Nusrat Jamil
President, LLF Advisory Committee
To say that I am pleased to be a part of the inaugural Lahore Literary Festival would be an understatement. It is, in fact, a dream come true. I am passionately invested in encouraging any activity that promotes the written word. I believe that nothing competes with the sheer power and magic that issue from the right kind of words strung together in just the right kind of way. With Lahore’s unrivaled setting, I am more than certain that the Lahore Literary Festival will serve to fulfill its purpose—it will encourage our local writers and literary artists, along with promoting Pakistani and regional literature across the globe. I have huge admiration for Razi Ahmed, who initiated this bold effort and I hope LLF will become the largest annual event of the city. Much hard work and fine-tuning have gone on behind the scenes by a team of very dedicated people to make LLF 2013 a reality. And, of course nothing would have been possible without the support of our generous donors. We hope you enjoy the event.
Razi Ahmed
Founder and CEO, Lahore Literary Festival
It is a great and unique privilege to be hosting the first ever Lahore Literary Festival, which debuts Feb. 23 and which will feature 50-plus speakers over two exciting days at the Alhamra Art Center. Lahore has fired the imagination of writers, artists, and thinkers over the ages; and it is this Lahore—a city of abundance, generosity, and eternal inspiration—that LLF strives to honor and pay homage to. We believe LLF will prove invaluable as an annual platform uniting writers and readers to promote literature and the arts. We’re excited about the buzz LLF has generated, especially among students in the city; and we’re pleased to be working side by side with volunteers from local schools, colleges, and universities. LLF would not have been possible without the support of our Pakistani and foreign panelists, the Punjab and city governments, our sponsors, our blue-ribbon panel of advisors—especially two indefatigable champions of ideas, Mr. Hameed Haroon, the publisher of Dawn, and Mrs. Nusrat Jamil. Thanks also to Mrs. Salima Hashmi, Mrs. Naazish Ataullah, Ms. Syeda Henna Babar Ali, and Mr. Nayyar Ali Dada for their encouragement. And thanks, finally, to Lahore’s warm and receptive audiences. We hope LLF lives up to the expectations the city has attached to it.
