Karachi Literature Festival 2016 (5, 6, 7 February)
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Karachi Literature Festival 2016
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Books and Prizes
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Some sessions will be grossly general
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Cinema and TV
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Art is a strong presence on the agenda
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Key Participants
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Program
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Can the Karachi Literature Festival be more inclusive?
by Abira Ashfaq
1) Karachi Literature Festival 2016
Kicking off on February 5, the Karachi Literature Festival (held at The Beach Luxury Hotel) is now in its seventh year and going strong.
Ameena Saiyid, Director and Founder
Asif Farrukhi Founder
In fact, as the festival’s organisers formally introduced the event’s line-up to the public yesterday it was evident that ‘breadth’ might be KLF 2016’s defining feature. With panel discussions focusing on a range of subjects, from film to translation and feminism to TV dramas, an individual with even so much as a passing interest in literary affairs might find something at KLF to entertain herself with.
Co-founder Asif Farrukhi touched on this when he said KLF desired to represent every aspect of literature in Pakistan.
But can breadth also ensure depth?
Karachi Literature Festivals of times past have often been accused of being clubbish, repetitive and non-inclusive. Of course, criticism has been matched with as much, if not more, praise. The exact nature of this year’s installment remains to be seen, but a quick glance at the line-up does reveal a few details.
Here’s what to look forward to and what to be wary of.
2) Books and Prizes
- Ali Khan and Ali Nobil Ahmad: Cinema and Society: Film and Social Change in Pakistan
- Anis Haroon: Kab Mehkey gi Fassal e Gul
- Anwer Pirzado: The Editorials of Anwer Pirzado (Musharaf Era)
- Aroosa Kanwal: Rethinking Identities in Contemporary Pakistani Fiction
- Barkha Dutt : This Unquiet Land
- Eqbal Ahmad: Critical Outsider and Witness in a Turbulent Age by Stuart Schaar
- F. S. Aijazuddin: The Resourceful Fakirs
- Jamsheed Marker: Cover Point: Impressions of Leadership in Pakistan
- Farahnaz Ispahani: Purifying the Land of the Pure
- Ghazi Salahuddin: This Unquiet Land by Barkha Dutt
- Imdaad Husaini: Dhoop Kiran
- Ishrat Husain : Globalisation, Governance and Growth
- Ismat Chughtai: Kaghazi hay Pairahan by Ismat Chughtai translated by Noor
- Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri: Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Insider’s Account of Pakistan’s Foreign
- Mehjabeen Abidi-Habib, Rina Saeed Khan, and Richard Garstang: Water in the Wilderness
- Relations Including Details of the Kashmir Framework
- Sehba Sarwar: Borderlines
- Khushwant Singh: Train to Pakistan
- Lifebuoy: 28 Days
- Mehr Tarar : Leaves from Lahore
- Mahmood Ayub and Turab Hussain: Candles in the Dark: Successful Organizations in Pakistan’s Weak Institutional Environment
- Najeeba Arif: Ma’aani sey Ziada
- Nasir Abbas Nayyar: Urdu Adab ki Tashkeel e Jadeed
- Rafique Kathwari: In Another Country
- Salman Khurshid : The Other Side of the Mountain
- Sehba Sarwar : Borderlines
- Steffen Kopetzky: Risk
- Yaqoob Khan Bangash : A Princely Affair
- Intikhab-e-Kalam: Munir Niazi and the Urdu Virsa series
KLF Coca-Cola Best Non-Fiction Book Prize
- Aroosa Kanwal: Rethinking Identities in Contemporary Pakistani Fiction
- Yaqoob Khan Bangash: A Princely Affair
- Farahnaz Ispahani: Purifying the Land of the Pure
KLF Urdu Fiction/Non-Fiction Prize
- Najeeba Arif: Ma’aani sey Ziada
- Imdaad Husaini: Dhoop Kiran
- Nasir Abbas Nayyar: Alamgeeriyat aur Deegar Mazamin
The KLF Peace Prize
The KLF Peace Prize is a joint project of KLF, the Consulate General of Germany in Karachi and the Embassy of Germany in Islamabad. It goes to a fiction or non-fiction book that promotes peace, tolerance and international understanding.
