ISLAMABAD: Thought-provoking debates and dialogues besides poetry recitals and book launches have been lined up for the eighth edition of Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF), being held digitally this year.

The programme, inaugurated on Friday, has been organised by the Oxford University Press Pakistan (OUPP).

The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Re-imagining the Future’. Readings, discussions on current affairs and interviews will be included in the programme.

This year, ideas and subjects are as diverse as the future of education in Pakistan, the rapidly evolving geopolitical trends, potential impact of recent changes in Afghanistan, and the way forward for the nation’s struggling economy.

Sharing the programme’s highlights OUPP Managing Director Arshad Saeed Husain said: “We at ILF take it as a given that these times are unique and that the tomorrow, we are heading into will require distinctively different understandings and approaches to yesterday. We need to understand that the future will be quite different to the past. And we will require all our imagination and all our creativity for reimagining the future.”

The aim of the digital edition of ILF remains to be the same as the previous ILFs - to develop interaction between writers, intellectuals, and artists within Pakistan and across borders and to nurture and promote books and inculcate the habit of reading. Despite the pandemic, this digital edition of ILF would continue to put Pakistan on the map as a country rich in culture, creativity, and exchange of ideas and opinions. ILF brought together and celebrated Pakistani and international authors.

Guest speakers included Dr Maleeha Lodhi, former ambassador of Pakistan at the United Nations, and Hameed Shahid TI, an Urdu fiction writer and critic.

The festival will continue for three days and conclude on Oct 31. It will feature more than 130 speakers including Michael Kugelman, Elizabeth Jane Burnett, Julien Columeau, Anita Weiss, Ahmed Rashid, Nasim Zehra, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Kishwar Naheed, Wasim Sajjad, Raza Rabbani, Muneeza Shamsie, Sherry Rahman, Hina Rabbani Khar, Harris Khalique, and Zahid Hussain to name a few in 38 sessions representing 10 different countries including Pakistan, United Kingdom, United States, Bangladesh, Iran, France, Germany, Dubai, and India.

After the inauguration ceremony, a discussion titled Parvarish-e-Loh-o-Qalam: Urdu Shairi Ka Maujooda Manzarnama took place. Maestro Iftikhar Arif moderated the talk including renowned poets and authors. This was followed by another session titled ‘A Personal Chronicle of Pakistan: Preserving History and Heritage’ in which analyst, writer and researcher, Ikram Sehgal and former BBC journalist, Owen Bennett-Jones discussed with television presenter Moeed Pirzada, Sehgal’s 12 volume series which was considered a gift for the coming generations of Pakistanis who want to learn about Pakistan over the past 40 years from a distinct Pakistani perspective.

Furthers sessions on literature were held including ‘Connecting Across Frontiers’ featuring Frances Pritchett and Arfa Sayeda Zehra and ‘Afghanistan At the Crossroads’ moderated by Huma Baqai.

While the roots of ILF were nourished by rich traditions of heritage, ILF would look forward to the future and explore new writings, new trends, and new technologies, and provide a platform for younger authors and scholars, the organisers said.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2021