New York: The Lahore Literary Festival (LLF), one of the premier cultural events of South Asia, will come to the Asia Society in New York on 7th-8th of May, making it the first time that a literary festival from Pakistan takes place in a foreign country.
According to the Asia society, this literary festival in New York will discover the modern Pakistan, and feature artists, writers, and cultural commentators. Keeping in view the mission of society of promoting mutual understanding between Asia and United States, the festival will present American audience along with a more nuanced view of Pakistan, together with the discussions on fiction and nonfiction writing, music, arts, popular culture, and politics as well.
The part takers of the festivals comprises of philanthropist, businessman, educators, former foreign affairs minister Hina Rabbani Khar, former finance minister Syed Babar Ali; singer or songwriter Zeb Bangash; New York Times journalist Roger Cohen; artist Salima Hashmi; physicist and novelist Tasneem Zehra Husain; actor, director and scriptwriter Sarmad Khoosat; columnist and foreign policy writer Ahmed Rashid; as well as playwright and filmmaker Sadia Shepard.
This festival will also involve a musical performance by the eight-member qawwal ensemble the Saami Brothers. The literary festival, initiated by Razi Ahmed in 2012, targeted to retrieve and employ cultural significance and influence of Lahore.