he sixth Adab Festival was held on August 17 in Lahore and on August 18 in Karachi. The event, founded by Ameena Saiyid (OBE, Sitara-i-Imtiaz) and Asif Farrukhi (Tamgha-i-Imtiaz) and presented by Lightstone Publishers and Geo, took place at the Alhamra Lahore Arts Council and Habitt City, Karachi. The literary festival featured six sessions in Lahore, beginning with keynote speakers Ameena Saiyid and Razi Ahmed.

The festival began with insightful conversations on craft and creativity in Second Coming by Athar Tahir. Amra Raza pointed out the layering of experience, resonating with Yeats’s Theory of Gyres, on which the novel is built.

One of the most interesting sessions was the launch of Unveiling Jazbaa: A History of Pakistan’s Women’s Cricket by Aayush Purthan. The novel explores the narratives of Pakistani women’s cricket, detailing the extraordinary journey the players have undertaken to bring about change in their country and the sport. In the novel, Purthan primarily reflects on the tales from a social and political perspective. The author’s lens provides a unique insight into the personal battles, bonds of friendship and rivalry, favours and revenge. Beyond that, it is a story of bravery and determination and a moving testimony to the power of the human spirit. The session focused on themes of women’s empowerment and encouraging the youth to build a legacy through the fulfillment of their passions.

Dr Ali Usman Qasmi, a historian of modern South Asia and Islamic reform movements, moderated the launch of Jinnah: A Life (2022), by Yasser Latif Hamdani. Hamdani is a human rights lawyer and writer. This is his third book. In it, he explores the questions: Was Jinnah the sole driving force behind the partition of India, and was he a champion of Islam who stood for an Islamic renaissance? The session highlighted the significant role Jinnah played in reforming the society for Muslims, his plea for the British to adopt an anti-discriminatory stance and how the primary reason for Pakistan’s establishment was the restoration of peace and the facilitation of cross-border economic policies.

In the session, Page and Pupil, Baela Raza Jamil, Nasreen Mahmud Kasuri, Dr Faisal Bari and Seema Aziz put the power of education into perspective. The panel discussed the pressing issue of learning poverty. The discussion focused on the education crisis and the need to impart skills in the non-cognitive domain while exploring the possibilities of collaboration between the public and private sectors and cross-subsidisation to enhance the quality of education. The importance of education’s transformative role in shaping people into well-rounded individuals was also emphasised.

This year’s Adab Fest made a reasonable effort to discuss the significant changes needed in the education sector.

The Adab Festival in Karachi featured four sessions, beginning with Omar Shahid Hamid’s novel Betrayal (2021). In the novel, the counterterrorism expert takes readers on a journey into the hostility of South Asian politics. “The search for an Indian mole at the heart of Pakistan’s security structure takes you across the globe at a breathless speed, combining a love story with the murky world of spycraft.” Shahid apoke about some misconceptions about two of his works being adapted by Netflix, explaining that financial constraints were why this did not happen. The author also mentioned the challenges he faced while translating his novel, The Prisoner (2013), into Urdu. He also touched upon the discrimination and segregation faced by literary festival organisers and authors due to differences in language choices.

Ayesha Baqir’s Beyond the Fields (2019) also claimed the spotlight at the festival. The novel, written by the founder of the not-for-profit economic development organisation Kaarvan Crafts, has been featured across continents. “It is a riveting, timely look at the profound inequality and traditions that disempower women in our world and survival as a dance to the beat of a different future.”

This year’s Adab Fest made a reasonable effort to discuss the significant changes needed in the education sector, emphasising the need for organising more seminars to raise public awareness about experiential learning and the decentralisation of education.

The writer is a lecturer at the Department of English Language and Literature, Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore