Indian authors Shobhaa De and Ritu Menon are among over 100 writers and speakers who graced three-day Islamabad Literature Festival that began here today.
The second ILF will also feature speakers from Britain Bangladesh and Italy besides those from India and Pakistan.
They will express themselves in English, Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, and Wakhi.
Produced by Oxford University Press (OUP), the ILF will have 70 sessions with over 120 speakers, alongside 14 book launches.
Directed by OUP Managing Director Ameena Saiyid and Asif Farrukhi, the co-founders of ILF, the festival will feature poets Zehra Nigah and Kishwar Naheed, novelist Aamer Hussein and literary critic Muneeza Shamsie as keynote speakers.
Like the Karachi Literature Festival, five of which have been held so far, these festivals provide a unique space to bring together and celebrate authors writing in diverse languages, genres, and traditions, the organisers said.
They are driven by a momentum that reflects the depth of our literary and cultural roots historically, and the urge and energy in the people of Pakistan - irrespective of the city in which the festival is held - to seek knowledge, understanding, and creative growth, they said.
The ILF will feature debates, discussions, talks, interviews, sessions on art, a mushaira (Urdu poetry recital), a theatrical performance, dastangoi (story-telling), a dance performance, a book fair, book launches, readings, author signings, satire, an art exhibition, and more.
During the first ILF in 2013, we had around 36 sessions with about 80 speakers and nine book launches. Some 15,000 people attended the festival, the organisers said.
