ILF 2024 leaves literature enthusiasts wanting for more

Smog, road closures dampen festival mood, resulting in low turnout

ISLAMABAD:

The 10th Islamabad Literature Festival (ILF), which was expected to mark its decennial run with a special edition, was met with a muted response, much unlike last year’s event.

ILF 2024, organised by the Oxford University Press (OUP), featured 55 sessions on topics ranging from Pakistani English literature to the education system and social media censorship, as well as 15 book launches and a book fair.

Many bibliophiles and literature aficionados visited the festival. Most were university students, academics, or professionals from the publishing and media industries who pored over book titles and engaged in panel discussions.

A few families were also scattered about, mostly interested in discounted books and the limited food options.

However, footfall throughout the three days of the event remained low. Even on Sunday, the closing day of the festival, when smog hung low in the city and clung to the brick walls of the Gandhara Citizen’s Club, where the ILF took place, book stall owners expressed surprise at the thin crowd.

“From past experience, we know to expect a larger turnout on Sunday. This time around, media personalities and celebrities didn’t show either, or they would usually be followed by a crowd of people who would stop at stalls to browse the selection,” said the stall owner of Nigarish, who had come all the way from Karachi to sell hand-painted and embroidered notebooks.

One of the more obvious reasons for the less-than-expected turnout was the ongoing construction work being done for the F-8 Interchange on Jinnah Avenue, which restricted access to the main gate leading to the venue in F-9 park. “I first tried to find a way to the club from another gate before having to make a wrong U-turn to reach the event,” said one attendee.

The construction did not help the smog blanketing the city either, which also affected the event’s spirits. Many who wished to come from other cities, including author Awais Khan, who missed the launch of his own book, ‘In the Shadows of Love’, could not attend due to motorway closures.

In one of the sessions, researcher and English Literature Professor Aroosa Kanwal who was moderating the panel on “Pakistani English Literature: Defining a Canon” wondered aloud if this year’s smaller crowd, which was in contrast to last year’s overwhelming response, was any indication of a dwindling interest in literature.

She went onto lament the fact that many remain unaware of the immense work being done, the many authors publishing in Urdu and regional languages, and the growing body of Pakistani English fiction each year. At the ILF 2024 alone, eight of the 15 books launched were in English, alongside several other local publications proudly displayed at the book fair.

“A lot of work is being published; however, I feel that the festival does not highlight enough of it. Why was there no session on the growing publishing industry, that many students and aspiring writers here would have benefitted from?” said Raazia Sajid, author of ‘Biryani and Tahchin’, when asked if she had wished to see something different at ILF.

Others too pointed out that ILF could do more to engage with the youth. “People are tired of the same old same old. They need to diversify and get more engaging speakers, experiment with format and target younger audiences,” commented author Osama Siddique on X.

Younger visitors interviewed by The Express Tribune said they would have liked to see discussions on more innovative and current themes like storytelling through video games, the cultural impact of the English language on an increasingly anglicising youth, and the pertinent issue of human rights violations in Palestine.

While attendees acknowledged the organised structure and punctuality of the sessions, it was hard to miss that the ILF had been considerably scaled down this year. With the Lok Mela happening at the same time, attracting festival goers seeking an event with more fun, family-friendly activities and food, and several potential speakers being engaged at the Adab Fest in Karachi, organised by former OUP MD Ameena Syed, the ILF had a lot to contend with.