5th UBL Literary Excellence Awards
Urdu Fiction
- Chor Lamha by Roohi Tahir
- Na-tamaam by Muhammad Asim Butt
- Burf Main Jaltay Log by Abdul Rauf Kayani
Urdu Non-Fiction
- Mir Baqir Ali – Dastan-go by Aqeel Abbas Jafari
- Bazm-e-Ronaq-e-Jahan by Aslam Farrukhi
- Rashid, Meera Jee Faiz Nayab Hain Hum (Tanqeed) by Muhammad Hamid Shahid
- Tamaseel by Ishrat Ali Khan
Urdu Poetry
- Dars Dhaara by Shaheen Abbas
- Dhoop Kiran by Imdad Hussaini
- Mohabbat Roshni Hai by Naseem Nazish
English Non-Fiction
- Power Failure by Syeda Abida Hussain
- Ottoman Turkey by Naeem Qureshi
- The Emergence of Socialist Thoughts by Khizer Humayun Ansari
Urdu Translation
- Surkh Mera Naam by Huma Anwar
- Ranjeet Singh by Zubair Qureshi
- Namoos by Huma Anwar
Urdu Children’s Literature
- Sunehri Kahaniyan by Najma Parveen
- Dragon Ki Wapasi by Akhtar Abbas
- Chi Chu Ka Neya Ghar by Erum Maqbool
English Children’s Literature
- A Children’s History of Balochistan by Hamida Khuru
- The Magical Woods by Saman Shamsie
- The Simurgh and the Birds by Fahmida Riaz
A total of twenty one ‘book launches’ will take place during the course of KLF.
3) Some sessions will be grossly general
One continuing criticism I have of KLF is that a few select panel discussions are — how to frame this — exceedingly random. With neither a specific book, a solid issue or a superstar author to ground them some sessions appear as though they’re set up only to flounder.
Cases in point this year: a session titled ‘Diversity and Dissent’ (Hafeez Jamali in conversation with Ziauddin Sardar) and ‘Busting Myths’ (featuring Pervez Hoodbhoy and Nadeem F. Paracha moderated by Yaqoob Khan Bangash).
On the former: diversity is a hugely important issue, I won’t argue on that point at all. However, it would be helpful if we knew what aspects of diversity were going to be discussed — a lack of diversity in the literary world? In the media? Without a cue like this it is only curiosity that would take me to this session, not true interest in the matter being discussed. Ditto the latter.
Other sessions that fall prey to randomness are ‘Pakistan: Modernity and Postcoloniality’ and ‘Documentaries Workshop.’ Hmmm.
4) Cinema and TV
- Manto by Sarmad Khoosat
- Cinema and Society: A History of Pakistani Cinema by Ali Khan and Ali Nobil Ahmad
- Pakistani Cinema Strikes Back: Panel Discussion Nimra Bucha, Meenu Gaur, Sania Saeed and Ayesha Omar
- The Oscar Lady: Exclusive talk by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy
- From Life to Reel: Panel discussion Nandita Das, Asif Noorani, Anupam Kher, Shahid Nadeem, and Nimra Bucha
- Cover Point: Impressions of Leadership in Pakistan by Jamsheed Marker, moderated by Aneesuddin Ahmed
5) Art is a strong presence on the agenda
For those with a keen interest in art and photography KLF 2016 is a goldmine.
On day 1 I’m looking forward to a session called ‘Making an Artist’, which I hope will touch on issues like how to encourage creativity, how to source support both financial and moral, and will also simply serve as a conduit for artists to share how they made it in the art world. I’m also interested in a session focusing on the successful Lahore Biennale and its focus on public engagement with art.
On day 2 shutterbugs should attend ‘Photography in the Age of Art’ which features prominent photographers of the day like Amean J., Tapu Javeri and Arif Mahmood.
Day 3 is rounded out nicely with a look to the future in ‘Art as Witness to Memory and Erasure: Karachi Biennale 2017.’ Promising also for its diverse panel is ‘Art and Alternate Spaces’ with Ejaz Ahed, Zubair Ahmed, Riffat Alvi, Musharaf Hai and Sharmila Farooqi, moderated by Fawzia Naqvi.
