Pakistan Literature Festival sets to spread literary hues

Asim Azhar, Sahir Ali Bagga and Natasha Baig will spread the magic of their voices in mega concert.

By Shafaq Iqbal Farooqi

 

LAHORE - The first ever three-day Pakistan Literature Festival is set to begin at the Alhamra Arts Council on Friday (Feb 10) that will continue till Sunday (Feb 12), embellishing the air with the hues of literature, music and culture in the provincial capital Lahore.

The caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah will be inaugurating the carnival, while Punjab's caretaker Information and Culture Minister Amir Mir and Sindh Culture and Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah will also be a part of the occasion.

The Pakistan Literature Festival will be comprising more than 50 sessions including entertainment, comedy, music, dance, literature, education, economy, book launch, discussions with leading intellectuals and artists of the country and other thoughtful sessions.

On the inaugural day of the Festival, there will be an introductory session that will include Mian Ijaz ul Hassan, Ata ul Haq Qasmi, Salima Hashmi, Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Kishwar Naheed, Iftikhar Arif and many other eminent personalities with a welcoming speech by President Arts Council Ahmed following a discussion titled "Civilizational Challenges of the 21st Century, Pakistan and Thoughts of Iqbal" in which Dr. Nasira Javed Iqbal, Tahseen Firaqi, Syed Nomanul Haq will participate.

There will also be an interesting interaction with senior actor Sohail Ahmed, followed by a beautiful musical evening featuring renowned singers Ali Azmat and Sain Zahoor.

A festival that made people think

The second day of the carnival will be having a session titled "What's New in Urdu Fiction?" in which eminent writers will discuss on Urdu fiction. There will be another session "Ahmad Bashir Ka Kumba" which will be moderated by actress Bushra Ansari while Neelum Ahmad Bashir, Asma Abbas, Zara Noor Abbas and Ahmed Abbas will be contributing as panelists.

A session "Lahore Pur Kamal" will include Nayyar Ali Dada, Salima Hashmi, Yousuf Salahuddin and Kamran Lashari. While there will also be an important discussion moderated by Dr Sughra Sadaf with renowned writer Mustansar Hussain Tarar titled "Mein Bhunna Dilli Dy Kangray", with the panel including Mushtaq Sufi, Prof. Zubair Ahmed and Nain Sukh.

The well-known journalist Hamid Mir will hold a session for the youth in which he will discuss the concerns of the youth, following another session between the famous actor Shaan Shahid and Bee Gul. On Saturday, another thought-provoking session called "TV Pakistani Samaj Ka Tarjuman” including Munawar Saeed, Noorul Huda Shah, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Sanam Saeed, Bee Gul, Amna Mufti and Kashif Nisar.

“75 Years of Pakistani Art” will be attended by eminent virtual artists like Mian Ijazul Hassan, Rahat Naveed Masood, Shahid Rasam and Quddus Mirza.

Mushaira is also being organised in the festival for poetry lovers which will be presided over by famous poet Iftikhar Arif, while renowned poets including Anwar Masood, Wasi Shah will share their incredible pieces.

The conversation of the favorite poet of the youth, Ali Zaryoun, and the well-known host, musician Yasir Hussain, will also be a part of the festival. Children's literature and various books will be launched in the festival along with an exhibition of art and painting, concluding with the performance of Pakistan's famous singer Ali Zafar and Ukraine's famous singer Kamaliya.

ThinkFest 2023 promises to share ideas on topical issues

On the third and final day intellectual sessions on the topics of education, climate change are also part of the programme. The festival also includes the launch of books by various authors including Iftikhar Arif, Fawad Ahmed Fawad, Akhlaq Ahmed, Haris Khaliq (Shahid Siddiqui), Irfan Siddiqui. The spirited and well-known playwright and fiction writer, Anwar Maqsood will express his thoughts in “Anwar Maqsood Ka Pakistan.”

On the last day of the festival, Naheed Siddiqui's will perform classical dance, while famous artists including Asim Azhar, Sahir Ali Bagga and Natasha Baig will spread the magic of their voices in the mega concert.

A press conference was held in this regard on Thursday (Feb 09) at Al Hamra Arts Council in which President of Arts Council Pakistan Karachi Ahmed Shah along with Anwar Maqsood were present. Minister of Information and Culture Punjab Amir Mir and Executive Director of AlHamra Zulfiqar Zulfi said Karachi Arts Council has been organising Urdu Conference from the last 15 years and now they are introducing a new festival.

He said unity in Pakistan is direly needed, all the units of the country can be allied through culture and literature. Lahore has been the center of literature and civilization as people from Delhi and Chandigarh used to come here to study.

He further said after Lahore this festival will be held in Gwadar, Muzaffarabad, Gilgit, Peshawar, Islamabad and Karachi. Pakistan Literature Festival will soon to be held in four different cities of America, including Houston, New York, Chicago Silicon Valley, Dallas and Toronto.