Karachi Literature Festival

"The body seeks London, Lahore, Delhi, Islamabad. To my soul, the streets anywhere are the streets of Karachi" - The Streets by Harris Khalique.

The ninth Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) is scheduled for February 2018 with its sister festival planned in Islamabad for April. The KLF aims to bring together authors writing in a range of languages and genres and will feature a number of events including readings from established and emerging voices, debates about contemporary life, panel discussions, English and Urdu mushaira, book launches, a book fair, and film screenings.

Established in 2010, the festival has fast become an important event for showcasing the talent and diversity of Pakistan's literary scene. Co-founder of the festival Ameena Sayid, who is also the Managing Director of OUP in Pakistan, explains its significance: “In 1947, Pakistan, a multilingual state, inherited a rich literary tradition. We had authors of high stature who excelled in their own genre and were revered in the entire subcontinent… I felt that the Karachi Literature Festival would raise the profile of our many wonderful authors and help give them a place in the sun.”

In addition, following on from the success of the KLF last year, which was held in London at the Southbank Centre as part of their annual Alchemy festival, there are reports that the KLF will make an appearance at Alchemy again in 2018. Please watch this space for further details…

The Karachi Literature Festival will run from from 9-11 February at the Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi.