Many stalls of books stood in the lawns of BUITEMS one pleasant afternoon. The occasion was BUITEMS Book fair, 2017. The readers and visitors there, however, were just a handful. That unfortunate scene activated, fortunately, the brain circuits of one of the organizers of Quetta Literary Festival (QLF) and (s)he envisioned what would shortly be an event featuring fun and enjoyment, panel discussions and poetry recitations, and performances and talks. What started as a sudden thought was baked in subsequent weeks and months into a furnished and feasible plan of action in the form of QLF scheduled on May 7-8, 2018.

If you didn’t know Quetta city well and somebody alluded to it in a discussion, your best guess would probably equate it with a tiny and exotic town whose otherwise beautiful image is marred by news on TV of disorder and chaos every now and then. But that is not even the tip of the iceberg. Beyond such an apparently dark veil lies a city brimming with exuberance and vigor of its arts, literature and folklore. That is what the QLF aims to reveal to the world.

The Purpose of QLF

The purpose of the event is to first deconstruct the largely misperceived idea of Quetta city in popular Pakistani imagination, and then reconstruct it in a just, rational and aesthetically pleasing manner. The Festival also has it as one of its goals to dig deep into the intellectually fertile soil of the province in order to explore the gems and jewels of knowledge and wisdom lying underneath.

Combined with all that is the objective of facilitating a dialogue between regional, national and international scholars and writers. The QLF, thus, is a step towards generating a debate on ideas and issues most relevant to us as Pakistanis and as human beings in general.

Perhaps, and this is the most important of all, through the QLF people in Quetta will get a chance to know and engage with one another not just as inhabitants of a common geographical area, but also as beneficiaries of the various channels of the same fountain of intellect and insight. Considering the uniqueness of that scenario, the event would be a source of tremendous learning and scholarship for the residents of the city to take part in and contribute towards.

Board of Governors

Many stalls of books stood in the lawns of BUITEMS one pleasant afternoon. The occasion was BUITEMS Book fair, 2017. The readers and visitors there, however, were just a handful. That unfortunate scene activated, fortunately, the brain circuits of one of the organizers of Quetta Literary Festival (QLF) and (s)he envisioned what would shortly be an event featuring fun and enjoyment, panel discussions and poetry recitations, and performances and talks. What started as a sudden thought was baked in subsequent weeks and months into a furnished and feasible plan of action in the form of QLF scheduled on May 7-8, 2018.

If you didn’t know Quetta city well and somebody alluded to it in a discussion, your best guess would probably equate it with a tiny and exotic town whose otherwise beautiful image is marred by news on TV of disorder and chaos every now and then. But that is not even the tip of the iceberg. Beyond such an apparently dark veil lies a city brimming with exuberance and vigor of its arts, literature and folklore. That is what the QLF aims to reveal to the world.

The Purpose of QLF

The purpose of the event is to first deconstruct the largely misperceived idea of Quetta city in popular Pakistani imagination, and then reconstruct it in a just, rational and aesthetically pleasing manner. The Festival also has it as one of its goals to dig deep into the intellectually fertile soil of the province in order to explore the gems and jewels of knowledge and wisdom lying underneath.

Combined with all that is the objective of facilitating a dialogue between regional, national and international scholars and writers. The QLF, thus, is a step towards generating a debate on ideas and issues most relevant to us as Pakistanis and as human beings in general.

Perhaps, and this is the most important of all, through the QLF people in Quetta will get a chance to know and engage with one another not just as inhabitants of a common geographical area, but also as beneficiaries of the various channels of the same fountain of intellect and insight. Considering the uniqueness of that scenario, the event would be a source of tremendous learning and scholarship for the residents of the city to take part in and contribute towards.

Board of Governors