12th Karachi Literature Festival goes online

KARACHI: The pandemic may have taken away a number of deeply awaited public events, but what it cannot take away from us is our art, literature, and our celebration of the two. Owing to the new normal, the 12th Karachi Literature Festival has gone online and will be starting today i.e., 26th of March 2021, up until the 28th of March.

The three-day event will feature some highly notable speakers from the literary fraternity including Kishwar Naheed, Amjad Islam Amjad, Iftikhar Arif, Tariq Ali, Vali Nasr, Ahmed Rashid, Arfa Sayeda Zehra. The festival will also feature some key members of the media fraternity such as Ali Gul Pir, Asim Abbasi, George Fulton, Hina Dilpazeer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh, and Khalid Anam. The event will host book launches and panel discussions on various on-going affairs pertaining to literature, entertainment, political movements, and the media industry.

The 2021 version of the event can be attended by accessing the Facebook page of the Karachi Literature Festival. On their website, a clear itinerary has been laid out for anyone who wishes to download the details of the program, the dates, timings, and the speakers on all of its panels.

This year, KLF will be launching some much-awaited books including Fragrance Of Tears: My Friendship With Benazir Bhutto By Victoria Schofield, Out Of Print: Ten Years: An Anthology By Indira Chandrasekhar, A Beautiful Despair: The Art And Life Of Meher Afroz Edited By Niilofur Farrukh, Reminiscences Of My Wanderings By Arif Kamal, The Smile Snatchers: A Novella By Mian Raza Rabbani, No-Win War: The Paradox Of US-Pakistan Relations In Afghanistan’s Shadow By Zahid Hussain,and Unraveling Gordian Knots: The Works And Worlds Of Dr. Ishrat Husain By Sibtain Naqvi.

Some noteworthy panel discussions out of the many scheduled include, Anti-Colonialism: South Asian Pasts And Presents, Cartooning: No Laughing Matter, Karachi: Laughter In Chaos, Progressive Politics In A Populist Period, Nayee Nasl Ki Awaaz: Kal Hamara Hai and Media Ethics In A Post-Truth Society.