September 27, 2019 5:00 pm 27, 28, and 29 September 2019
Hotel Margala, Islamabad.

6th Islamabad Literature Festival 2019

#IsbLF

about

About Islamabad Literature Festival

The Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF) was launched in April 2013 and has been a resounding success right from the start. Inspired by the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF), the Children’s Literature Festival (CLF) was launched at the end of 2011.

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Speakers

Professor Anna Suvorova is Head of Department of Asian Literatures at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow). A specialist in Islam in…
Anna Suvorova

Anna Suvorova

Lucknow-born Iftikhar Arif is a famous Urdu poet, scholar, and literary personality. Several collections of his poetry have been published, including the rendition of his poetry into English,…
Iftikhar Arif

Iftikhar Arif

Dr Ishrat Husain is adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Institutional Reforms and Austerity. A former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, he also served…
Ishrat Husain

Ishrat Husain

Kishwar Naheed is one of the best-known feminist poets of Pakistan. Her first collection of poems, Lab-i-Goya (1968), won the prestigious Adamjee Prize for Literature. Ms Naheed is…
Kishwar Naheed

Kishwar Naheed

Mohammed Hanif is a journalist and author. Born in Okara, Pakistan, he left the Pakistan Air Force Academy to pursue a career in journalism and worked for Newsline,…
Mohammed Hanif

Mohammed Hanif

Muneeza Shamsie is a literary critic, editor, and author. She has written the definitive work Hybrid Tapestries: The Development of Pakistani Literature in English (OUP, 2 017) and…
Muneeza Shamsie

Muneeza Shamsie

Soniah Kamal is a Pakistan- English language novelist who lives in the US. Her novel Unmarriageable: Pride & Prejudice in Pakistan, a parallel retelling of Jane Austen's classic,…
Soniah Kamal

Soniah Kamal

Zehra Nigah is one of the foremost Urdu poets of Pakistan. She was one of two female poets to gain prominence in the 1950s, when the scene was…
Zehra Nigah

Zehra Nigah

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6th ILF Programme

  • Day 1

    Mar 1, 2019

  • Day 2

    Mar 2, 2019

  • Day 3

    Mar 3, 2019

  • Main Garden
  • Jasmine
  • Aquarius
  • Room 007
  • Princess
* *

Main Garden

Arrival of Guests

5.00 p.m. - 5.30 p.m.
* *

Main Garden

Welcome Speeches by the Festival Organizers

Speech by the Chief Guest: Honourable Governor Sindh Imran Ismail
5.30 p.m. - 6.00 p.m.
Award announcement: Karachi Literature Festival - Infaq Foundation Best Urdu Literature Prize
* *

Main Garden

Keynote Speeches by Deborah Baker and I. A. Rehman

KLF Recollection Documentary
6.00 p.m. - 7.00 p.m.
* *

Main Garden

Aao Humwatno Raqs Karo

Performance by Sheema Kermani
7.00 p.m. - 7.45 p.m.
* *

Main Garden

Pakistani Cinema

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
7.45 p.m. - 8.45 p.m.
Fahad Mustafa, Mehwish Hayat, Yasir Hussain, Munawar Saeed, Nabeel Qureshi, Asif Raza Mir
Moderator : Ahmed Shah
* *

Jasmine

Documentary: Qalandar Code

Rise of the Divine Feminine
7.45 p.m. - 8.45 p.m.
Atiya Khan, David C.Heath, Syed Mehdi Raza Shah Subzwari
Moderator : Arieb Azhar
* *

Aquarius

Ahmad Faraz: Mohabbat aur Inqalab

7.45 p.m. - 8.45 p.m.
Sarmad Faraz, Hameed Akhund, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Kishwar Naheed
Moderator : Mujahid Barelvi
* *

Room 007

Voices from Far and Near

Poetry in English
7.45 p.m. - 8.45 p.m.
Adrian Husain, Arfa Ezazi, Athar Tahir, Farida Faizullah, Harris Khalique, Ilona Yusuf, Jaffar Khan, Mehvash Amin, Moeen Faruqi, Shireen Haroun
Moderator : Salman Tarek Kureshi
* *

Princess

Book Discussion : The Begum: A Portrait of Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan by Deepa Agarwal and Tahmina Aziz

7.45 p.m. - 8.45 p.m.
Tahmina Aziz, Akbar Liaquat Ali Khan, Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Jr, Javed Aly Khan
Moderator : Muneeza Shamsie
* *

Main Garden

Safr-e-Pakistan: Pakistan's Travelogue in String Puppets by Thespianz Theatre

by Thespianz Theatre (String Puppet)
9.00 p.m. - 9.30 p.m.
  • Main Garden
  • Jasmine
  • Aquarius
  • Room 007
  • Princess
* *

