Event Report and My Clicks at The Islamabad Literary Festival 2017 #isbLF : 3 Days Fiesta for Literature Lovers

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#isbLF 2017

Islamabad’s 5th Literature Festival was held this April 2017 at a local hotel. The festival successfully featured around 150 leading Pakistani and international authors, academics, journalists and artists along with exhibitions, book fair and a sumptuous food court. The three-day festival was organized by Oxford University Press (OUP).

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The inaugural session was attended by the leading journalists, writers, poets, intellectuals and a large number of visitors.

#isbLF 2017

Many literature lovers thronged the 5th Islamabad Literature Festival marking remarkable success for a large number of interactive sessions, dialogues, performances and literary activities at a local hotel. According to details, residents of twin cities portrayed their unbiased love not only for literature but for the literary icons belonging to different countries of the world by visiting the capital’s Literature Festival.

The three-day festival was organized by Oxford University Press (OUP) while this year the event was sponsored by Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), AWAAZ, Tapal, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Goethe Institute, Embassy of France and Embassy of Italy.

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Along with many interesting sessions , ILF hosted an amazing Mushaira (poetry recitation) which was moderated by Shakeel Jazib. Leading poets from the twin cities and other parts of Pakistan including Kishwar Naheed, Iftikhar Arif, Imran Aami, Saeed Shaariq, Saeed Ahmad, Qamar Raza Shahzad, Harris Khalique, Ali Akbar Natiq, Manzar Naqvi, Zia ul Hassan, Akhtar Usman, Sarwat Mohiuddin, Qasim Yaqoob, Rehman Faris, and Nasira Zuberi read from their writings.

The key note speakers at the closing ceremony of the fifth Islamabad Literature Festival included famous poet Iftikhar Arif, Omar Shahid Hamid and Nafisa Shah. The concluding address was delivered by Oxford University Press MD and founder of ILF Ameena Saiyid and Co-founder Dr. Asif Farrukhi.

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While addressing the closing session, OUP MD Ameena Saiyid said that “As this festival comes to its end, I hope that, each of us will have found his or her knowledge added to, or viewpoint altered, in some way or the other. This is a unique kind of event, one that does not leave anyone unaffected”.

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Renowned poet Iftikhar Arif praised the ILF organizers for a unique gathering of intellectuals, poets, writers and journalists under a roof to have detailed discussions on a variety of topics including literature, politics and current affairs. Literature could become the major tool to achieve positive societal changes, he further added.

The last day of ILF was dominated by renowned artist Anwer Maqsood as he had a session “Uljhay Suljhay Anwar which was included the author his wife Imrana Maqsood, Hoori Noorani and Sarmad Khoosat. A house-full at the session presented a huge tribute to the living legend.

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In another session on ‘70 Years of Pakistan: A Reflection on Pakistan’s History’ with Sayeed Hasan Khan and Ishrat Husain, moderated by Arfa Sayeda Zehra who was also my Honorable Principal in my college days it was truly an honor to meet her again after such a long time .

With Mam Arfa Sayeda Zehra ( My Principal ) #isbLF 2017

The session ‘Will Technology Influence Music?’ featured Noori’s Ali Noor, Rakae Jamil, Masuma Anwar, Akbar Yezdani and moderator Taimur Rahman was one interesting debate between the speakers .

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The closing ceremony of ILF was followed by an enthralling dance performance by Shayma Saiyid which was widely acknowledged by the audience. She dedicated her performance to Mashal Khan, a student beaten to death in Mardan. The increasing number of participants in all halls, in the corridors and food-court is testimony to the fact that the ILF is a popular event now.

The Islamabad bloggers Selfie #isbLF

My Experience :

It was such a great experience to be surrounded by the fragrance of literature all around me . From the great discounts on all the books to the amazing talk sessions , interesting mushairas to intense acting performances , art performances to story reading sessions , Islamabad Literary Festival 2017 had a lot to offer to all the literature lovers .

I went there with my family and from my parents who attended the interesting talk sessions to my lil munchkin who had fun at children coloring corner , everybody really enjoyed the event .

I also got the chance to meet my principal from my college days and it definitely revived all the golden moments of my past . My Mom also gifted me one of her recent favourite reading .

It was definitely a well organized event who was loved by all group of ages .