6) Key Participants
Keynote Speakers
Opening: Pervez Hoodbhoy and Fahmida Riaz
Closing: Ziauddin Sardar and Rakhshanda Jalil
(224 Pakistani and 38 international authors and speakers)
India: Anupam Kher, Saif Mahmood, Barkha Dutt, Nandita Das, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Salman Khurshid
US: Barbara Metcalf, Neelofer Abbasi and Sadia Shepherd
UK: Mirza Waheed, Ziauddin Sardar and Kamila Shamsie
Germany: Christoph Peters and Steffen Kopetzky
Italy: Andrea Berrini and Sabiana Paoli
France: Jean-Luc Racine, Olivier Truc
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Ali Akbar Natiq |
Intizar Husain |
Sanam Saeed |
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Amar Jaleel |
Jamsheed Marker |
Sania Saeed |
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Anwar Masood |
Kamila Shamsie |
Sarmad Khoosat |
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Arshad Mahmud |
Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri |
Shahnaz Wazir Ali |
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Anupam Kher |
Kishwar Naheed |
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy |
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Asghar Nadeem Syed |
Laxmi Narayan Tripathi |
Syed Salim Raza |
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Attiya Dawood |
Mahtab Akbar Rashdi |
Tahira Syed |
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Ayesha Omar |
Mirza Waheed |
Tapu Javeri |
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Azra Abbas |
Mohammed Hanif |
Uzma Aslam Khan |
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Barbara D Metcalf |
Mustansar Hussain Tarar |
Zaheda Hina and |
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Barkha Dutt |
Najmuddin Shaikh |
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Bina Shah |
Nandita Das |
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Ishrat Husain |
Nisar Ahmad Khuhro |
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Feryal Ali Gauhar |
Noorul Huda Shah |
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H M Naqvi |
Saad Haroon |
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Harris Khalique |
Sadia Shepard |
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Haseena Moin |
Sahar Ansari |
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Hina Rabbani Khar |
Salman Khurshid |
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7) Program
Friday, 5 February 2016
Inauguration of the 7th Karachi Literature Festival/Jashn-e-Adab
10.00 a.m. Friday 5 February 2016
Main Garden, Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi
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10.00 a.m. |
Arrival of Guests Performance by Asif Sinan |
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10.30 a.m. |
Welcome Speeches by: Ameena Saiyid, obe, Managing Director, Oxford University Press, and Founder/Director, Karachi and Islamabad Literature Festivals, and Co-Founder, Children’s Literature Festival Asif Farrukhi, Founder, Karachi and Islamabad Literature Festivals Speeches by Festival Sponsors |
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11.16 a.m. |
Performance by Chao’s Dance and Theatre |
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Performance by Amna Mawaz Khan |
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11.35 a.m. |
Awards of the KLF Best Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Urdu Fiction/Non-Fiction Books |
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12.05 p.m. |
Keynote Speeches by: |
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Main Garden |
Jasmine |
Aquarius |
Room 007 |
Tulip/Red Terrace |
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2.30 p.m.–3.30 p.m. |
The Dilemmas of the Transgender Arfa Sayeda Zehra in conversation with Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, author of Me Laxmi, Me Hijra |
Education and Reading: Community and Parental Involvement Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Fazlullah Pechuho, Baela Raza Jamil, Ameena Saiyid, Barbara Toye-Welsh, and Shahnaz Wazir Ali |
Chap Tilak:Amir Khusro’s Harvest of Folk Songs Saif Mahmood, Talat Hashimi, Zaheda Hina, Zehra Nigah, and Taimur Khan Mumtaz |
