The eighth edition of Dhaka Literary Festival, the biggest international literary festival in Bangladesh, begins Thursday on the historic grounds of Bangla Academy in Dhaka.
Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor will inaugurate the three-day festival at 10:00am in the presence of over 200 local and international literary figures, performers and intellectuals representing 15 countries.
This year’s line-up features Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Adam Johnson, Bengali literary icon Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, and Mohammed Hanif, the winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.
There will also be star turns from Oscar-winning actor Tilda Swinton, award-winning Actor Manisha Koirala, and award-winning actor and director Nandita Das.
Other big names set to appear include Philip Hensher, the winner of the Ondaatje Prize; James Meek, the winner of the Orwell and Ondaatje prizes; and Syed Manzoorul Islam, Imdadul Haq Milon, Kaiser Haq and Selina Hossain.
The 2018 Dhaka Lit Fest will feature over 90 sessions covering literature and art, and also book launches, film screenings, a photography exhibition, and children’s creative sessions.
According to DLF directors Sadaf Saaz, K Anis Ahmed and Ahsan Akbar, there will also be many panel sessions dedicated to freedom of expression and women’s rights, in keeping with previous years.
Supported by Cultural Affairs Ministry and hosted by Bangla Academy, the festival is being produced by Jatrik with a focus on bringing together western and South Asian writers and intellectuals.
The DLF directors said partnerships have been forged with iconic literary establishments such as the internationally acclaimed English literary magazine Granta, and the Whiting Award— one of the most prestigious American awards.
This year the DLF will also host the prestigious Cambridge Short Story Prize in addition to the Gemcon Literary Awards.
The DLF has inspired new publications and journals, including the wonderful Library of Bangladesh series, which showcases the best of Bangladeshi writing in quality English translation.
Founded in 2010, the festival took on its current directors and name - Dhaka Lit Fest - in 2015 to mark its commitment to promoting Dhaka and Bangladeshi culture to the world.
Over the past seven years, more than 325 participants from 47 different countries have been invited to the DLF, including VS Naipaul, Adonis, Vikram Seth, Tariq Ali, William Dalrymple, Ahdaf Soueif, Vijay Seshadri, Shashi Tharoor, Shobha De, Barkha Dutt and Mohammed Hanif.
Stalwarts of Bangla literature including Syed Shamsul Huq, Hasan Azizul Huq, Selina Hossain, Debesh Roy, Nirmalendu Goon, and Joy Goswami have also graced the event.
Dhaka Tribune and Bangla Tribune are the title sponsors of the event, with BRAC Bank Ltd as key sponsor. Energis is the gold sponsor and British Council, a strategic partner, according to the DLF organisers.
The online registration for DLF is open and free for all.
