literary works.
“The festival is aimed at bringing together not only the stalwarts of Pakistan’s literary world and academia, but some of the most creative minds beyond Pakistan’s border,” he said, and added the festival would celebrate cultural and linguistic diversity.