ISLAMABAD: The second installment of the Islamabad Literary Festival (ILF) – set to feature over 120 writers from Pakistan and around the world – opens in the city on April 25.

The three-day festival was announced by Ameena Saiyid and Dr Asif Farrukhi, co-founders of the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF), at a press conference on Tuesday.

But after an underwhelming first outing last year, marred mostly by hurried organisation and a general lack of space, ILF’s organisers are planning a far more ambitious line-up for this year’s festival, albeit in the same location: Hotel Margalla on Kashmir Highway.

A member of the team organising Tuesday’s event told Dawn, “Last year, because the event was held so close to the general elections, the Capital Development Authority did not allow us to display banners and hoardings and the whole event was advertised mainly through word of mouth. But the turnout was encouraging enough for the organisers to come back again this year.”

Among those who had attended the previous year’s festival, reactions were tentative.

Artist Nadia Hussain was happy with the space and appreciated the effort the organisers put in, “even though the sessions were a bit dull”.

Writer and blogger Haseeb Asif referred to it as, “a hopeful endeavour, taken over by bureaucrats”.

Musician Asfandyar Khan felt that it paled in comparison to both the Lahore and Karachi Lit Fests because there was nothing to keep the audience riveted.

The consensus seemed to be that the first ILF was, at best, a tired clone of its vivacious Karachi counterpart. There were few sessions to begin with, and fewer still were interesting enough to draw the crowds.

Attendance was so dismal that many of the Urdu and Punjabi language sessions were only attended by the panellists and their own friends and family.

Zia Moheyuddin was sublime and Mohammad Hanif drew a crowd, but apart from that, nothing to write home about.

This year, though, the line-up for the 67 sessions on offer is more star-studded and from the looks of things, far more promising.

According to a press release, some of the prominent speakers at the second ILF will include activist and social worker Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, author Abbas Rashid, satirist Ali Aftab Saeed, Arfa Sayeda, novelist Bilal Tanweer, Bina Shah, Babar Ayaz, H.M. Naqvi, Harris Khalique, Humayun Gauhar, Intizar Husain, Jugnu Mohsin, Kamal Azfar, Kishwar Naheed, Madeeha Gauhar, Mirza Athar Baig, Mosharraf Zaidi, Mujahid Barelvi, Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Najam Sethi, Navid Shahzad, Rahat Kazmi, Rasul Bakhsh Rais, Raza Ali Abidi, Rob Crilly, Saira Kazmi, Sarmad Khoosat, Shahid Nadeem, Sheema Kermani, Shobhaa De, Taimur Rahman, Zahid Hussain and Zehra Nigah among others.

In addition, Saiyid revealed that noted Indian author and politician Jaswant Singh had agreed to attend, although his participation was contingent on the outcome of the Indian general elections.

Sadaf Saaz, the pioneer of the Dhaka Literature Festival, is also among those expected to attend.

According to a tentative list shared by the organisers, the event will feature diverse art forms. Justifying these variations, Asif Farrukhi said, “(The organisers) seek to create a dialogue between different forms and languages… not just literature but art, theatre and so on.”

Farrukhi also revealed that a contingent from the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) will be performing the classic ‘Taleem-i-Baalighaan’ at the festival.

“(The story) is almost as old as Pakistan itself, but it is just as relevant today as it was then,” he said.

A total of 14 book launches are planned for this edition of ILF, including two new works by Kishwar Naheed.

“One is a collection called ‘Refined Colours’ and the other is named ‘Kishwar Naheed ki Notebook’. You’ll just have to read them to find out what they are about,” Naheed told Dawn, with a knowing smile.

The first day of the festival is expected to open with a dance performance by Sheema Kermani and Dastangoi by Danish Husain and Darain Shahidi from India and Fawad Khan and Nazrul Hasan from NAPA.