Until last year, literature festivals were among the few public events in Karachi that provided locals with a physical space in which to observe and engage in literary, artistic and intellectual discussion. In Karachi, such conversations are usually limited to the print and digital realms, including social media, which brings with it the baggage of toxicity. Litfests provided a respite from this.
With the pandemic, however, things changed. Riding on Covid-19’s coattails, the cyber realm increased its sway over our lives and reclaimed the communal experience of attending a literary gathering. The 12th Karachi Literature Festival (KLF), held from March 26 to March 28, was, therefore, a virtual event. With the third, and arguably deadliest, wave of the virus tightening its grip on the country, we had no alternative but to stay at home and face the computer.
I maintain that, even today, when there are more of us producing literature in English, the best literary talent in Pakistan is still manifested through our native languages Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto and others. Barring some truly exceptional writers who have made a name for themselves nationally and internationally Bapsi Sidhwa, Jamil Ahmed, Uzma Aslam Khan, Nadeem Aslam, Mohammed Hanif, Kamila Shamsie, H.M. Naqvi and Bina Shah the bulk of our creative writing in English, until the recent past, gave an impression of being contrived, affected, borrowed and superficial.
Our writers find it easier to convey thoughts and ideas in their prose, but struggle when the feelings and emotions of narrators, subjects or protagonists are to be expressed. One also feels that the amount of serious non-fiction, essays and papers that we produce remains low.