Book Launch: In Another Country by Rafique Kathwari Moderator: Salman Tarik Kureshi Book Launch: Leaves from Lahore by Mehr Tarar |
Making an Artist Nurayah Sheikh Nabi, Zarmeene Shah, and Mahreen Zuberi Moderator: Saira Sheikh |
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No Borders between Performers Sarmad Khoosat in conversation with Nandita Das |
Book Launch: Cinema and Society: Film and Social Change in Pakistan by Ali Khan and Ali Nobil Ahmad Ali Khan, Ali Nobil Ahmad, and Hasan Zaidi Moderator: Asif Noorani |
Book Launch: Intikhab-e-Kalam: Munir Niazi and the Urdu Virsa series Fahmida Riaz, Asghar Nadeem Syed, and Fatema Hassan Moderator: Mujahid Barelvi |
How Publishers Bring out the Best Andrea Berrini, Ameena Saiyid, Afzaal Ahmad, and Ashok Chopra Moderator: Hoori Noorani |
The Art of Writing Amra Ali, Marjorie Husain, H.M. Naqvi, Quddus Mirza, and Tauqeer Muhajir Moderator: Maliha Noorani |
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5.00 p.m.–6.00 p.m. |
Abhi to Main Jawan Hoon: A Tribute to Malika Pukhraj Tahira Syed and Arshad Mahmud Moderator: Ayla Raza |
Jilawatan sey Jungle tak: Short Stories and TV Dramas Asif Farrukhi in conversation with Noor ul Huda Shah |
Book Launch: Cover Point: Impressions of Leadership in Pakistan by Jamsheed Marker Jamsheed Marker and Ishrat Hussain Moderator: Aneesuddin Ahmed |
Fiction, Memory, and Colonialism H.M. Naqvi, Sadia Shepard, Kamila Shamsie, and Christoph Peters Moderator: Framji Minwalla |
Arte d’Italia Quddus Mirza in conversation with Sabiana Paoli |
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6.15 p.m.–7.15 p.m. |
Desi Stand-up Comedy Sanjay Rajoura |
Book Launch: Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh Barbara D. Metcalf, Alok Bhalla, Maniza Naqvi, and Naz Ikramullah Moderator: Babar Ayaz |
Abad Kharaba Harris Khalique and Asghar Nadeem Syed in conversation with Kishwar Naheed |
Italy Reads Pakistan: Award by Metropoli d’Asia and Consulate of Italy in Karachi Stefano Pontecorvo, Andrea Berrini, and H.M. Naqvi Moderator: Bina Shah |
Art as Part of Public Engagement: Lahore Biennale Foundation Naima Dadabhoy, Fawzia Naqvi, Qudsia Rahim, Roohi Ahmed, and Osman Khalid Waheed Moderator: Amra Ali |
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7.30 p.m.–9.30 p.m. |
Musical Evening by Vidya Shah and Zoe Viccaji |
Saturday, 6 February 2016
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Main Garden |
Jasmine |
Aquarius |
Room 007 |
Princess |
Tulip/Red Terrace |
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10.00 a.m.–11.00 a.m. |
Rumi: Mystic and Poet Fahmida Riaz, Amar Sindhu, and Bari Mian Moderator: Syed Nomanul Haq |
Book Launch: Globalisation, Governance and Growth by Ishrat Husain Syed Salim Raza and Ishrat Husain Moderator: Vaqar Ahmed |
Column say Urdu Bloggers tak Wusatullah Khan, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Masood Ashar, Zaheda Hina, Amar Jaleel, and Mubashir Ali Zaidi Moderator: Wajahat Masood |
Book Launch: Sehba Sarwar, Tehmina Ahmed, and Naila Mahmood Moderator: Ghazi Salahuddin |
Using Technology to Deliver Quality Education Kasim Kasuri and Talea Zafar Moderator: Rabia Garib |
Poetry in Art, Art in Poetry Moderator: Faraz Maqsood Hamidi |
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11.15 a.m.–12.15 p.m. |
Samjhotay ki Chadar Rakhshanda Jalil in conversation with Zehra Nigah |
Book Launch: This Unquiet Land by Barkha Dutt Ghazi Salahuddin in conversation with |
Writing History |
Tharparkar: Desert |
Fostering Innovation and Creativity through Protection of Intellectual Property Amar Naseer, Ameena Saiyid, and Babar Ayaz Moderator: Syed Nusrat Ali |
Photography in the |
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12.30 p.m.–1.30 p.m. |
From Life to Reel |
Transgender Rights: Are there Any? |
Agay Samandar Hay In conversation with Intizar Husain Rakhshanda Jalil, Alok Bhalla, and Masood Ashar Moderator: Asif Farrukhi |
Announcement of the KLF Peace Prize Winner |
Our History, Our Heritage, Our Responsibility Asma Ibrahim and Yasmeen Lari |
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1.45 p.m.–2.45 p.m. |
