The Karachi Literature Festival, the first festival of its kind in Pakistan, is being organised by Oxford University Press Pakistan and the British Council. It is open to the public and free (there are no charges of any sort to attend it). The event will start on March 20, 2010.
The festival will provide a platform for dialogue between Pakistan and the rest of the world, promoting contemporary writing and thought from Pakistan, and bringing contemporary writing from around the world to local Pakistani audiences.
In addition to the main event, the Karachi Literature Festival will be promoting young writers through a creative writing competition and is also developing an educational strand to video-link students in the UK and Pakistan using debate around contemporary writing.
PROGRAMME FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 20
10am-11am Lawn
Formal Inauguration
Speakers: Mashhood Rizvi, Asif Farrukhi, Ameena Saiyid, and Anita Ghulam Ali
11am-12 noon
Maharani room--Transplanted Flowers: Conversation and Readings with Aamer Hussein
Moderator: Muneeza Shamsie
Maharaja room-- Conversation and Readings with Kishwar Naheed
Moderator: Durdana Soomro
11am - 1pm--Sahr 1 room-- Workshop on creative writing by Adrian Hussain
12 noon - 1pm
Maharaja room-- Panel Discussion on Literature from Pakistan: Old, New and Across Languages
Moderator: Asif Farrukhi. Panelists: Kishwar Naheed, Aamer Hussein, Masood Ashar, and Intizar Hussain
Maharani room-- Conversation and Readings with Bapsi Sidhwa
Moderator: Ishrat Lindblad
2pm - 3pm
Maharaja room--Conversation and Readings with Mohammad Hanif
Moderator: Sadia Shepard
Maharani room-- Literature and Humour with Sarfraz Manzoor
Moderator: Asif Noorani
3pm - 4pm
Maharaja room--Panel Discussion: Literature and Activism
Moderator: Sunil Sethi. Panelists: Mohammad Hanif, Fahmida Riaz, and Arfa Syeda Zehra
Maharani room--Book Launches, Zakhm Ka Nishan by Susan Abulhawa translated by Masood Ashar
Shadianey by Naguib Mehfouz translated by Fahmida Riaz
Moderators: Obaid Siddiqui and Ghazi Salahuddin
4pm - 5pm
Maharaja room--Talk by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi ‘Urdu ki Majmooi Sooretehaal’
Moderator: Iftikhar Arif
Maharani room--Conversation and Readings with, Zulfikar Ghose
Moderator: Ishrat Lindblad
5pm - 6pm--Maharani room-- Conversation and Readings with Sara MacDonald, Shandana Minhas, and Sadia Shepard Moderator: Raza Rumi
5pm - 7pm--Scellinas room-- Urdu Poetry Reading (Mushaira)
Conductor: Fatima Hassan
Participants: Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Iftikhar Arif, Zehra Nigah, Fahmida Riaz, Kishwar Naheed, Saher Ansari, Anwar Shaoor, Shahida Hassan, Harris Khalique, Ajmal Siraj, Imdad Hussaini, and Kashif Hussain Ghayar
6pm - 7pm-- Maharani room-- Conversation and Readings with Maniza Naqvi and Sehba Sarwar. Moderator: Ayesha Tammy Haq
9pm onwards, Dance Performance by Sheema Kermani and Group at the Karachi Arts Council
PROGRAMME FOR SUNDAY 21 MARCH
10am - 11am--Maharani room-- A Tribute to Quratulain Hyder, Moderator: Raza Rumi, Panelists: Intizar Husain, Fahmida Riaz, Aamer Hussain, and Arfa Syeda Zehra
Sahr 1, Maharaja, Board Room 1/ Banquet Office--Reading and story telling sessions for families and children. Authors/ Story-tellers: Saman Shamsie, Zara Mumtaz, and Musharraf Ali Farooqi. Moderator: Raheela Baqai, Nida Dossa, and Seema Khan
11am - 12 Noon
Maharaja room-- Book Launches: 50 Poems: 30 Selected 20 New, by Zulfikar Ghose; Home Boy, by Husain Naqvi. Moderators: Amberina Kazi and Ishrat Lindblad
