LAHORE:
The 14th Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) concluded on Sunday at the Lahore Arts Council (Alhamra), highlighting Lahore’s continued role as a hub of literature, ideas, and cultural dialogue.The final day began with the launch of the book “The Hour of the Wolf: What It Means to Survive History and to Write Honestly from Its Shadows” by Fatima Bhutto, who discussed history, memory, and the ethical responsibility of writers.
Multiple sessions were held across Alhamra’s halls, covering topics such as women’s rights, law, dissent, cultural heritage, history, translation, fiction, and biography. A key session, “Rights on Trial: Women, Law, and the Price of Dissent,” featured representatives from the Women’s Action Forum, advocate Asma Hamid, and Reema Omer from the International Commission of Jurists.
Other notable sessions included “Perin’s Passion,” “Ghosts of the Empire,” and “Art Everlasting,” featuring authors and thinkers like Deepa Mehta, Mohsin Hamid, Kamila Shamsie, and Geoff Dyer. Sessions on history, heritage preservation, South Asian literature, and global fiction further enriched the festival.
A special discussion on poet John Elia highlighted the social and intellectual relevance of his work. Critics and poets, including Nasir Abbas Nayyar, Fatima Hassan, and Shaista Hassan, highlighted how John Elia’s poetry challenges social stagnation and continues to resonate globally.
The festival also featured sessions on translation, Partition, storytelling, fiction, and identity debates, bringing together historians, authors, architects, diplomats, and scholars from Pakistan and abroad.The 14th Lahore Literary Festival reaffirmed Lahore’s identity as a city of literature, fostering dialogue, critical inquiry, and cultural exchange, and strengthening the role of literature in shaping society and thought.
The LLF was established in 2013 by Razi Ahmed, and is typically a three-day festival, held at the Alhamra Arts Center. In October 2023, the Government of Punjab appointed Ahmed as chairman of the Lahore Arts Council, which is responsible, among others, for the Alhamra Arts Center, where LLF is usually held.
LLF hold annual ticketed editions in New York City with Asia Society and in London with the British Library. These were discontinued during the covid pandemic and are expected to return in 2023.
In 2021, LLF held a virtual festival featuring Yann Martel, Fareed Zakaria, Wendy Doniger and others.
The LLF was established in 2013 by Razi Ahmed, and is typically a three-day festival, held at the Alhamra Arts Center. In October 2023, the Government of Punjab appointed Ahmed as chairman of the Lahore Arts Council, which is responsible, among others, for the Alhamra Arts Center, where LLF is usually held.
LLF’s governance structure includes a Board of Governors chaired by Iqbal Z. Ahmed. The first edition was a two-day event held on 23 and 24 February 2013. The second edition was held from 21 to 23 February 2014. In 2015, the third edition was held from 20 to 22 February.
