7th Faisalabad Literary Festival 2020

The seventh edition of the annual Faisalabad Literary Festival commenced on Friday, November 27, 2020, online. The three-day event, culminating on Sunday, November 29, 2020, continued its tradition of hosting eminent writers, historians, artists, and opinion makers from Pakistan. This year the event was sponsored by Interloop Limited in collaboration with Lyallpur Literary Council.
To start the event, Dr. Asghar Nadeem Syed, Musadaq Zulqarnain, Chairman Interloop Limited and, Sarah Hayat shared their thoughts about the 7-year journey of the Faisalabad Literary Festival and the importance of literature. Whereas, Saleema Hashmi, Dr. Arifa Syeda Zahra, Haris Khaliq, Dr. Asghar Nadeem Syed, discussed the topic “Creative Mind in Close-street”.
The day ended with Khawaja Najam ul Hasaan, a veteran PTV producer who has been in the media for over 4 decades sharing his interesting memories and delightful experiences at PTV. On the 2nd day, Masood Ashar, Dr. Nasir Abbas Nayyer, Syed Naqvi discussed “Fiction Key Zamany” and “Shahrzad Say Ajj Tak”, while Ghazi Salah Uddin, Dr. Asgar Nadeem Syed, and Dr. Sheeba Alam expressed their views on “International Cinema and Society”. While Mehr Hussain and Saeed Sarfraz Sheikh talked on “Guftgoo on the Book” and “Pakistan a Fashionable History”.
On the final day, Sheeba Alam moderated the session “Manto ki Nai Tabeerain” in which Nusrat Manto, daughter of Saadat Hasan Manto; a colonial Indian and Pakistani writer, playwright, and author, Muhammad Hameed Shahid, Mobeen Mirza highlighted the life story of Manto that became a subject of intense discussion and introspection.
On this occasion, Musadaq Zulqarnain, Chairman Lyallpur Literary Council said that due to COVID-19, this year’s festival was being organized online (Virtual), adding that although the coronavirus pandemic stopped us from gatherings but didn’t stop us from holding literary activities.