Scellinas room-- Launch of The Oxford Book of Urdu Short Stories Selected and Translated by Amina Azfar, followed by discussion on the world of Urdu short stories. Intizar Hussain to launch. Moderator: Asif Farrukhi. Speakers: Hasan Manzar, Asad Mohammad Khan, and Aamer
Hussein
12 noon - 1pm
Maharani room-- From Manuscript to Bestseller. An interactive session with Ameena Saiyid and Asif Noorani. Moderator: Ameena Saiyid
Maharaja room-- Panel Discussion on Sufism and Literature. Moderator: Raza Rumi. Panelists: Samina Quraeshi, Amar Jaleel, and Mahmood Jamal
2pm - 3pm
Maharaja room--Book Launch, Look at the City from Here: Karachi Writings. Selected and Edited by Asif Farrukhi. Anita Ghulam Ali to launch. Moderator: Obaid Siddiqui. Writers: Amar Jaleel, Hasan Manzar, Fahmida Riaz, and Harris Khalique
Maharani room--Conversation and Readings with, Iftikhar Arif Moderator: Ghazi Salahuddin
3pm - 4pm
Maharaja room--Panel Discussion, Literature in Translation. Moderator: Musharraf Ali Farooqi. Panelists: Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Fahmida Riaz, and Durdana Soomro
Maharani room--Conversation and Readings with with Intizar Hussain and Asad Mohammad Khan. Moderator: Harris Khalique
4pm - 5pm
Maharani room--Conversation and Readings with Mohsin Hamid. Moderator: Sunil Sethi
Maharaja room--Conversation and Readings with Fahmida Riaz. Moderator: Raza Rumi.
5pm - 6pm
Scellinas room--Crossing Borders, Readings from Eqbal Ahmed by Zohra Yusuf. Moderator: Irfan Husain. Panelists: Mohammad Hanif, Fahmida Riaz, and Wasif Rizvi
Maharani room--Conversation and Readings with Victoria Schofield Moderator: Ayesha Tammy Haq,
6pm- 7pm
Maharani room--Panel Discussion on Contemporary South Asian English Literature: Its Role and Challenges Today. Moderator: Muneeza Shamsie. Panelists: Mohammad Hanif, Sarfaraz Manzoor, and Sadia Shepard 6pm - 7pm
Maharaja room -- Conversation and Readings with Zehra Nigah. Moderator: Fatima Hassan
9pm onwards Play by Tehrik-e-Niswan (Sheema Kermani and group) - Venue: Arts Council, Karachi
The festival will provide a platform for dialogue between Pakistan and the rest of the world, promoting contemporary writing and thought from Pakistan, and bringing contemporary writing from around the world to local Pakistani audiences.
In addition to the main event, the Karachi Literature Festival will be promoting young writers through a creative writing competition and is also developing an educational strand to video-link students in the UK and Pakistan using debate around contemporary writing.
PROGRAMME FOR SATURDAY, MARCH 20
10am-11am Lawn
Formal Inauguration
Speakers: Mashhood Rizvi, Asif Farrukhi, Ameena Saiyid, and Anita Ghulam Ali
11am-12 noon
Maharani room--Transplanted Flowers: Conversation and Readings with Aamer Hussein
Moderator: Muneeza Shamsie
Maharaja room-- Conversation and Readings with Kishwar Naheed
Moderator: Durdana Soomro
11am - 1pm--Sahr 1 room-- Workshop on creative writing by Adrian Hussain
12 noon - 1pm
Maharaja room-- Panel Discussion on Literature from Pakistan: Old, New and Across Languages
Moderator: Asif Farrukhi. Panelists: Kishwar Naheed, Aamer Hussein, Masood Ashar, and Intizar Hussain
Maharani room-- Conversation and Readings with Bapsi Sidhwa
Moderator: Ishrat Lindblad
2pm - 3pm
Maharaja room--Conversation and Readings with Mohammad Hanif
Moderator: Sadia Shepard
Maharani room-- Literature and Humour with Sarfraz Manzoor
Moderator: Asif Noorani
3pm - 4pm
Maharaja room--Panel Discussion: Literature and Activism
Moderator: Sunil Sethi. Panelists: Mohammad Hanif, Fahmida Riaz, and Arfa Syeda Zehra
Maharani room--Book Launches, Zakhm Ka Nishan by Susan Abulhawa translated by Masood Ashar
