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What to look forward to at Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) 2020

By Maheen Sabeeh
29 February, 2020

As the eleventh edition of KLF begins with the theme Across Continents: How the World Travels, Instep gives you a lowdown on a number of sessions you should look out for this weekend.

Adnan Siddiqui and Shehreyar Munawar will be part of a panel called Pakistani Cinema in the Twenty First Century alongside several high profile industry names with Ally Adnan as moderator.

As the annual Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) - now in its eleventh year - begins, it is evident that there is a clear and present effort to include performing arts in its various hues. Not every session can be attended or is worth attending but there is enough content in this edition of KLF to keep the literati happy.

The theme of the 2020 edition is Across Continents: How the World Travels and, among keynote speeches, author and historian William Dalrymple was also scheduled to speak on day one.

Adnan Siddiqui and Shehreyar Munawar will be part of a panel called Pakistani Cinema in the Twenty First Century alongside several high profile industry names with Ally Adnan as moderator.

Sessions that look intriguing include Dastangoi by Napa (Saturday, February 29 - today) from 12: 15 pm to 1: 15 pm. It will feature Marhoom ki Yaad Mein by the great Patras Bokhari as well as other pieces. At the same time, there is a book launch session called Soul Rivals: State, Militant and Pop Sufism by Nadeem Farooq Paracha, to be moderated by Arieb Azhar. Tehzeeb Foundation is also hosting, during the same hour, a session called Traditional Music on Modern Media: Is there a symphony in this noise, with Sharif Awan and Ather Masood as speakers and Tauseeq Haider as moderator.

At 1:30 pm at a session called Love to Hear, Sanam Saeed will be reading from author and teacher Sabyn Javeri’s second book, Hijabistan followed by a panel ft. Sanam Saeed, Sabyn Javeri and Saima Saleem. During the same hour, Tehrik-e-Niswan will be part of a session called Peace Through Performance and will feature Sheema Kermani’s Tehrik-e-Niswan enacting an Ismat Chugtai short story called ‘Kaafir’ that aims to promote interfaith harmony.

Stage and Teleplay Shaping Society is also a session that will take place on Saturday (today) featuring Kaif Ghaznavi, Khaled Ahmed, Bee Gul, Haseena Moin and Sanam Saeed with Ahmed Shah as moderator.

A screening of Saqib Malik’s Baaji is also on the cards, followed by a Q&A session featuring the director.

Love to Hear: Sanam Saeed (right) will be reading from author and teacher Sabyn Javeri’s second book, Hijabistan, followed by a panel session, also featuring Saima Saleem. 

Sunday, March 1 will bring its own set of sessions including Punching Up: Young Comedians Redefining Satire and will include Shehzad Ghias Shaikh, Ali Gul Pir, Natalia Gul, and Gul Zaib Shakeel with Hamna Zubair as moderator.

A book launch session for Siren Song: Understanding Pakistan through its Women Singers by Fawzia-Afzal Khan will be followed by a screening of a short film with Fouzia Saeed, Fawzia-Fazal Khan, Maniza Naqvi, Framji Minwalla in session and Shazia Hasan as moderator; this will be worth investing some time in.

Love to Hear: Sanam Saeed (right) will be reading from author and teacher Sabyn Javeri’s second book, Hijabistan, followed by a panel session, also featuring Saima Saleem. 

Sunday will also feature a session called Pakistani Cinema in the Twenty First Century featuring Faseeh Bari Khan, Saqib Malik, Faysal Qureshi, Sheheryar Munawar, Bee Gul, Adnan Siddiqui, and Sangeeta Rizvi with Ally Adnan as moderator. Look out for these sessions. Through these conversations, popular culture mores (including performing arts) might provide some deeper analysis as they continue to change.