Main Garden

Filmy Gaanay aur Urdu Shairi

11.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon
Haseena Moin, Arfa Sayeda Zehra and Sultan Arshad
Moderator : Asif Noorani
* *

Jasmine

Book Launch: Defiance of the Rose Selected Poems by Perveen Shakir Translated by Naima Rashid

11.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon
Sheen Farrukh, Naima Rashid and Attiya Dawood
Moderator : Shaheen Salahuddin
* *

Aquarius

The Karachi Dilemma

Conservation or Evolution
11.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon
Marvi Mazhar, Maniza Naqvi, Syed Saif Ur Rehman and Fazal Noor
Moderator : Rumana Husain
* *

Room 007

Safr-e-Pakistan: Pakistan's Travelogue in String Puppets by Thespianz Theatre

11.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon
* *

Main Garden

Urdu Theatre: Kal, Aaj aur Kal

12.15 p.m. - 1.15 p.m.
Sajid Hasan, Zain Ahmed, Kulsoom Aftab and Sheema Kermani
Moderator : Khaled Anum
* *

Jasmine

Complicated Images: The Arab Woman of Today and Tomorrow: A Conversation with Mona Eltahawy

12.15 p.m. - 1.15 p.m.
Moderator : Aliya Iqbal-Naqvi and Naveen Minai
* *

Aquarius

Kashmir

A Political and Cultural Discourse
12.15 p.m. - 1.15 p.m.
Sardar Masood Khan and Anam Zakaria
Moderator : Mujahid Barelvi
* *

Room 007

Safr-e-Pakistan: Pakistan's Travelogue in String Puppets by Thespianz Theatre

12.15 p.m. - 1.15 p.m.
* *

Princess

Shaping Her World

An Indian Woman and the Writing Life
12.15 p.m. - 1.15 p.m.
Manju Kapur in conversation with Afia Aslam
* *

Main Garden

Book Launch: Points of Entry - Encounters at the Origin-Sites of Pakistan by Nadeem Farooq Paracha

1.30 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
Nadeem Farooq Paracha
Moderator : George Fulton
* *

Jasmine

From Italy to Pakistan: Geography of the Soul

1.30 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
Elena Nicolai and Aquila Ismail in conversation
*

Aquarius

Typically Tania: Readings by Taha Kehar

1.30 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
* *

Room 007

Book Launch: The ARZU Anthology Second Edition

Muneeza Shamsie to launch the anthology
1.30 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
Areeha Batool, Mariam Taufeeq, Shameneh Majid, Mushba Said and Hafsa Saeed
Moderator : Sabyn Javeri
* *

Princess

Book Launch: Rich People, Poor Country: The Story of Fiscal and Foreign Exchange Policies of Pakistan by Syed Shabbar Zaidi

1.30 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
Moderator : Farrukh Iqbal
* *

Main Garden

Judicial Activism vs Judicial Restraint

Jamil Yusuf in conversation with Ikram Sehgal and Huma Baqai
2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
* *

Jasmine

Journey into Europe

Islam, Immigration and Identity
2.15 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.
Amineh Hoti, Shafqat Ali Shah Jamote, and Sardar Masood Khan in conversation
* *

Aquarius

Ahmad Faraz: Mohabbat aur Inqalab

2.15 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.
Inqalab Sarmad Faraz, Hameed Akhund and Wajid Jawad
Moderator : Mujahid Barelvi
* *

Room 007

Publishing 2020 and Beyond

New Trends, Digitization and Technology
2.15 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.
Bilal Zahoor, Arshad Husain, Noman Said
Moderator : Hoori Noorani
* *

Princess

Nayee Nasal Ki Awaaz

Kal Hamara Hai
2.15 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.
Neel Ahmad, Mahin Baloch, Atta ur Rahman, Abdul Rehman Momin
Moderator : Ghazal Ansari
* *

Main Garden

Filbadi Fun with LOL Waalay

3.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Akbar Chaudhry, Syed Kumail, Zubair Tariq, Sannan Wastani, and Ali Gul Pir
* *

Jasmine

Cultural activism to counter extremism in Sindh

3.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Noorul Huda Shah, Syed Sardar Ali Shah and Jami Chandio
Moderator : Izhar Soomro
* *

Aquarius

Documentary: These Silences are all the Words

A Film by Madiha Aijaz
3.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Maheen Zia, Marvi Mazhar and Mohammed Ali Hakeem
* *

Room 007

Book Discussion: The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack by H.M. Naqvi

3.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Moderator : Shahid Rassam
* *

Princess

Taneesiat (Feminism)

3.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Kishwar Naheed
Moderator : Nasim Syed
* *

Princess

Book Launch: Pakistaniat Kiya Hai? by Javed Jabbar

4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Moderator : Yasir Qazi
* *

Main Garden

Book Launch

Rethinking Pakistan: A 21st Century Perspective Edited by Bilal Zahoor and Raza Rumi
4.45 p.m. - 5.45 p.m.
Bilal Zahoor, Erum Sattar, I. A. Rehman, and Nadeem Farooq Paracha
Moderator : Mubashir Zaidi
* *