Safar aur Kahani Asghar Nadeem Syed in conversation with Mustansar Hussain Tarar |
Mother Tongue: Medium of Instruction and Learning Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq, Farzana, Zubeida Mustafa, and Barbara Toye-Welsh Moderator: Baela Raza Jamil |
Laughter, the Best Medicine Saad Haroon and Sanjay Rajoura Moderator: |
Diversity and Dissent Hafeez Jamali in conversation with Ziauddin Sardar |
Nayee Awazain (New Voices in Urdu Writing) Ali Akbar Natiq, Mustafa Arbab, and Inaam Syed Sultan Ahmed |
Sibtain Manzil: A Conversation Syed Sultan Ahmed |
Sunday, 7 February 2016
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Main Garden |
Jasmine |
Aquarius |
Room 007 |
Tulip/Red Terrace |
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10.00 a.m.–11.00 a.m. |
Kashmir: The Never-ending Conflict Mirza Waheed, Barkha Dutt, Jean-Luc Racine, and Rafique Kathwari Moderator: Farhan Bokhari |
Towards a Better Pakistan— Screenings of Short Films followed by Award Ceremony Moderator: Pervez Hoodbhoy |
Facing Wrongs and Seeking Rights: The Female Perspective Ruchira Gupta, Fouzia Saeed, and Feryal Ali-Gauhar Moderator: Shaheen Attiq-ur-Rahman |
Pakistan: Modernity and Postcoloniality Nauman Naqvi and |
Documentaries Workshop Rafeeq Ellias |
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11.15 a.m.–12.15 p.m. |
Love, Longing, and Exile Shah Muhammad Pirzada in |
South Asian English Fiction: Where Mythology and History Meet Uzma Aslam Khan, Kamila Shamsie, |
Emigres and Exile: A Tribute to Abdullah Hussain H. M. Naqvi, Masood Ashar, Moderator: Asif Farrukhi |
Book Launch: Urdu Adab ki Tashkeel e Jadeed by Nasir Abbas Nayyar Aqeel Abbas Jafri in conversation Book Launch: A Princely Affair: Accession and Yaqoob Khan Bangash and
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Art as Witness to Memory and Erasure: Camilla Hadi Chaudhary, Moderator: Aquila Ismail |
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12.30 p.m.–1.30 p.m. |
UBL Literary Excellence Awards Intizar Husain, Asghar Nadeem Syed, |
The White Stripe on the National Flag Shaheen Attiq-ur-Rahman, Olivier Truc, |
Stories from the Heart, Reflections of Young Leaders |
Book Launch: Candles in the Dark: Successful Javaid Ahmed, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, |
Chughtai Revisited Inam Khawaja in conversation |
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1.45 p.m.–2.45 p.m. |
Book Launch by Lifebuoy: 28 Days Tapu Javeri, Arif Mahmood, |
Aid, Trade, and Inter-State Relations Syed Salim Raza, Najmuddin Shaikh, |
Book Launch: Anis Haroon, Amar Sindhu, Syed Book Launch: Aijaz Mangi and Mahtab Akbar
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Poets’ Corner:
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Beyond Borders Haajra Haider, Deborah Robinson, |
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3.00 p.m.–4.00 p.m. |
Book Launch: Neither a Hawk nor a Dove: An Barkha Dutt, Khurshid Mahmud |
River of Flesh and Other Stories: The Prostituted Woman in Indian Short Shayma Saiyid in conversation with |
Idhar Urdu, Udhar Urdu, Kidher Urdu?: Saif Mahmood and |
Book Launch: Water in the Wilderness Aaron Mulvany, |
Screening of Documentary Film |
The Art of Now Fawzia Naqvi in |
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4.15 p.m.–5.15 p.m. |
Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai Ashok Chopra in conversation with |
Omayr Aziz Saiyid in conversation with Hina Rabbani Khar |
Compressed Tales: Urdu Digests and Shakeel Adilzada, |
Revisiting the Iqbal–Dante Question Andrea Berrini and |
Islamic Science: The Chimera that Ziauddin Sardar, |
Art and Alternate Spaces Ejaz Ahed, Zubair |
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6.45 p.m.–7.45 p.m. |
Closing Ceremony: Speeches by Ameena Saiyid and Asif Farrukhi Keynote Speeches by: |
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8.00 p.m.–9.00 p.m. |
Stand-up Comedy by Saad Haroon |
8) Can the Karachi Literature Festival be more inclusive?
by Abira Ashfaq
No one will deny literary festivals are needed and many more of them in a city as big and diverse as Karachi.
