LAHORE: One Nobel laureate and two Booker Prize winners are going to be the highlight of this year’s Lahore Literary Festival, starting at the Alhamra Art Centre today (Monday).

The litfest that celebrates over a decade of its launch as since its inception it has hosted renowned authors and artistes from across the world, ranging from Orhan Pamuk, Elif Shafak and Romila Thapar to Naseeruddin Shah and Sharmila Tagore. Turkish novelist Pamuk was also the recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature of 2006.

This year the stars of the festival include Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka, the 2022 Booker Prize winner for his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida and South African novelist and playwright Damon Galgut, the Booker Prize winner for 2021 for his novel, The Promise, but the biggest of them all is Tanzanian-born British novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, the recipient of 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Talking about this edition, LLF founder Razi Ahmed said, “with this edition of the festival, it’s like coming back to normalcy as it was in time before the coronavirus. We are going back to the same format as it was in 2020. Like the year 2020, when we had Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, we have Abdulrazak Gurnah this year, which is a pride for all of us – the city as well as the festival”.

The Tanzanian-born British novelist makes the keynote address at Alhamra

Razi Ahmed added that the litfest had always strived for a collective pursuit to make a difference through sharing of ideas from across the world and the same thing will happen this year too.

“This time, it’s not only the writers from the empire and the West but from Africa too. Besides Gurnah, there is Nadifa Mohamed, the Somali British novelist who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2021 and Damon Galgut from South Africa,” said the LLF founder.

Gurnah has just participated in the Jaipur Literature Festival held from Jan 19 to 23. Just like the JLF, Gurnah would open the LLF where he would make the keynote address today. Another session with Gurnah on colonialism and refugees is scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday) while a third session featuring him will end the litfest on Sunday. He will be accompanied by Damon Galgut and Nadifa Mohamed.

Other writers from the world of literature attending this edition include Mohsin Hamid, Adania Shibli (Minor Detail), Ameena Hussein (The Moon in the Water), Diana Darke (The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy), Syeda Saiyidain Hameed (Beautiful Country: Stories from another India), Siobhan Lambert-Hurley (Elusive Lives: Gender, Autobiography and the Self in South Asia), Louise Kennedy (Trespasses), Saba Karim Khan (Skyfall) and Sabyn Javeri (Hijabistan).

Jamil Dehlavi, the director of films like Immaculate Conception, Jinnah and the Blood of Hussain will also talk to the audience and his talk will be followed by the screening of Immaculate Conception which starred Zia Mohyeddin who passed away recently.

From Pakistan, Mustansar Hussain Tarar will have a talk with novelists H.M. Naqvi and Osama Siddique while Sara Sulehri-Goodyear would also be remembered in a session.

The next two days will feature, Daisy Lockwell, the translator of Booker Prize winner, Tomb of Sand, written by Gitanjali Shree, Muneeza Shamsie, Shahbaz Taseer, Maleeha Lodhi, Ahmed Rashid, Aamer Hussein, Sania Saeed, British historian Alex von Tunzelmann, Syed Henna Babar Ali and Moni Mohsin.

There will be sessions on Urdu and Punjabi writings and poetry and the authors and poets featuring in these sessions would include Iftikhar Arif, Zehra Nigah, Kishwar Naheed, Zubair Ahmed and Inamul Haq.

A session will be held in the memory of Urdu poet Amjad Islam Amjad who passed away in Lahore recently. An addition in the usual sessions that happen every year is a sitting (Mushaira) of Punjabi humorous poetry.

This commemorative edition will also feature performances, recitals, screenings, book signings, and an exhibition by modern artist Wardha Shabbir.

The LLF is proud of its continued partnerships with, among others, the Dawn Media Group, Serena Hotels, EU, British Council, Alliance Française, Goethe-Institute, and AG.

The LLF has requested the festival-goers to wear surgical masks while attending sessions and adhere to recommended safety precautions at all times.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2023