G8 leaders were recently hard at work, trying to form consensus on the on-going conflicts and revolutions in the Middle East. Among the issues they pondered over was the financial support needed to sustain the struggle for democracy in Tunisia and Egypt; their continuing commitment to the fight against despotism in Libya and Syria; and consideration of President Obama’s proposal to begin negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis on the basis of a return to Israel’s pre-1967 borders.

The Arab Awakening or the Arab Spring as the western media likes to call it was thus the centre of attention at the just concluded summit in Deauville, France.

The Middle East is about to receive a lot of attention once again. This time in Toronto, Canada. Not in a meeting of world leaders or amidst political negotiations and diplomatic deal-making, rather it will be on stage, as well as in a movie theatre and at the city’s central reference library. All thanks to Luminato, Toronto’s annual festival of literature, art, music and creativity. 

What sort of summit is this?!

The cultural sort, in which many Arabic authors, poets and translators will make their first-ever Canadian appearance to facilitate this very timely focus on the political and social changes taking place in the Arab world. Among the authors expected to attend are Hisham Matar of Libya and Joumana Haddad of Lebanon, as well as Egyptian author Randa Jarrar, Moroccan poet, author and journalist Yassin Adnan, and Sudanese writer and playwright Leila Aboulela. 

Devyani Saltzman, Luminato’s Curator of Literary Programming and Illuminations, is understandably thrilled about this year’s guest list: “It’s a pleasure to showcase such a diverse group of writers in Toronto, especially strong, young voices from the Arab world. I am so excited for Luminato to be part of a larger conversation about the Middle East, especially from a cultural perspective. That, paired with a strong focus on women authors, makes our fifth anniversary programme particularly exciting.”

The programme comprises of over 150 events that are to take place over 10 days — from June 10 to 19 — all in the city of Toronto. That’s right, almost 15 events per day including lunchtime conversations with authors and artists, dance theatre and screening of Arabic films. There is sure to be something for everyone to enjoy. And while some events require an admission fee, there are many that are free and open to all.

The US news website Huffington Post has praised the festival thus: “Toronto rises as the new capitol of cool…Instead of maintaining the mystic of arts as being exclusive and indecipherable, Canadians have literally taken the arts to the streets. The annual Luminato Festival… showcase[s] 10 days of city-wide performances, exhibitions, and artist talks.”

This year’s overarching theme is storytelling, and so due tribute is to be paid to that legendary storyteller, Shahrazad, who held King Shahryar spellbound for 1,001 nights and in doing so not only saved her own life but also left us with many colourful and intoxicating tales.

The Luminato-commissioned adaptation of “One Thousand and One Nights” is this year’s flagship theatrical piece getting its world premiere in Toronto. To be performed in English and Arabic with subtitles, the production is directed by Timothy Supple and translated and adapted for stage by Hanan al-Shaykh, the Lebanese-born author of several acclaimed novels including Women of Sand and Myrrh and The Locust and the Bird.

This year’s programme also features the much anticipated “Beirut39 at Luminato”, organised in partnership with UK’s prestigious Hay Festival. In 2009, to commemorate Unesco’s selection of Beirut as World Book Capital, the Hay Festival collaborated on a project to compile samples from the works of 39 writers of Arab heritage under 39 years of age in a single volume. The resulting anthology, Beirut39: New Writing from the Arab World was published by Bloomsury, London in 2010. Since then organisers of the Hay Festival have invited the Beirut39 authors to their various literary festivals around the world. This summer — courtesy of Luminato — Toronto will play host to some members of this new generation of Arabic writers. 

There is yet another coup for the organisers: “The New Yorker at Luminato.” Arguably the most prestigious American literary magazine, The New Yorker has ventured out of its hometown for the first time ever to become part of a literary festival elsewhere. The Egyptian-born Toronto Star columnist Mona Eltahawy, controversial Israeli journalist Amira Hass (Drinking the Sea at Gaza), Booker-nominated Libyan novelist Hisham Matar (In the Country of Men), bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers), and award-winning Irish novelist Colm Toibin (Brooklyn) will join the magazine’s editor David Remnick to discuss the recent upheavals in one of the world’s most volatile regions. Audience members can look forward to two days of insights and discussions from this eclectic group.

With all the excitement surrounding the imminent arrival and participation of Arabic writers, I couldn’t help but think of the many Pakistani writers who have emerged in recent years. Kamila Shamsie, Mohsin Hamid, Daniyal Mueenuddin, H.M. Naqvi, Uzma Aslam Khan, Sarfraz Manzoor, Mohammed Hanif, Musharraf Ali Farooqi, Bina Khan, Sehba Sarwar, Moniza Naqvi, Shaila Abdullah…the list goes on and on. And of course there is the doyenne of Pakistani Literature in English, the unforgettable Bapsi Sidhwa.

In fact it was Devyani’s mother, the Indian-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta who made Ms Sidhwa’s novel Ice Candy Man into the 1998 film Earth starring Aamir Khan and Nandita Das.

Last year London-based Granta published a special issue dedicated to Pakistan complete with truck art and pieces by Pakistani authors, I remind Devyani. Perhaps Luminato organisers will consider a festival featuring Pakistani authors? “Absolutely, we would love to do that,” she exclaims. “There can be no better place than Toronto to showcase Pakistan’s impressive literary talent.” 

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.