WHETHER one is there to listen or speak, literary festivals are like magical realms which take us away from the humdrum of everyday life to celebrate the written word.

In countries where open expression is becoming rare, literary festivals are opportunities for freedom of opinion without being censured for dissenting views. This week, the organisers of the debut Quetta Literary Festival pulled off a remarkable two-day feat bringing literature and culture to a troubled area of the country at a time when all narratives of peace have been outstripped by violent attacks in Balochistan including its capital.

Holding a festival in an intensely securitised province only shows that intellectual activity can never be fully suppressed. With a slew of respected writers and artists, as well as journalists, participating from all over the country, Quetta’s festival must be commended for its smorgasbord of words and ideas that kept audiences engrossed.

Creative platforms are imperative when opportunities for conversations to comprehend everyday realities have been eschewed by the state, thereby sidestepping people’s suffering and concerns. In Balochistan, similar events have included a children’s literary festival in Turbat and the Gwadar book festival. These are all invaluable avenues, especially when the written word is a platform from which writers can bear testimony to their times.

Because writers talk about factors that shape the sociopolitical landscape, such vibrant platforms for birthing new ideas must be supported in a nascent democracy. Taking literary discourse to a region that has had sparse interaction with visiting intellectuals in recent years, the curators of the Quetta festival have also overcome the long-time, albeit informal, security-driven restriction on outsider movement in the province.

Here, poet John Donne’s prose holds relevance when he says “no man is an island”. For Balochistan’s young people, keeping the oxygen of culture and ideas flowing will offer them a doorway to imagining a future without violence and uncertainty.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2018