ISLAMABAD -
The Islamabad Literature Festival will kick off at a local hotel on April 30 (Tuesday) with participation of a number of literary celebrities to acknowledge the role of writers community and literary works.
The two-day festival will be organized by Oxford University Press (OUP) in collaboration with different partners including Liberty Books, NIB Bank and European Union.
The programme is conceived and designed by Festival Directors Ameena Saiyid and Asif Farrukhi.
The festival will open with a keynote address by Intizar Hussain, a finalist for the 2013 Man Booker Prize, who Nadeem Aslam described as being "the greatest living writer on earth."
The closing keynote address will be delivered by the actor, director, educator, and cultural leading light, Zia Mohyeddin.
A keynote speech will also be delivered by one of Granta's Best of Young British novelists of 2013, Pakistan's own Kamila Shamsie.
Abdullah Hussain, Zehra Nigah will participate in the festival. HM Naqvi and Irshad Abdul Kadir will share with the aspiring writers insights on how to write a novel.
Literature in languages such as Pushto, Punjabi, Urdu, and Pakistani English will be discussed and celebrated.
Nimra Bucha will conclude the Festival with her critically acclaimed performance of Mohammed Hanif's play, "The Dictator's Wife."