<div dir="ltr"><h2 class="gmail-story__title gmail-mt-2 gmail-size-twelve"><a href="http://images.dawn.com/news/1177113/mother-languages-literature-festival-will-kick-start-on-feb-18" class="gmail-story__link">Mother Languages Literature Festival will kick-start on Feb 18</a></h2>
<div class="gmail-grid">
<div class="gmail-grid__item gmail-four-fifths gmail-palm--one-whole">
<div class="gmail-story__authors gmail-my-4">
<div class="gmail-grid gmail-grid--full">
<div class="gmail-grid__item gmail-one-quarter gmail-palm--one-whole">
<div class="gmail-grid gmail-grid--full">
<div class="gmail-grid__item gmail-one-quarter gmail-visuallyhidden--palm">
<img src="http://i.dawn.com/users/.jpg" class="gmail-story__authors__pic">
</div>
<div class="gmail-grid__item gmail-three-quarters gmail-palm--one-whole">
<p class="gmail-story__authors__name gmail-caps gmail-size-four gmail-pl-2"><a href="http://images.dawn.com/authors/167">Asma Kundi</a></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-grid__item gmail-seven-tenths gmail-visuallyhidden--palm">
<p class="gmail-size-five gmail-story__authors__story__excerpt">The aim of the festival is to promote and celebrate Pakistan’s linguistic and cultural diversity.</p>
</div>
</div> </div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-grid">
<div class="gmail-grid__item gmail-one-whole">
<article class="gmail-story gmail-story--single gmail-mx-2">
<div class="gmail-grid gmail-grid--center">
<div class="gmail-grid__item gmail-nine-tenths gmail-palm--one-whole">
</div></div></article></div></div></div>
<div class="gmail-grid__item gmail-one-twelfth gmail-palm--one-whole gmail-visuallyhidden--palm">
</div>
<p class="gmail-">The second edition of the two-day Pakistan Mother Languages Literature Festival will start on Feb 18 at the Lok Virsa.</p><p class="gmail-">The
aim of the festival is to promote and celebrate Pakistan’s linguistic
and cultural diversity and to encourage reading in other languages.</p><p class="gmail-">The
festival will be hosted by the Indus Cultural Forum, Lok Virsa and
Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) with support from the
Foundation Society Institute (Fosi), Sindh Government’s Department for
Culture, Tourism and Heritage and the Society for Alternate Media and
Research.</p><p class="gmail-">The program for the event was announced by the
heads of these organisations at a press briefing on Thursday at Lok
Virsa. The festival is being organised in connection with Unesco’s
International Mother Languages Day, which is observed on Feb 21 every
year.</p><p class="gmail-">Over 150 writers, intellectuals, critics, poets and
artists from across Pakistan who write in over 15 languages will be
participating in the festival to discuss the diversity of languages in
Pakistan from a historical perspective and the challenges they are
facing.</p><p class="gmail-">Discussions on various topics related to
language, literature and culture, book launches, poetry recitals,
musical events, screenings, performances, book stalls, food courts,
cultural exhibitions and mobile libraries will be part of the festival.
Books in Sindhi, Balochi, Pashtu, Brahvi, Seriaki, Punjabi and other
languages and their Urdu and English translations will also be
exhibited.</p><p class="gmail-">Speaking at the press briefing, Indus Cultural
Forum Chairman Niaz Nadeem said the quality of content of the sessions’
has been improved this year.</p><p class="gmail-">SPO Chief Executive Naseer
Memon the festival is aimed at promoting Pakistan’s linguistic and
cultural diversity as an instrument of social harmony, peace and
tolerance.</p><p class="gmail-">He said there is a lot of literature available
in the various languages of Pakistan, all of which represent the
cultural plurality in the country. The festival will provide a platform
for people to share literature in various languages.</p><p class="gmail-">Lok
Virsa Executive Director Fouzia Saeed said that the festival is one of
her organisation’s signature events and provide people to interact with
writers from various languages.</p><p class="gmail-">Fosi representative
Nargis Sultana said recognising the importance of various languages is
vital for empowering communities and reducing discrimination. She said
the festival will help establish connections between language policy and
planning and better learning outcomes via indigenous languages.</p><p class="gmail-"><a href="http://images.dawn.com/news/1177113">http://images.dawn.com/news/1177113</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
</div>