Islamabad literature festival 2019 'the focus is tomorrow: reflecting on the past' ready to be held.

The Managing Director of Oxford University Press (OUP), Arshad Saeed Husain, announced that the 6th Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF) will be held on September 27, 28 and 29, 2019 at Hotel Margala, Islamabad. The festival, centered around the theme 'The Focus is Tomorrow: Reflecting on the Past', will feature a line-up of over 150 leading Pakistani and international speakers, authors, academics, journalists, and artists. ILF's programme has been curated by an Advisory Board comprising prominent literary figures such as Muneeza Shamsie, Harris Khalique, Iftikhar Arif, Mujahid Barelvi, Salman Tarik Kureshi, and Tahmina Aziz Ayub.

"Following its tradition, this year's festival will bring something unique for everyone. Since the first Islamabad Literature Festival in 2013, which drew over 15,000 visitors, the festival has grown tremendously and continuing the heritage of this literary event, OUP expects a footfall of more than 60,000 at this year's ILF."

Arshad Husain further disclosed that "Navid Shahzad and Haseena Moin would be the keynote speakers at the ILF inauguration while the closing ceremony would be addressed by Ishrat Husain and Anwar Maqsood. There would be more than 50 sessions with speakers from around eight countries including UK, USA, France, Russia, Sri Lanka, Iran, Germany, and China."

The 6th edition of the festival will feature talks, interviews, panel discussions, Urdu and English mushaira, sessions on Pashto and Punjabi writings, readings, author signings, performing arts, and documentary screenings. Moreover, around 9 book launches are planned this year which will be a treat for book lovers.

Aamer Hussein, Anna Suvorova, Bettina Robotka, George Fulton, Jochen Hippler, Julien Columeau, PatchamuthuIllangovan, Soniah Kamal, Vafa Yazdan Manesh, and H.E. Yao Jing are some of the international speakers participating in the festival. The local literary luminaries, academics, and intellectuals to be featured in the 6th ILF include Abdul Basit, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Afrasiab Khattak, Amin Gulgee, Arfa Sayeda Zehra, Asad Umar, Asif Yasin Malik, Asghar Nadeem Syed, Athar Abbas, Atiya Khan, Fasi Zaka, Fouzia Saeed, H. M. Naqvi, Hafiz A. Pasha...