Jasmine

Ghalib-e Nam Avaram 150 Years of Mirza Ghalib

4.45 p.m. - 5.45 p.m.
Syed Nomanul Haq and Khalid Nadeem
Moderator : Aliya Iqbal-Naqvi
* *

Aquarius

Documentary: City by the Sea

The Future of Karachi's Coastline by Mahera Omar followed by a discussion
4.45 p.m. - 5.45 p.m.
Mahera Omar, Javed Mahar, Amber Alibhai, Ahmer Ali Rizvi
Moderator : Mahera Omar
* *

Main Garden

Documentary Premier: Indus Blues

Pakistani folk artists talk about their struggle to keep a fading art form alive while reminding the world what they are about to lose.
6.00 p.m. - 8.00 p.m.
Director and Producer: Jawad Sharif
* *

Jasmine

Mushaira

Ambareen Hasib Amber Aqeel Abbas Jafri, Anwar Shaoor, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Ashfaq Hussain, Fazil Jamili, Ghazal Ansari, Ghazanfar Hashmi, Harris Khalique, Iftikhar Arif, Kishwar Naheed, Nasim Syed, Nasira Zuberi, Peerzada Salman, Pirzada Qasim, Salman Sarwat, Waheed Noor and Yasmeen Hameed
6.00 p.m. - 8.00 p.m.
* *

Aquarius

How Public is Public Art?

6.00 p.m. - 7.00 p.m.
Muhammad Zeeshan, Fariha Amjad Ubaid, Hamna Zubair, Munawar Ali Syed
Moderator : Niilofur Farrukh
* *

Room 007

Dangerous Women in Dangerous Times

6.00 p.m. - - 7.00 p.m.
Rachel Goode, Huma Baqai
Moderator : Anita M. Weiss
* *

Princes

Writing Fiction for the Millennial Market

6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Nadya A. R., Maheen Humayun and Taha Kehar
Moderator : Shazia Hasan
* *

Main Garden

Qawwali by Hamza Akram and Brothers

8.00 p.m. - 10.00 p.m.
  • Main Garden
  • Jasmine
  • Aquarius
  • Room 007
  • Princess
* *

Main Garden

Is today's Media informing society or dumbing it down?

11.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon
Ghazanfar Hashmi, Amna Khaishgi, Azhar Abbas and Ghazi Salahuddin
Moderator : Wusatullah Khan
* *

Jasmine

Hum hee so gaye dastan kehtay kehtay…

Qurratulain Hyder ki yaad mein
11.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon
Azra Abbas, Ahmed Shah and Asad Muhammad Khan
Moderator : Waheed Noor
* *

Aquarius

Ye Kaisa Ishq Hai Urdu Zubaan ka: Urdu Literature/Poetry

Narration by Taimur Rehman
11.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon
* *

Room 007

Book Launch

Sindhi Adab: Aik Mukhtasar Tareekh by Attiya Dawood
11.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon
Attiya Dawood, Amar Sindhu and Shah Muhammad Pirzada
Moderator : Arfana Mallah
* *

Princess

Pakistani English Poetry

Shifting Perspectives
11.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon
Peerzada Salman and Adrian Husain
Moderator : Ilona Yusuf
* *

Main Garden

Book Launch: The Economy of Modern Sindh by Ishrat Husain, Aijaz A. Qureshi, Nadeem Hussain

12.15 p.m. - 1.15 p.m.
Ishrat Husain and Shamshad Akhtar
Moderator : Aijaz A. Qureshi
* *

Jasmine

Book Launch: Rethinking Pakistan: A 21st Century Perspective edited by Bilal Zahoor and Raza Rumi

12.15 p.m. - 1.15 p.m.
Bilal Zahoor, Erum Sattar, I. A. Rehman and Nadeem Farooq Paracha
Moderator : Mubashir Zaidi
* *

Aquarius

Adab aur Mazahmat

12.15 p.m. - 1.15 p.m.
Zehra Nigah and Shahid Rassam in conversation
* *

Room 007

Past and Future Trajectory: Women's Writing in Pakistan

12.15 p.m. - 1.15 p.m.
Sabyn Javeri, Afia Aslam
Moderator : Muneeza Shamsie
* *

Princess

Book Launch:Tun Ghar Chala Ja (Punjabi Kahaniyan) by Maqsood Saqib

Women's Writing in Pakistan
12.15 p.m. - 1.15 p.m.
Inaam Nadeem and Anwer Sen Roy
Moderator : Kashif Raza
* *

Main Garden

Book Launch: No Fortunes to Tell by Harris Khalique

1.30 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
Bilal Zahoor and Harris Khalique in conversation
* *

