The Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) is coming to London for the first time this month! It will explore contemporary writing and thought, and feature artists, writers, and cultural commentators from Pakistan, India, Turkey, and the UK. The one day Festival will take place on October 29, 2016 at the British Museum and is curated by Razi Ahmed Founder and CEO of Lahore Literary Festival. We spoke to Razi and he said: "Lahore Literary Festival in London will celebrate the syncretism of Lahore, of its thriving visual arts and popular culture, of books and big ideas but more importantly it will underscore the curiosity, confidence and openness of our culture and traditions to engage with the wider world, across disciplines and borders, on the contentious matters of the day and to celebrate tolerance, diversity, and even dissent in the day-long, high-octane sessions."
“After the successful debut of LLF’s New York edition in May and the success of the fourth edition of the annual festival in Lahore in February, we are delighted to be presenting an exciting program featuring some of Pakistan’s finest along with writers and opinion-makers from Britain, India, and Turkey at the festival’s London debut this month.”
You can find out more and get tickets here. Find out more about Lahore Literature Festival from the International Literature Showcase here.
Since LLF's founding, British Council has worked with a number of high profile writers from the UK at the Festival in Pakistan including Hari Kunzru and Aminatta Forna. This year the programme included a showcase of collaborations between poets and musicians from Pakistan and Scotland put together by Highlight Arts.
The Programme:
Taking the Edhi Way- Celebrating Pakistan’s greatest humanitarian
Tehmina Durrani with Lyse Doucet
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Blindsided- Kashmir: reportage, politics and fiction
Farooq Bajwa, Mirza Waheed, and Sonia Faleiro with Andrew Whitehead
11:10 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.
Kipling: Literary Legacy and Lahore
Andrew Fawcett with F. S. Aijazuddin
12:15 p.m. - 1 p.m.
Situation Stardust: Pakistani artist Faiza Butt in conversation with Christie’s Amin Jaffer
2:00 – 2:45 p.m.
Back to the Blackboard: Transforming education and Pakistan’s state schools
Seema Aziz with Peter Oborne
2:45 – 3:15 p.m.
Dateline Pakistan: Geopolitics, internal security, and the weight of the world
Dr. Robin Niblett and Hina Rabbani Khar with Mishal Husain
3:20 – 4:20 p.m.
The Fourth Wall: Escapism, pop culture and reshaping cultural narratives
Naiza Khan, Pooja Bhatt, and Sarmad Khoosat with Fifi Haroon
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Love Trumps Hate? The evolution of how others see Islam
Ziauddin Sardar, Nisreen Malik and Shiraz Mahar with TBD
5:40 – 6:30 p.m.
Back to the Future: Literature in the age of Brexit and beyond
Aamer Hussein, Ruth Padel, and Shazaf Haider with Ananya Jahanara Kabir
6:30 – 7:15 p.m.
The Politics of Fiction: Elif Shafak with Razia Iqbal
7:20-8:20 pm
And Now, Mr. Zia Mohyeddin: Readings, in Urdu and English, from Iqbal, Faiz, and Taufiq Rafat
8:30-9:30 pm
Get tickets here.
* LLF reserves the right to changes in the program at its discretion.