For what it was worth, Karachi Literary Festival offered a liberal perspective on culture, books, and society; an opportunity for young people to become acquainted with the work of an iconic class of writers, lawyers, artists and activists such as I.A. Rehman, Arif Hasan, Asma Jehangir, Sheema Kirmani and others, before we lose them to oblivion.
There are clearly two generations of people who need to know about the history of political theatre, the leftist poetry of Jalib, documentations of the middle-man economy that rules Karachi, the HRCP research on human rights challenges, including missing persons, etc.
KLF, in that respect, provided a minimum level of exposure and literary political education.
But for the vampires, KLF offered little that was novel or intriguing, and what one couldn’t find from a link on social media or the English newspaper.
I found, often, the discussion veering into banality. Recurrently, I wished, speakers had prepared their speeches. Being on stage, speaking to 500 listeners, comes with a responsibility, and one should not merely bank on timely revelation of brilliance and wit.
I personally did not like Jugnu Mohsin’s accents, and all the ‘intellectualisation’ came to a deserved halt when an audience member, appropriately enough, asked her to mimic Benazir.
The pen writes with abandon.
Descriptions of the female anatomy, secretly woven for the reader owe no one any degree of political correctness. Without an intuition for sensibilities or a clear vision of feminist literary critique, let secrets remain secrets. Let’s not discuss Alice Bhatti’s breasts.
KLF may be a successful, private effort of the privileged educated, but when you purport to be the city’s biggest literary event, questions of inclusiveness and transparency become relevant.
How democratic are the decision-makers at KLF?
How do marginalised voices make it in? How can regional literature be represented without being tokenist? How can you be more inclusive of new authors from the South Asian diaspora?
A visit to the South Asian section at Liberty Bookstore will reveal a proliferation of authors. Why can’t we entice them? Manu Joseph, Rohinton Mistry … the list of established and exciting new struggling authors is endless.
Any event in Karachi with its expanding peripheries will necessarily be exclusive. The question is:
Does KLF have the capacity to be more inclusive?
Perhaps not. Maybe if it were, we’d be talking about a different event altogether.
What would it take for the working class and rural people to come? To go into literary functions is to accept their limitations of capacity and really demand more festivals in radically diverse spaces.
But who has the money to fund pluralistic, people’s events? And, even if you pitch the idea of a KLF in a katchi abadi-accessible space with massive pre-event efforts at outreach, in a society with a strong elite lobby, it faces the risk of co-optation.
With major foreign embassies and aid organisations pitching in, as well as the ubiquitous Coca Cola, the question of money is inevitable.
Even though KLF tries to raise human rights concerns, can you really call out the worst human rights violations of our times when multinationals and foreign governments foot the bill?
Pakistan has been attacked with drones 400 times; almost 3,600 people, many of whom were civilians, have been killed. We are living in a country where companies and businesses violate people’s rights with impunity.
Even if sponsors are non-intrusive on content, it is the slow and gradual de-politicisation which comes from unspoken obligations to funders, that is the problem.
It is this insidious invisible hand that has reduced this country’s human rights narrative to a diluted punch-less, public relations version of what it could be.
Can we talk about literature and films against drones, without being the isolated heckler?
Should people with aristocratic heritage be permitted to perpetuate the power they already enjoy – and our oppression as the constant listeners?
Should authors of the military court bill share stage with the ghost of Habib Jalib, who was a fierce critic of establishment?
Would the old boys’ network of mining and banking industries – who may sponsor initiatives at KLF – allow us to talk of climate change and capitalism?
Without state support for literature, the space to talk about the politics of money has disappeared.
If you do, it enrages people with questions of sustainability, accusations of a lack of pragmatism, and claims of hard work.
There are serious class issues in our fragmented society that only a movement will overhaul.
As the people are devoured by neo-liberal interests on the one hand, and controlled and monitored by the military establishment on the other, at least get Margaret Attwood and Naomi Klein on Skype to add some perspective.