Shadianey by Naguib Mehfouz translated by Fahmida Riaz
Moderators: Obaid Siddiqui and Ghazi Salahuddin
4pm - 5pm
Maharaja room--Talk by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi ‘Urdu ki Majmooi Sooretehaal’
Moderator: Iftikhar Arif
Maharani room--Conversation and Readings with, Zulfikar Ghose
Moderator: Ishrat Lindblad
5pm - 6pm--Maharani room-- Conversation and Readings with Sara MacDonald, Shandana Minhas, and Sadia Shepard Moderator: Raza Rumi
5pm - 7pm--Scellinas room-- Urdu Poetry Reading (Mushaira)
Conductor: Fatima Hassan
Participants: Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Iftikhar Arif, Zehra Nigah, Fahmida Riaz, Kishwar Naheed, Saher Ansari, Anwar Shaoor, Shahida Hassan, Harris Khalique, Ajmal Siraj, Imdad Hussaini, and Kashif Hussain Ghayar
6pm - 7pm-- Maharani room-- Conversation and Readings with Maniza Naqvi and Sehba Sarwar. Moderator: Ayesha Tammy Haq
9pm onwards, Dance Performance by Sheema Kermani and Group at the Karachi Arts Council
PROGRAMME FOR SUNDAY 21 MARCH
10am - 11am--Maharani room-- A Tribute to Quratulain Hyder, Moderator: Raza Rumi, Panelists: Intizar Husain, Fahmida Riaz, Aamer Hussain, and Arfa Syeda Zehra
Sahr 1, Maharaja, Board Room 1/ Banquet Office--Reading and story telling sessions for families and children. Authors/ Story-tellers: Saman Shamsie, Zara Mumtaz, and Musharraf Ali Farooqi. Moderator: Raheela Baqai, Nida Dossa, and Seema Khan
11am - 12 Noon
Maharaja room-- Book Launches: 50 Poems: 30 Selected 20 New, by Zulfikar Ghose; Home Boy, by Husain Naqvi. Moderators: Amberina Kazi and Ishrat Lindblad
Scellinas room-- Launch of The Oxford Book of Urdu Short Stories Selected and Translated by Amina Azfar, followed by discussion on the world of Urdu short stories. Intizar Hussain to launch. Moderator: Asif Farrukhi. Speakers: Hasan Manzar, Asad Mohammad Khan, and Aamer
Hussein
12 noon - 1pm
Maharani room-- From Manuscript to Bestseller. An interactive session with Ameena Saiyid and Asif Noorani. Moderator: Ameena Saiyid
Maharaja room-- Panel Discussion on Sufism and Literature. Moderator: Raza Rumi. Panelists: Samina Quraeshi, Amar Jaleel, and Mahmood Jamal
2pm - 3pm
Maharaja room--Book Launch, Look at the City from Here: Karachi Writings. Selected and Edited by Asif Farrukhi. Anita Ghulam Ali to launch. Moderator: Obaid Siddiqui. Writers: Amar Jaleel, Hasan Manzar, Fahmida Riaz, and Harris Khalique
Maharani room--Conversation and Readings with, Iftikhar Arif Moderator: Ghazi Salahuddin
3pm - 4pm
Maharaja room--Panel Discussion, Literature in Translation. Moderator: Musharraf Ali Farooqi. Panelists: Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Fahmida Riaz, and Durdana Soomro
Maharani room--Conversation and Readings with with Intizar Hussain and Asad Mohammad Khan. Moderator: Harris Khalique
4pm - 5pm
Maharani room--Conversation and Readings with Mohsin Hamid. Moderator: Sunil Sethi
Maharaja room--Conversation and Readings with Fahmida Riaz. Moderator: Raza Rumi.
5pm - 6pm
Scellinas room--Crossing Borders, Readings from Eqbal Ahmed by Zohra Yusuf. Moderator: Irfan Husain. Panelists: Mohammad Hanif, Fahmida Riaz, and Wasif Rizvi
Maharani room--Conversation and Readings with Victoria Schofield Moderator: Ayesha Tammy Haq,
6pm- 7pm
Maharani room--Panel Discussion on Contemporary South Asian English Literature: Its Role and Challenges Today. Moderator: Muneeza Shamsie. Panelists: Mohammad Hanif, Sarfaraz Manzoor, and Sadia Shepard 6pm - 7pm
Maharaja room -- Conversation and Readings with Zehra Nigah. Moderator: Fatima Hassan
9pm onwards Play by Tehrik-e-Niswan (Sheema Kermani and group) - Venue: Arts Council, Karachi
