The second edition of the Lahore Literary Festival in New York, in partnership with Asia Society, takes place Saturday, May 6 at 725 Park Avenue.
Now in its fifth year, LLF is a celebratory exploration of Pakistan’s literary arts. Join us at this special event featuring artists, writers, and opinion leaders from Pakistan and abroad in thoughtful discussions on a variety of topics du jour.
This is a ticketed event.
LLF, founded by Razi Ahmed in 2012, aims to reclaim Lahore’s cultural significance and influence. A global city under the 12th century Sultanate, a capital of the Mughal Empire under Akbar, and a cradle of the modern Punjabi civilization under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Lahore has fired the imagination of artists for centuries, inspiring global literature and thought from Milton’s Paradise Lost to Kipling’s Kim to Massenet’s Opera Le Roi de Lahore to John Masters’ Bhowani Junction.
Program
10 a.m.
Opening remarks
10:30 – 11:15
Is Fake News Crowding Out Real News?
Ahmed Rashid, author of five books, including the bestselling Taliban
Amb. Robin Raphel, former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia
Tom Freston, former CEO of Viacom and MTV; board member, VICE
Amna Nawaz (moderator), anchor and reporter, ABC News
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Imagination as Imagery
Shahzia Sikander, MacArthur fellow, contemporary artist
Du Yun, 2017 Pulitzer-winning composer
Ali Sethi, singer and writer
Rachel Cooper (moderator), director, Asia Society’s global performing arts and cultural initiatives
12:30 – 1:15
The Sound of Data Darbar
Molly Crabapple, award-winning contemporary artist
Raza Rumi (moderator), columnist, policy analyst, and journalist
2:15 – 3
Lahore: Of Kings and Commoners
F. S. Aijazuddin, art historian, author, and columnist for Dawn
Navina Najat Haidar, curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art
3:15 – 4
Populism and the Global Rise of Strongmen
Basharat Peer, author of A Question of Order: India, Turkey and the Return of Strongmen; op-ed editor, The New York Times
Bernard Haykel, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University
Saskia Sassen, co-chair, Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University
Akbar Noman (moderator), Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
4:15 – 5
Where Conspiracies are a Pastime: Satire and Escapism in Fiction and Beyond
Mohammed Hanif, author of A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Nadeem Aslam, author of The Golden Legend
Dwight Garner (moderator), literary critic, The New York Times
5:15 – 6:15
Notes from the Raga
Siddhartha Mukherjee, oncologist, Pulitzer-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies
Ikhlaq Hussain, performer
Dr. Azra Raza (moderator), translator and oncologist
This program is part of Asia Society’s Creative Voices of Muslim Asia initiative. Tickets for the morning and afternoon sessions are available separately on the Asia Society website and start at $40 for persons who are not members of Asia Society. All sessions will be live streamed at AsiaSociety.org/Live. Highlights from the festival will also be archived online. All programming is subject to change. Media interested in learning more or attending #LLFNYC2017 should contact Asia Society’s press office pr@asiasociety.org. Following @lhrlitfest and @AsiaSocietyNY for updates.
