KARACHI: The ninth edition of the three-day Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) begins at 5pm on Friday (today) at the Beach Luxury Hotel.

It is astounding how time flies. Nine years ago, when the first edition of the event was announced, not many people in the city — not even those who dabble in creative writing — had any idea what the festival truly entailed. Of course, they knew that it would be about books and their authors, but its large-scale, all-inclusive pull was not fully envisioned.

The first edition in 2010 set the tone for the event to blossom into one of the most — if not the most — important socio-cultural events of Pakistan where literary giants such as Bapsi Sidhwa and Shamsur Rahman Faruqi took the stage on the inaugural day and shared their views on writers and the art of writing. Not just Karachi, but the entire country took notice of it [KLF]. Apart from Ms Sidhwa and Mr Faruqi, the stellar list of speakers and authors included poet Iftikhar Arif, short story writer Aamer Hussein, poet Zulfikar Ghose, novelist Mohsin Hamid and short story writer and novelist Intizar Husain.

In 2011, the presence of British scholar Karen Armstrong and authors Daniyal Mueenuddin and Ahmed Rashid, followed by William Dalrymple and Shobhaa De in 2012, illustrated that the festival had a broader canvas where literature, culture, art and geopolitics seamlessly merge in a single frame.

Historian Francis Robinson, Indian politician Mani Shankar Aiyar and novelist Amit Chaudhuri are slated to deliver keynote speeches

The first three KLFs took place at the Carlton Hotel, and ever since it has been organised at the scenic Beach Luxury Hotel.

The event is now in its ninth year and each year expectations go higher and higher. This year eminent historian Francis Robinson and renowned playwright and poet Noorul Huda Shah are slated to deliver keynote speeches on the opening day while the keynote speakers on the last day are distinguished Indian politician Mani Shankar Aiyar, one-of-a-kind satirist Anwar Maqsood and celebrated Indian novelist and musician Amit Chaudhuri.

This time around, there are certain sessions that for a regular KLF observer might differentiate the ninth edition of the festival from the previous ones.

Here’s how: there are a couple of interesting sessions on Pak-India relations and the effects of partition titled ‘Love Thy Neighbour’ and ‘The Flames of Separation’, respectively.

Then the performing arts have a wider representation with powerful theatre offerings — ‘Art’, ‘Chup’ and dramatic readings. Besides, the number of keynote speakers is five this year. Some other new features added to the KLF include an open-mic session, a Sindhi mushairo and an English poetry slam.

Altogether, 235 speakers (205 Pakistani and 30 international) will be expressing their views on a number of subjects during the festival and interact with literature buffs. Book launches will also constitute, as they usually do, a major chunk of the festival’s goings-on.

Apart from that, prizes will be given to books in the following categories: nonfiction, fiction, peace, Urdu fiction and Italy Reads Pakistan.

Last year, the death of the great Pakistani author Intizar Husain was mourned not just at the KLF but almost at every function in Pakistan related to Urdu literature.

This year, we have already lost three big names from the world of Urdu poetry, drama and column writing — Rasa Chughtai, Saqi Farooqi and Munnu Bhai. Though they weren’t regular visitors of the KLF, their absence will be sorely felt by readers, writers and admirers of Urdu literature and language.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2018