ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF) organized by Oxford University Press Pakistan (OUPP) is back with its 8th edition. As in 2020, this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ILF is a digital edition. The Bank of Punjab is proud to sponsor Islamabad Literature Festival this year. The Bank of Punjab has always remained supportive to such initiatives which promote art, culture, and literature.
The Digital Islamabad Literature Festival will be a 3-day event starting on Friday 29 October and will conclude on Sunday 31 October 2021. It will feature more than 130 speakers representing different countries. The theme of this year’s Festival is Reimagining the Future. A vibrant program of talks, interviews, debates/discussions, mushairas, poetry recitals, book launches, and readings and current affairs have been lined up for the festival.
Arshad Saeed Husain (Managing Director, Oxford University Press, Pakistan) shared the program highlights of the 8th ILF and enumerated its objectives. Speaking at the occasion, Arshad Saeed Husain said, “We at ILF take it as a given that these times are unique and that the tomorrow, we are heading into will require distinctively different understandings and approaches to yesterday. We need to understand that the future will be quite different to the past. And we will require all our imagination and all our creativity for Reimagining the Future.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Alia Zafar (Group Head People & Organizational Excellence) said, “BOP is proud to sponsor the Islamabad Literary festival. Our Bank is strongly committed to the individual and societal development in Pakistan. We have always actively promoted initiatives which contribute towards the celebration of art, culture and literature. The Islamabad Literature Festival is one of series of literature festivals in the country of Pakistan with the aim of the promoting empathy, healing, peace and the free exchange of ideas and opinions, which have become even more imperative in current times. We appreciate the efforts made by Oxford university press in organizing such an event.”
The Keynote address was delivered by Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, former Ambassador at the UN and the US and UK and Mr Hameed Shahid TI, Urdu fiction writer and critic.
While the roots of ILF are nourished by the rich traditions of our heritage, ILF will look forward to the future and explore new writings, new trends, and new technologies, and provide a platform for younger authors and scholars.