Jasmine

Book Launch

Subah ka nashta, shaam ki chai by Imrana Maqsood
1:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Imrana Maqsood
Moderator : Amra Alam and Hoori Noorani
* *

Aquarius

Book Launch

Hijabistan by Sabyn Javeri
1.30 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
Sabyn Javeri
Moderator : Afia Aslam
* *

Room 007

Book Launch: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: The Psychodynamics of his Rise and Fall by Shamim Ahmad

1.30 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
Moderator : Javed Jabbar
* *

Princess

Countering Violent Extremism in Pakistan: Local Actions, Local Voices

1.30 p.m. - 2.00 p.m.
Anita M. Weiss
Moderator : Salman Tarik Kureshi
* *

Main Garden

TV Drama

Rise and Fall
2.15 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.
Kaif Ghaznavi, Saife Hasan, and Marina Khan
Moderator : Khaled Anam
* *

Jasmine

The Sorrows of Balochistan

2.15 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.
Kaiser Bengali, Ikram Sehgal and Huma Baqai
Moderator : Mujahid Barelvi
* *

Aquarius

Book Launch: Pakistan's Radioactive Decade

An Informal Cultural History of the 1970s Edited by Niilofur Farrukh, Amin Gulgee, and John McCarry
2.15 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.
Amin Gulgee, Khusro Mumtaz, Aquila Ismail, Taimur Suri
Moderator : Niilofur Farrukh
* *

Princess

Book Launch

Always the Guest by Wendy Marijnissen
2.15 p.m. - 3.15 p.m.
Sheema Kermani, Shershah Syed, Wendy Marijnissen
Moderator : Zofeen T. Ebrahim
* *

Room 007

Pakistan's Mental Health Time Bomb: Can it be defused?

2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Murad Moosa Khan, Ayesha Mian and Rubeena Kidwai
Moderator : Zarrar Khuhro
* *

Main Garden

Kuch Bhi

A Talk by Anwar Maqsood
3.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Anwar Maqsood
* *

Jasmine

Documentary Premiere: Indus Blues

Pakistani folk artists talk about their struggle to keep a fading art form alive while reminding the world what they are about to lose.
3.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Director and Producer: Jawad Sharif
* *

Aquarius

Can Literature Survive the #Hashtag?

3.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Sanam Maher, Sajeer Shaikh, Jahanzaib Haque, Hamna Zubair
Moderator : Taha Kehar
* *

Room 007

The State and Corporations

Politics of Traditional Music in Pakistan
3.30 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Rafay Mahmood, Waqar Ali and Sharif Awan
Moderator : Malahat Awan
* *

Princess

Literature: Transitions and Transformations

3.30 p.m. - 4.00 p.m.
Javed Jabbar
Moderator : Maria Hassan Siddiqui
* *

Princess

Book Launch

Beyond the Fields by Aysha Baqir
4:00 p.m. - 4.30 p.m.
Moderator : Shazia Hasan
* *

Room 007

Celebrating Voices for Change

Mir Gul Khan Naseer (Balochi), Ghani Khan (Pashto), Shaikh Ayaz (Sindhi), Ustad Daman (Punjabi), Mumtaz Haider Dahar (Seraiki)
4.45 p.m. - 5.45 p.m.
Amar Sindhu, Ramazan Baloch and Munir Badini
Moderator : Asghar Nadeem Syed
* *

Main Garden

Noorul Huda Shah and Amar Jaleel in conversation

4.45 p.m. - 5.45 p.m.
Noorul Huda Shah & Amar Jaleel
* *

Jasmine

Premier: Rani

A Short Film about a transgender Pakistani woman who sets out to take care of an abandoned child.
4.45 p.m. - 5.45 p.m.
Hammad Rizvi (Director), Akbar Allana (Producer), Kami Sid and Kiran Edhi
Moderator : Zarrar Khuhro
* *

Aquarius

The Master Performer Reads the Master Humorist Readings from the work of Mushtaq Ahmad Yusfi by Zia Mohyeddin

4.45 p.m. - 5.45 p.m.
Zia Mohyeddin
* *

Princess

Dastaan, Dastak aur Darwazay

Dramatic Readings by Atif Badar
4.45 p.m. - 5.45 p.m.
Atif Badar
* *

Main Garden

Closing Ceremony

Speeches by Arshad Saeed Husain
6.00 p.m. - 6:50 p.m.
Keynote Speeches by: Ishrat Husain and Iftikhar Arif
* *

Main Garden

Performance by Pepsi Battle of the Bands

7.05 p.m. - - Onwards

Coming Soon

Delegates Registration

The DELEGATE REGISTRATION fee is Rs 5,000 per day per person. If you register for all three days (27, 28, and 29 September 2019), you can avail of a special rate of Rs 10,000 per person





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