Reporting on Dissent
Amidst the endless contest for power, every nation-state is beset with insurgencies. A casualty in these conflicts is often the freedom of thought and expression. This year's Bengal Lights Literary Conclave, organized by the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), explored these issues and their effect on the written word under the theme "Dissent, Reportage and Literature".
The annual conclave was created to generate debate on important topics. What sets this unique event apart from other literary festivals and conferences is that it attempts to occupy a discussion space somewhere between these two. It brings together a highly selective group of international experts in intensive discussions, which are then made available online.
The panelists this year included writers in exile and those living under oppressive regimes, as well as war correspondents who have reported from the frontlines. They hailed from eight countries in four continents and were joined by thought-leaders and policy makers from Bangladesh.
The keynote speaker this year was the American writer and journalist William T. Vollmann, author of the award-winning book Europe Central. In his speech, Vollmann detailed his long-running harassment by the US authorities. At the end he concluded, "I still love my country, but I see how government-haters are made."
In the panel, "Reporting Against Reason", Dutch writer and journalist Femke van Zeijl and Pakistani journalist and author of Karachi, "You're Killing Me!" Saba Imtiaz, along with editor of the Dhaka Tribune Zafar Sobhan, discussed reporting on violent movements that seem to be without reason.
Other panels centered on the topic of "Endless Insurgency". Looking at why insurgencies persist in the world, William Vollmann, German writer and publisher Meike Ziervogel, and Indian journalist and writer Sudeep Chakravarti spoke with Bangladeshi writer K. Anis Ahmed. Another panel explored the same issue in the context of Bangladesh. Moderated by Sudeep Chakravarti, this panel included the local scholars and practitioners Kazi Nabil Ahmed, Salimullah Khan and Syed Manzoorul Islam.
Noted Indian author and editor Githa Hariharan led a discussion of how the threatened state of freedom of expression affects writers and their art in the panel "Writing: Under Siege" with Sudeep Chakravarti and Equatorial Guinean writer-in-exile Juan Tomás Ávil Laurel.
Nigerian novelist A Igoni Barrett, Bangladeshi writer Khademul Islam, Meike Ziervogel and William Vollmann, discussed the many forms of "Fictions of Empire" with London-based Bangladeshi poet Ahsan Akbar.
Lastly, American editor and publisher C. P. Heiser moderated a panel on the ways in which fiction remains bound up in reportage, with Femke van Zeijl, Githa Hariharan and Meike Ziervogel.
In between the panels, American poet and translator David Shook, Juan Tomás Ávil Laurel, Bangladeshi poet and activist Sadaf Saaz, as well as Ahsan Akbar, recited from their works.
Books written by all conclave panelists were available for purchase at the venue courtesy of Bookworm. Videos, photos and transcripts from all the sessions will be made available online at conclave.bengallights.com.
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