Dhaka Lit Fest opens Thursday

The ninth edition of Dhaka Lit Fest (DLF) will be held at Bangla Academy in the capital from November 7 to 9, organisers announced at a press conference yesterday.

Over 200 local and international literary figures, performers and intellectuals from five continents will attend the three-day literary festival with over 100 sessions, Sadaf Saaz, a director of Dhaka Lit Fest, told the press briefing at Jatiya Press Club.

All the events are open to public.

Supported by the cultural affairs ministry, the festival puts a focus on bringing together western and South Asian writers and intellectuals.

This year’s line-up features award-winning author and Booker prize finalist Monica Ali, iconic author of Bangla literature Sankar, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jeffrey Gettleman, historian William Dalrymple, writer Shashi Tharoor and DSC Prize-winning writer HM Naqvi.

Other big names at this year’s DLF include poet Tishani Doshi, author Swapnamoy Chakraborty, poet and journalist Mridul Dasgupta, Syed Manzoorul Islam, Imdadul Haq Milan, Kaiser Haq and Shaheen Akhtar, among others.

One of the highlights of this year will be a screening of “Hasina: A Daughter’s Tale”.

Like previous years, the festival will feature a number of panel sessions dedicated to freedom of expression and women’s rights, said Sadaf Saaz. The festival will also host the Gemcon Literary Awards, said organisers.

Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan, Bangla Tribune Editor Zulfiqer Russell and City Bank Managing Director Mashrur Arefin also spoke at the press conference while DLF directors K Anis Ahmed and Ahsan Akbar were present at the briefing.

Online registration is open at register.dhakalitfest.com.Dhaka Tribune and Bangla Tribune are title sponsors of the event, with The City Bank Limited as platinum sponsor.