What's in store at the Karachi Literature Festival?

KARACHI: Over 136 Pakistani and 40 international authors are expected to attend the Karachi Literature Festival which will be held on February 10, 11 and 12 at the Beach Luxury Hotel.

As this year marks 70 years of the creation of Pakistan, the festival will examine the various facets of the country- from history to climate change and honour killing.

In a press conference held to announce the event on Tuesday, Managing Director Oxford University Press Ameena Saiyid said that the attendance at the event was growing every year. Four prizes will be awarded to authors at the event, she said.

Three books shortlisted for the Non-fiction award are Surkh Salam: Communist Politics and Class activism by Kamran Asdar Ali, A book of conquest: The Chachnama and Muslim Origins in South Asia by Manam Asif, and the Raj at War by Yasmin Khan.

In the fiction category, The Spinner's Tale by Omar Shahid Hamid, Dear Yasmeen by Sophia Khan and Karachi Raj by Anis Shivani have been shortlisted.

The keynote speaker for the inauguration will be historian Ayesha Jalal and writer Mustansar Hussain Tarrar. The closing ceremony will be addressed by journalist and novelist Mohammad Hanif and American photographer Bobby Sager.

Film screenings, Rahm and Perween Rahman: The rebel optimist, a stand-up comedy by Shafaat Ali, Readings by Zia Mohyeddin, and a Sufi Night by Saif Samejo are highlights of the event.